All the sads

My little neck of the woods got some shaking up today.  I experienced  a whole host of vacillating emotions, and in my usual capricious manner- made myself a bit crazy along the way.

This is what I saw first....

 I woke up this morning in a timely manner and was really pleased to know that it was Friday.  I like my Friday kids, but let's be honest and serious- the last few weeks of school are quite exhausting and challenging.  In spite of the ridiculously cool weather, the children are not as focused as they might be.  So I have been looking forward to Friday since Monday.  Jeans day is always nice, and it was not too chilly this morning yet, and I was in a good mood.

After feeding the horse and getting my breakfast to take to school, I got myself into the car to leave.  As I was driving out, I looked over at the new beehives to see an unbelievable sight.  The whole thing was torn apart.  Both hives were scattered all over the ground inside the not quite completed fence....  I slammed on the brakes and stopped to look.  Disbelief flooded my body.  I backed the car up a bit and then got out and sprinted to the house....  As I was on the deck I glanced over to the two hives by the garage- our beautiful tall hive  there was down as well.

The aftermath of the larger hive

The MA was shaving and such, so he could not go outside at that point- but I walked over to the well caged- or so we thought- hives and could not believe what I saw.  I grabbed a couple of quick photos then, and had to go to work.  I felt like I had lost a member of the family.   After a phone call to the office mid morning, I found out that the bear reached the railroad ties that raised the hives off the ground and tipped over the boxes. From there, it reached in and grabbed what it could.  It wrecked quite a few frames- as apparently baby bees are a tasty treat. They tried to get in from all the sides- they ripped off the finer wire mesh pieces and tried to get under.   The hives  in the new location did not have the ceiling on it's cage, so the bear just climbed right in.  No bees survived there but we think we may have saved our overwintered hive.

The new location carnage

Fred was able to scoop some of the bees- and hopefully the queen- into a box that he righted and placed out of reach in the center of the cage.  We shall see I guess.  When we cleaned up all the debris this evening, there were baby bees in the brood boxes.  The hives were doing so well! Prime time for pollen and nectar is coming here soon, this is just so so sad.  Hopefully we have one hive here and we will have the other over at our friend's house.  Next year we will have an actual second cage ready to have the bees installed without having to work around them.

What a mess.  We cleaned this up tonight, found some honey in one of the combs, so they have some population, and food

So, as silly as it seems in a way, this was a very sad thing.  Besides the serious monetary loss on bees and frames, it is also the loss of living things that we had invested in with time and attention and now that I think of it - a lot of sugar!   I always smile when I see one of the kids on a dandelion or feel momentarily bad when I find a drowned bee in the horse water.   I have set up a place for the bees right by the horse water, and had had way fewer casualties.  Does it make sense to mourn for an insect?

The whole incident has made me feel a little funny- like something terrible and violent has happened to me.  I guess for the bees it was terrible and violent, but in the grander scheme of things, it isn't too horrid.  I kept flipping between being so sad about it and then realizing over and over that they are only insects.  We could theoretically buy a package or two of bees if they still have them in Rhinelander (we are not)- that this is nature.  Is it the bears fault that they are hungry and looking for protein?  Are the bears to blame for wiping out our little dudes when it is one of their natural foods?  No we really can't I guess.  Fred takes full blame (not that I was pointing fingers, I was too busy trying to talk myself out of crying over bees) for not finishing the cage, basically we should have been prepared.  But the bees come a week after tax season is done, and it is just not great timing.  But regardless, there really is no blame to be assigned- it is what it is.

Big paws

It is in my nature to find some sort of good in this, and I am not sure what that would be other than the fact that I would miss having them if they were all gone.  I found that learning about them and following their progress and watching for them around the yard was something that I love doing.  As usual, being invested in something and finding joy in it reaps great (and sometimes tasty in the case of the honey) rewards.  And as many of your know, the more you invest in something or someone emotionally, the loss of that thing also affects you more than you would like sometimes.  But you seriously can't have that joy without the balance of the occasional pain of loss.  Seriously, though,  it is a good thing that I have calm people  that surround me in my life to talk me down.

So, in answer to what are we going to do about the bears- not sure.  Electric fence may do little to keep a determined bear out.  The physical barrier offered by the super strong concrete reinforcing mesh stuff will work if they can't reach the hives.  So that is still in the design stage.  Thanks for all the super nice words on Facebook.  I really appreciate the comments, as I really felt pretty sad this morning.

So until next time ( I have a post or two in me yet so stay tuned) find your joy in the little things.....  even if they fly around.

Signs of spring

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I was walking around in the fairly warmish weather (anything more than 40 is warm by our measure these days) and I headed over towards the garden and taDA- bees in the hive there.

