Happy B-Day

Dear Mom,
Today was damp and drizzly and little bit cold. I barely roused myself to do much more than nap. But napping with a dog curled behind your knees is the best sort of nap I know. (And yes, napping with Olive curled behind my knees means I let her on the couch. Just this one time. Until she is fully healed and then she can nap there as much as she wants!)
Now that it has been gifted to you, I want to share the Bee version of Chickadee that I knitted as your birthday gift.

Except for the dark brown used for the bee motif, all the yarn in this sweater is my own handspun. The body is lambswool dyed with Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum) harvested last fall from your gardens.

I stumbled upon some bee motifs  HERE, and the knitter generously shared her charts. I used one of those, and tweaked it to fit within and replace the chickadees in the original pattern. This way I could change the motif without changing any increases in the yoke and the fit of the sweater.

don't know why this is blurry

The buttons are salvaged from a Goodwill sweater.

And Bonnie Jo? I know you want one. I have the yarn for it already. ( Not handspun though. I don't want to make you wait that long.)

We had chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight. Delicious homemade soup made from scratch and instinct. Four skinless chicken thighs simmered until the meat fell off the bones.  I glopped a healthy spoonful of vegetable broth base in the water while the meat was simmering and I gave it a couple of glubs of some cranberry apple wine.  I used about 3 T of the homemade onion soup mix I keep on hand and chopped up 3 carrots and about 2 cups of celery, added the rest of a box of penne pasta, and man-o-man is this soup wonderful. 

Be warm!

Love,

Kim

Around My Backyard

Dear Mom,

( The End )

Love,

Bonnie Jo

The Birds and The Bees

Dear Mom,
As you know, upon Bonnie Jo's request I reported bright and early Saturday morning to your backyard, camera at the ready. Bonnie Jo would be inspecting the beehive she recently set up there and wanted me to document the event for the blog. It is hard to take pictures when you are dressed like this:

Things seemed rather serious when I arrived because there was crouching down and leaning in involved.

As I understand it (and Bonnie Jo may have to jump in and correct any errors), the main purpose of the Hive Inspection was to search for Queen Amelia. When a Princess Bee comes to live in her new castle, it seems the first thing she does is fly away to go visit some bachelor bees before she can come home and be Queen. Sometimes the Princess Bees never come home. Maybe because they can't find their way back, or maybe they just really like the bachelor bees. Considering that this Princess Bee was named after the famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart, there was some concern that she may have lost her way somewhere over the reservoir never to return.

Thankfully, unlike the other Amelia, this Amelia's flight had a happy ending.

Bonnie Jo was pleased and proud to find Queen Amelia in the hive and laying little bee eggs like all Good Queen Bees are supposed to do.

In her official capacity as family beekeeper, Bonnie Jo declared that Amelia "IS A BEAUT!"



Where's Amelia?



All those jigsaw puzzles we did with Daddy when we were little must have been practice for finding bees later on. And if I remember correctly, Bonnie Jo was a gifted jigsaw puzzle piece finder.

Anyway, now that I know where Amelia is in that photo, I can find her, too. Let me give you a close up.



Queen Amelia

Before leaving, we took a peak at your nest of Barn Swallows.

It looks like these guys are running out of room and will be making flights of their own soon.

Especially this guy.

And let me just add here that the way "the Birds and the Bees" was explained to me all those years ago included NOTHING about spending time alone with a bunch of bachelor bees.....

Love,

Kim

Carnies

Dear Mom,

Indiana Bee School IX was a success!  The bee school took place in a Presbyterian church large enough to hold over 800 “students” and a couple of hallways full of local and national vendors.  The VERY BEST part about it was meeting up with new friends and acquaintances from my local beekeeping club. Feeling confident again, I purchased a new pair of beekeeper gloves, a frame holder for the hive, and a couple of cute pewter bee pins (one for me and one for my sweet little 8-year old neighbor). 

 The morning classes I chose to attend were just about right for my level of understanding, and, following a satisfying chicken noodle lunch, I ordered two 3-pound packages of Carniolan (Apis mellifera carnica) bees from a well-respected Indiana Apiary.   

Apis mellifera carnica - courtesy of Wikipedia

The afternoon classes, however, challenged my intellect and I began to doubt myself.  Afterwards, as I was mingling with other students and talking with the vendors, I told my friend Melissa that I was feeling overwhelmed and I should leave before I cancelled my order!

Carniolan Bee on Sedum - courtesy of Wikipedia

Now, let me tell you about these bees!  Carniolan honey bees (“Carnies”) developed in the northern part of south-eastern Europe in the area of the Carniolan Alps, including parts of Australia and Slovenia.  The mountainous terrain and unpredictable environment prepared the bees to survive cold winters and to react quickly to changing weather and seasons.  Sounds a little bit like Indiana, doesn’t it?!  The Carnies are a darker color bee, and the Carniolan queen is black and a bit smaller than an Italian queen.    Carniolans, like Italians, are very gentle bees.

Carnies on comb - courtesy of Wikipedia

Of course, my queens will need proper Slovenian names. I can't wait to introduce you to Ursala and Marta, along with their 20,000 workers!  Ursala means “She-bear” and Marta’s name means “Lady” or “Mistress of the house”.  That sounds about right.

Now...I’d better get busy ordering another hive… and cleaning out the old one for the new tenants. The Bee Carnival is coming to town soon!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Vacancy

Dear Mom,

My bee hive didn't make it through the winter.  The colony is dead.

I don't know why. 

