Exactly three days after installing the sticky board underneath the hive, I pulled it out. Fascinating what’s all on that sticky board: dropped pollen, nectar, honey and propolis, dirt and dust, little insects and… varroa mites. Yes, there were mites, tiny fat disks a dark reddish brown, all of them stuck to the board and …
Author Archives: kaat
Honey Bee Stinging Bumble Bee
Bees coming in on the landing board The hive was getting very crowded, with 8 frames entirely built out, so today I added the second brood box. The colony should build out 10 new frames much faster than they did the previous 9 ones, because there are many more bees now, and the colony is …
Amie is Still an Artist
It’s been a while since I wrote about Amie’s art. This has become a garden (and beekeeping) blog, no doubt about it. But while the blog has changed, in one respect Amie has not: she is still an artist. Ever since a boy at her preschool claimed that she is not, she has been working …
Garden Photos on a Gloomy Day
Bees bearding the hive? Or just lots of traffic. Here’s a little video. Most of the noise is generated by the bees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlXtoeVJEeU Garlic scapes ready to pick – I’m waiting for a hot afternoon These are ready as well, but I’m holding out for red peppers (these are the overwintered pepper plants) Something pretty …
Fun with the Hive
I wrote last time about my concern that my colony is behind. At my last inspection they still hadn’t drawn out (built wax comb onto) enough frames to warrant the second brood box. Still, my inspection indicated that the queen would soon run out of immediately available space to lay eggs. In the summer a …
Stung!
Honey comb is white, brood comb is yellow I’ve had my bees for 5 weeks, and I’ve done 8 inspections, and yesterday I did a big one. I pulled out frame by frame, looked at each side for several minutes, spotting patterns, looking for mites and queen cups, just standing in awe of all those …
Peas
Every day now we have this ritual, Amie and I. We go out to the pea bed. She spots the fattest pods and I pick them – she can’t reach these ones but will be able to pick the next bed that will become ripe. Then we come in with our bounty, sit down at …
Mycelium!
I checked the mushroom bed and just under surface there is this: Mycelium, hopefully the King Stropharia that I sowed in it. There’s a chance it isn’t, of course. The pile of leftover woodchips, which I did not inoculate, looks exactly the same! Time will tell.
Herb Spiral
Our herb spiral was a long time in the making. It just kept getting shoved down the list of things to do. But the herb seedlings were languishing in their pots, so I put my foot down and we did it in two days. We decided to build the wall with bricks from top to …
(Mostly) All in Pictures Today
Unwanted things: (1) (2) Things hung to dry: (3) Things newly trellised: (4) (5) Flowering things: (6) (7) (8) Things bursting: (9) (10) Take the quiz: (1) oak seedling (2) caterpillar on cherry tree (3) kale seed pods (4) favas (5) tomatoes in hoop house (6) can’t remember, sowed it under the bird feeder, bachelor’s …