We had 2 living hives when we put them to bed for the winter last October, but this past March it was determined that this hive was not living any more.  We had been feeding them sugar candy since they were out and about during those warm days in early March, and we wanted them to live.  But a few weeks after we began doing that, the MA didn't see any activity at all in this hive and so---- it was assumed they hadn't made it.  So no attention has been paid to that box.

Well apparently they were alive, as yesterday I found a lot of kids hanging out around that box!

It's an alive hive

Makeshift feeder

I didn't feel like attempting to suit up and put the sugar water I made inside, because it isn't set up for it right now.  So I just placed a jar of sugar water outside of it with a make shift place where they could get at it. A bee had already found the drips from when I flipped the jar over, so I know they have found it.  The other hive has a nice fat sugar candy loaf from the weekend, so they will be fine.

So I will be interested to see what is going on this afternoon!  Another fun fact was I heard the spring peepers for the first time last night as well!  Just a couple, but still there!  They will be vocal today when it warms up closer to 60!  YAY for spring!!!

And speaking of said spring, I would guess that my little Tete-a-tete daffodils could be blooming by the weekend!!  They are located at the base of the lovely Lola! This is one of my favorite moments of the year is finding my first daffodil blossom.

And of course, lets not forget this wonderful little combo of bees and crocuses!  It has been so fun to see the bees waking up and flying around to get what they can from the limited food sources that is in northern Wisconsin right now.  There is probably way more than we think, as the strong hive had a continuous stream of bees going in and out of the box flying off and arriving in a line from the north. I wonder if some of the trees are starting to have some pollen already.

So I have to get myself ready for work, meow, and need to finish this up.  Funny how these quick posts manage to not be so quick.  But that is ok, I have time!  And celebrating spring is certainly worth the time and is a joy!!

Bees and ice

My my my, I have fallen behind on blogging.  Last time I did that I ended up having various stupid things happen to me and then I had nothing but time to write out my woes ..... maybe all a coincidence, but maybe not!  HA!  

Smith Lake is starting to thaw

Anyway, I have been wanting to blog for a while, but I have this life that keeps me hopping.  The play, in specific, was a time consumer.  I will say, this was quite the remarkable group of kids.  No drama, everyone took care of themselves, and their props and costumes, and it was pretty amazing.  I enjoyed them very much!  They all (well almost all) listened when I ask them to get out of the way of the stage crew, and they cheerfully cleaned up after themselves and it was good.

Stage crew

I had company on my porch!

Anyway, this particular past weekend, Saturday was just a spectacular day.  Warm (yes- 65 in March- warm!!) ;) and sunny and lovely.  Why, I even sat in the sun in the morning on my lovely yellow Adirnondack chair.  After doing a bunch of errands, I went for a walk down to the lake, carrying my new camera equipment, which is incredibly heavy!  Lol.  I was so happy to be outside, and in the sun and not in school. It has been really cloudy/rainy/icy and I haven't been as active as I want to be.  So, it was a great thing to be outside.  I checked out the ice and refused to walk out on it, though there were people who indeed walked out right in front of me

So the other interesting thing that went on is that we have verified that indeed one of the bee hives has lived through the winter.  Upon discussion with a fellow beekeeper that I know, I found out that the Mad-Middle son had some pollen patties left, so the bees got some protein, which is probably pretty important at this time of the year.  You should see those poor bees flying around trying to  find something to eat.... they did hang out in the driveway, I assume drinking water.

I took pictures of the bees from a safe distance (they were a little cranky) with my new long camera lens.  I put out one honey frame that did not get cleaned out completely, and they were all over it.  Bees are such interesting little things. 

The kids cleaning out a honey comb

Lots of bee butts in the air

I did cook up a batch of sugar candy for the hive this weekend as well.  Want to make sure that they get enough calories for the next month of bee famine. Anyway, I made it and left it until the MA could put it out, as I was too tired to go out on Sunday afternoon when I got back from the play.  We removed the 3 discs from the paper plates and he sort of folded them up a little and left.  He marched right back into the house less than 5 minutes later with said sugar candy because the bees were still hanging out - similar to the photo below.....

They sure are messy in the spring- here they are hanging out outside of the hive on a lovely 60 degree day. 

