Tuesday, June 17, 2014

There Maybe Light at the End of this Tunnel





It's amazing how much work I can get done when it actually stops friggin raining. I think this is the first day in two weeks we didn't get any rain at all. Then again we may have while I was sleeping the grass was pretty wet this morning when I started working.

I spent the first half of the day elbow deep in bee hives. I pulled about 50 or 60 pounds of surplus honey frames that had been capped, took the feeder off of the cut out colony I added to the North Apiary back in April I think it was and added a second brood chamber to St. Johns Colony. This last action was rather satisfying since that particular colony, one of my oldest, had almost died out completely during the Winter of 2012 -2013. In fact I estimated it had less than two to three hundred bees left in it in April of 2013. Most bee keepers would have just pinched off the queen and combined this hive with another stronger one but I was determined to see if I could get them back up to snuff.

Honestly I am not really sure it was worth it. They built up very slowly last year even with me adding a few frames of brood from their neighbor hive and feeding them syrup all Summer they were still only in one deep and a medium going into this last Winter. A swarm would have made better use of that woodenware and that queen has to be getting to the end of her life span now. Still it was the principal of the thing. I hate losing hives if I don't have to.

I managed to get all my bee hive inspection and honey harvesting done in time to do dishes and get all the supper fixins ready to go. Ya it was my turn. The lovely wife who insists mixing up Okra (Yuck) seeds with Watermelons is a perfectly honest mistake then agreed to actually do the cooking so I could get back out into the garden and weed some more. I have noticed the lovely wife doesn't mind the actual cooking part it seems to be the cleaning up and prep work she is not so fond of. Then again I liken cleaning up after one of her cooking sessions as digging out after a tropical storm. I swear that woman cannot resist using every bowl, utensil, plate, platter and pan in the house just to cook two things. Seriously...

Now that I have all the other pressing stuff out of the way it is looking like I could possibly get the garden finished tomorrow some time and then start on extracting this honey I harvested. Once the garden is completely weeded and mulched and the first Spring honey harvest is extracted I have reached the summit of pressing work for the season. It generally gets much easier from here on out. Not saying I won't be pressed for time but the rains, and everything else for that matter, seem to slow down and give me some more breathing room. By July I can usually sit back and enjoy the Sunsets once again. Generally speaking anyway.

Man am I ever looking forward to July.....

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!





6 comments:

  1. You have been hitting it hard! Okra is good if you fix it right but it resembles something that a cat hocked up if done wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okra is fine vittles....Still haven't seen a single Honey Bee on this side of the river. Not one. Plenty of Mason bees. Your garden is a thing of beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have had so much rain in southern MN the crops are in danger of being washed out. You know what that means?? Higher food prices. If not now, by fall. I'm glad your bees are doing well. and happy to see your garden under control.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Last saturday up at the estate while I was indoctrinating my children with shooting, I noticed bee's were all over the clover that is growing.

    I also concur on the Okra...blah!

    ReplyDelete
  5. fried okra rocks! fried anything is good though!
    I am praying for rain, so I dont have to water!

    ReplyDelete
  6. PP,

    Fried okra......YUM, cooked any other way and it's slimy.
    I've had these little baby(?) bee's all over the flowers and weeds.

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment. We like comments. Sometimes we have even been known to feed Trolls.