Monday, March 09, 2009

Snippets

Just a few snippets of stuff to show you...

For those of you following the bee saga, (and there are a bunch so I will report back as often as I can) the hive is all put together.  It took two days, mostly because there were LOTS of parts, but I have two hive bodies, two supers, a hive-top feeder, and a ten frame set up. (That means constructing 40 frames, with brittle tissue-paper waxed foundation that tears if you breath wrong...)
 
But as I worked, I began to really enjoy it, and part of the experience was the smell.  The fresh cut pine boards and beeswax foundation gave off a really nice aroma.  I am very happy I chose the wood bodies vs. polystyrene, and wood frames vs. plastic.  I think the bees will be happy, too.

Madison's California cousins were here last week, and I forgot to share some photos.  Here is one taken by my brother-in-law (an awesome photographer) and pretty much sums up what the week was about:

And I found a really neat picture of Madison's Japanese cousins that my brother had posted on Flickr:

I wish I could tell you the circumstances of the photo - usually they are two very happy country boys decked out in tye-dye everything, but I am still waiting for the explanation myself...

And maple season is officially underway here in the Northeast.

Yesterday I spent all afternoon helping a friend chop wood, load sap, and boil, boil, boil...My early small runs were turned into thick syrup for breadmaking, and I did them here at the house.  This year the bulk of our sap will be cooked over there...wish I could do an aroma blog - you would LOVE the smell of boiling sap!

5 comments:

Nancy K. said...

GOOD FOR YOU!! You should be proud of yourself for assembling your beehives all by yourself! I know the feeling ~ I completed my taxes and e-filed them yesterday. It took me 13 hours but it's done! All by myself. ;-)

I sounds like it's a busy (and aromatic!) time at your wee farm....

Kara said...

Great job on the bee hive! Come visit my blog, we are doing maple syrup too. I am going to do a fuller post about it soon. Oh I LOVE recipes.

Karin said...

I'm here! I'm following! I am in awe of you!

Kathy said...

If you need any help, just let me know - been a beekeeper for years although I don't have hives now as I'm sick and tired of dealing with Africanized Bees in our neighborhood. I con't begin to tell you how many times, when checking on the hives, I would just hold up a frame and watch. Nature is wonderful if we take the time to learn and listen. :)

melanie said...

You bet I will need help! Get ready for lots of questions...