Unbeknownst to me, he laid the blob of cooked sugar water on top of a package of chocolate chip cookies (that's right- nothing homemade this weekend).  Right before we went to bed, I heard a rustling from the front room, where he had gone to lock the door and such.  I looked into the room to see him trying to pull the table cloth out of the sugar blob, and then started to try to remove the sticky mess from the cookies package.  This candy is not rock hard, and eventually flows and bends.... especially since it isn't really very cold out.  I rolled my eyes so hard at this one!  Shaking my head, I took the whole mess and threw it into the freezer overnight.  good grief.  I was able to fairly easily take the now frozen sugar mass off of the plastic package and lay it on another paper plate, where it stayed until the bees were presented with breakfast Monday morning.....  always an adventure living with this supposedly intelligent person who is in sort of work induced state of stupor.   Similar to what I am like most afternoons, but have the luxury of recovering from my stresses in relative peace and tranquility.  At least now that the play is done....

We all have our work crosses to bear I guess.

Anyway, onto a definitely not spring-like week.  While we have started off warm, things are looking to go downhill quickly.  We shall see!  I won't jinx it here...  

Until next time, be a joy giver!!  

Bees update for May

The bees are doing great this year!  

First of all, the weather has not sucked too badly for the little darlings, and mostly, they all started with frames that had drawn comb on them already.  This probably saved them a few weeks of work and energy that can be put into raising those baby bees.

The capped cells are brood

We have 3 hives this year, one went into the garden.  This is actually working out great, this hive was a little small as all those escapees diminished the numbers a bit.  Funny that we got the box with the hole in it.

Pretty sure these lighter colored capped cells are pollen and things like that.

Again this time we saw 2 of the 3 queens.  And we did not find her in the same  box as before.  So she was either unmarked- but I am positive she was- or she either died or she's elusive.  The hive looks robust, but next time we are going to inspect the frames very closely to see if it is a queen laying eggs.  Hopefully they can replace her quickly if she is indeed gone.

Sorry for the blurry picture- the bright blue dot is the queen

It is nice to know a little more about what we are doing this time around.  The sugar water is a cinch to fix and dealing with the whole thing is more comfortable.  

In fact we already are putting on the second brood box, which is considerably earlier than last year.  The MA is outside putting together the frames and wax for those boxes- only had enough for one second layer from last year.  More are in the making.  But that should happen tomorrow if it stops raining for a while.

Hoping for some better luck with the bees all around this year!  Live and learn I guess.

Hope you are finding a whole hive of joy this weekend.!

A beeeee-zy day

LOL! I didn't notice my finger in the way!!  I was laying down in the flower bed to get this with my phone.  Eh, deal with it

Well, here it is at an ungodly hour on Saturday morning and I am awake.  This is somewhat unfortunate, as once again I slept fitfully last night.  I tried 3 different locations to find some sleep, none of which worked particularly well.  I don't understand what is going on, but fortunately I am not tired during the day.  Oh well.  And of COURSE when I could sleep at the end of the night, you-know-who was up and at 'em early, because he does not have to be at the office until 8pm tonight.  He actually worked late the 16 th and 17th as well, which seems somewhat unfair, however, so is waking up at 5:45 when one slept like crap.  Oy.  I think someone needs to kidnap me, and ply me with liquor or sleeping pills and then guard the door to a very quiet, cold, dark room and let me conk out for 12 hours.  Is that really asking too much??  Yes?  Rats.  Well a girl can dream.

Oh yum, a little hidden pocket of honey!  I think someone will enjoy this!  (and while I had a taste, I actually meant the bees!)

Alright, well anyway, today will be a fun day.  I actually plan to sneak a walk in here soon, but then later this morning we are heading out to pick up more bees.  Ours did not live the winter, and we are going to take a crack at it again. (The Mad-Middle son informed me that 40 - 60% of the hives even raised by professional beekeepers are lost each winter)  It was ever so amusing to tend those little things, and nice to have a clue what we are doing this time.  We are getting 3 packages this time, one of which is going inside the garden.  We cleaned up the hives and located the supplies and are almost ready for them.

We will be picking them up at Hansen's Honey Farm (which is really just a house) in Rhinelander today.  But FIRST! I get to eat Mexican and I *might* have plans for a midday Margarita!!  :)  Because why the heck not.  Plus a stop at Golden Harvest (which the MA refers to as the hippy place, which really isn't so much now) to pick up a few goodies, including some of their sublime bakery items.  YaY!

Traveling with a back seat full of humming bees is an interesting thing to do. We were diligent last year about brushing off the hitchhikers, which we need to do again this year as well.  Honey bees are really very docile, but I don't think I want one flying around in my face in the truck.

My Tete-a-tete mini daffs!!!

Meanwhile, back at Lola's flower garden we have these!  I was SO EXCITED to see these yesterday afternoon!!  YAY for spring!!  I am going to enjoy the heck out of today (like I have the last few days) because our weather is taking a turn for a little stretch tomorrow.

