Friday, May 15, 2015

A Very Rainy Day





It rained almost all day today. I am sure it stopped a few times because I occasionally noticed the flock had left the barn and headed out into the new pasture to graze and they normally will only do that when it stops raining. Then as it starts up again they slowly head back inside where it is dry. So since they were out it must have stopped raining but not any of the times I checked.

Just as well because I was pretty stiff and a little sore from finishing up the fence yesterday. I lounged around for a bit napping and then started working on bee equipment.

My stocks are beginning to get mighty thin to be honest. I am now down to only two solid bottom boards and two old style covers painted and ready for bees. I have plenty of brood super boxes and several surplus supers that need to be put together yet but I really need to put together some more top entrance covers and screened bottom boards so I started working on four of each today.

The bottom boards are the most time consuming. Try as I might I just can't get them down to a pattern that works without a bit of custom fitting, so in the end I really have to build them one at a time. Oh I can do the sides, bottom board and screens a few at a time but the tray insert never comes out right unless I custom fit it to each bottom. I managed to get a bit over half of them done with two bottoms and two tops completely banged together and two each ready in parts to be banged together.

At this point I doubt I will expand out another four hives. I have already caught five swarms this year and my all time high was eight in 2012. Not that it mattered much since almost all of them died from the drought that year.  I am up to 15 hives now having replaced all of last year's and this Winter's losses plus two.

I also have a swarm still in it's capture box that has been in there over a week now. I bet that one is going to be fun to move over and require some serious comb banding into open frames just like a cut out now. I should have opened it up at least two days ago but with the fence project needing finished and then the other swarm I ran out of time and stuff to hive it properly. Of course now it's raining.

This entire small farm/homestead thing is a bit like fighting an elephant. You gotta learn to just look at it parts and fight it in small bites or the entire thing will just overwhelm you. Take it all one problem at a time.

Maybe the rain will stop and I can get to it tomorrow morning.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!




6 comments:

  1. PP,

    You're so right......look at in in parts, and fight it in small bites.......because it will overwhelm you!!!! Pulling small parts of my garden apart to replant seeds and seedlings. Doing this slowly because were getting more rain for the next 10 days.
    I'm also thinking about building an Ark!! If the rain keeps up the way it's been going we will need one, lol.....

    15 hives oh my!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That reminds me of the chickens, if I want to see if it is raining, I look at the chicken area to see if they are out walking around, they dislike rain way more than the cats. I haven't heard about fighting an elephant but suspect that you don't want to stand behind it and look at the problem.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The big picture can indeed be overwhelming. Too overwhelming! Learning how to focus at the day and task at hand is a challenge for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My MIL always asks if I am finished working for the week. I tell her I am never finished, my job is just one big circle. Once you work your way around you just find yourself back at the beginning of the circle so you just go around again and again. You learn to not get too excited about being behind because when you catch up you are still just going around in a circle so you have to learn to just enjoy the journey.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So, the sheep treat any sky moisture like the goats do? ACID RAIN!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree, I think if I wrote down every job I had to do on one list I'd just give up now! The bees seem like quite a bit of work and not one that can be put off.

    ReplyDelete

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