Find some joy in your day today, and maybe you will have time for a nap too!  Or a mid-day Margarita!  I know you are all jealous.....  hehehe

To Beezzzzzzz or not to beezzzzz

 I know that is a corny title, but I tell you, it is hard to come up with a good bee update title that isn't "Bee Update #4" or something equally mundane!

Honey frame- you can see the shiny cells of uncapped honey

So it has been a while since a bee post.  The bees for the most part are humming right along (I can't help myself) and are doing fine.  I need to tell you right off the bat that we discovered about a month ago that one of our hives lost their queen.  As you can imagine, this is not good.  And we do not have really easy access to new queens, plus it looks like the little guys may have made their own queen, maybe, so we are just letting nature proceed.  What this means in the end is that we are going to have a couple brood boxes full of honey that we will be able to take, because there is no way this hive will make it through the winter.  Missing a queen is a problem, because there will not be enough workers to get enough food and no queen = not enough workers.

Separating the frames

This little hangy downy think we "think" is a queen cell.  Yes hangy downy is a real phrase

This is the hive that isn't doing as well.  You can see the larger hive with more boxes behind

So yeah that is a bummer, but we feel ok, because the same thing happened to the Mad-Middle son's hives so we don't consider ourselves failures.  We do assume the other hive WILL indeed make it, as they are thriving.  We have a honey super that is almost full of uncapped honey and we will need to put another box on top.

More burr cells to remove

One of our cats stepped on this frame and broke the bees wax off early this spring.  The bees just merrily fill it in themselves

When we smoke them (use the smoker to calm them and drive them back into the frames), they start eating the extra comb on top- we do (carefully) scrape off the extra

As far as the honey, the bees fill the cells with nectar and then fan it until it is the right low moisture level and then cap it with wax.  If they capped it too early, it would ferment.  Not good for the bees winter dining!  Or ours.

We keep checking the bees for any problems (not sure we would recognize that right away) and keep feeding them sugar water and tidying up their frames.  And people who visit get treated to a little bee tour.  We don't go into the hives too far most of the time, though.  They need to go about their business undisturbed.

My friend Jane came to our house Sunday to check out the bees and get a mini introduction to bee keeping.  I think she had a good time!  She was sent home with some honeycomb with a little young honey in it- it was burr comb that gets removed anyway.  AND I got a nice dozen of farm fresh eggs in the deal!!  We do enjoy showing the bees/supplies/hives.  We inspect them every 2 weeks (usually on Sunday)

Hopefully the bears/skunks/otherpests stay away and we can keep marching along!

THAT will be a joy!

Gloomy days and purple flowers

It was a grey day here in Northern WI, but I got some sunny shots yesterday!  And there were some that I was really pleased with.

Siberian Iris

It was a bit of a down day for me.  I packed a LOT of living into these last several days- from finishing up school, to traveling north to Lake Superior, to cleaning and working out and walking and biking and gardening.  And today, I was a bit uninspired.  And the weather didn't help any.  I was actually expecting it to be a bit brighter in the morning and was a little let down when it was rainy.  I did manage to get in a bike ride though!  So, I expect to regroup for tomorrow and push on with it all.  In the meantime, I decided that, instead of zoning out in front of the tv, I would post these pix.

First up, one of my bees happened to be visiting the daylily (first one open) that I was photographing.  It was a real happy accident to get that flying bee, and then I snapped several as he was happily gathering pollen.  You will notice how lovely yesterday was in these photos. 

Honey bee in flight

Pollination 

As I went through looking for some of the new blossoms in the flower gardens, I noticed that most of them are mostly purple/blue tones- very pretty!  I knew that it wasn't the best to be shooting pix in this harsh lighting but I love the brightness, and that seems to be how I roll.  

Amsonia

Iris-one of my "fancier" ones.  Naturally the colorful ones are pathetic growers.  Lol- next to it is nepata: catmint

Lupines

Perennial bachelor button- centauria  montana

Perennial geranium sanguineum

chive blossom with bumblebee

Another purple iris opening- not my favorite one, but of course this one gives me tons of blooms.

Another color of perennial geranium-might be Geranium sanguineum “Max Frei” 

So after a busy day of gardening and other stuff, we went for an impromptu ride to escape the mosquitos and ended up down at the park in Fifield.

Flambeau River via Movrich Park

It was such a pretty moment in time!  A beautiful end to the day.  I am hoping to regain my mojo tomorrow and feel like getting things accomplished, as it did not happen today.  I need to have my occasional days to regroup and re-energize.  There are a lot of things coming up in the few short months of summer.  

Until next time, be a joy giver and get yourself a good night's sleep!