The bees had plenty of honey and a candy board to eat, so I know they did not die from starvation.

Maybe they were weak, or sick...or too cold and damp.  I feel like I should have done more to winterize the hive.  I'm disappointed.

I am attending Indiana Bee School IX tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to being surrounded by hundreds of other new and experienced beekeepers.  There will be four school sessions with several topics to choose from...like bee health, pesticides, raising queens, gardening for bees, and even apitherapy.  I know I'll come home with renewed confidence and an eagerness to try again!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Busy as a Bee

Dear Mom,
Autumn is a very busy time for me.  There are certain chores that I am driven to do, such as annual chicken coop sanitation, clearing the flower and vegetable gardens, and washing windows and screens.  And then there are all the leaves.  Since I started the new part-time job, I haven't had as much time for certain things...like beekeeping. 

Good beekeepers check their hives every 7-10 days and keep log books.  I haven't been a good beekeeper.  I'll admit I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the bees.  By mid-August, when other beekeepers were harvesting their honey, my bees had nothing for me.  Nothing.  This is when I started to think that perhaps they would not survive the winter.

The other day, I caught a glimpse of one of the ladies on some Sedum.  By late summer when most flowers have faded, the Sedum is a favorite to the bees and butterflies.  I suited up and braced myself for another dismal hive inspection.

To my surprise, every frame in the second hive box was full of honey! The bees have been busy building up their winter honey stores...hopefully enough to ensure their survival. 

Right now, I am supplementing with sugar syrup and I will be attending a workshop this weekend to make "candy frames" for winter feeding.  Hopefully the colony will emerge healthy and strong in the spring and I will have one year of beekeeping experience under my belt!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Bees and Water

Dear Mom,

One of the first things I learned in beginning beekeeping class was the importance of having a water source near the hive.  A full-sized colony of bees can use up to a quart of water a day!  It is in the beekeeper's best interests to keep the water source in his/her own backyard.  Since my yard contains a small pond, I was confident that the bees would be attracted there.  Instead, they seem to favor the birdbath in the side yard!

The bees will remain loyal to the same water source.  If that source dries up, they will find another one.  I keep this birdbath filled because I don't want the bees visiting my neighbors' yards to get water!

Occasionally a bee will fall into the water.  I rescue her with a twig or a piece of mulch and she crawls or flies off.  This one appears to be doing the backstroke!

Yesterday a bee crawled up the mulch and onto my finger, and I promptly shook her off!  (For our blog readers who may be wondering...YES, I have been stung - twice!)  I doubt she would have stung me, but I didn't want to take the chance...

Love, Bonnie Jo

A Tour of the Castle

Dear Mom,

Last Friday, I felt it was time to take a look inside Queen Alessandra's castle to check on the progress and expansion of the colony.  It has been three weeks since I installed the four new frames of bees into the hive.  My friend and mentor, Melissa, helped locate Queen Alessandra two weeks ago, and I have been noticing increased traffic and activity of the bees.  My eager assistant, N, got the smoker started.  The smoke calms and quiets the bees by disrupting the alarm pheromone sent out by the guard bees.  Since we would be opening the hive up and moving frames around, we definitely wanted to smoke the bees...just a little bit goes a long way.  N also photographed our castle tour and took some great photos for me to show you!

The bees have built some extra comb which is coming out the ventilation hole of the inner cover.  I later scraped this off and added it back into the hive body for the bees to reuse. 

N and I were thrilled to see that the bees have expanded out onto the newer frames.  We estimated they have drawn out (built new wax comb) on at least 80% of the foundation and we concluded it was time to add a new super (a second floor to the castle)!

The bees were calm and cooperative.  We pulled a frame from the other side of the brood box and were excited to see what the bees have been doing.  The white stuff at the top of the frame is capped honey cells!

We did not see Queen Alessandra, but we weren't really looking for her.  It is obvious that the colony is growing and we know she is inside one of these busy inner frames laying eggs. 

I have to look in the reference books and ask a lot of questions (thank goodness for Melissa) to figure out what I'm doing.  I listen to webinars while I'm ironing!  I feel I only know 10% of what there is to know about bees...but I am just LOVIN' it! 

And the castle just grew taller!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Queen Alessandra

Dear Mom,

I spent my Saturday morning at Wildflower Ridge Honey Farm.  This enchanted farm is owned by the Barrickman family in Anderson.  I felt like I was in Heaven on Earth! 

I parked in a field with the animals!  There were sheep, a llama, and a Great Pyrenees dog to watch over them. 

The farm had its own character!  Look at this barn!

Here is the outhouse and the flower "beds".

There was a candle burning inside the outhouse!  (I actually thought of Kim while I was inside the outhouse taking pictures...I imagined that she would have been taking pictures too!)

Nearly 100 people came from near and far to pick up their bees!  The American Honey Queen, Lisa Schluttenhofer, spoke to the group.  Lisa is from Indiana and attends Purdue University.  The group was told that the bees have contracted nosema, a digestive disease.  There are chemicals available for treatment, but I will try to combat this disease by making certain the bees have plenty of syrup and pollen supplements to eat.

Finally, the group dispersed for some interaction with the bee hives.  I was sooooo excited! I finally got to put on my veil!   Mr. Barrickman took a hive apart and showed us a healthy colony of bees.

A hundred boxes of bees were waiting in a horse trailer to be taken home. Our names were called in sequence according to the date our orders were received. 

The rest of the day is a blur.  A total blur.  I was a nervous wreck.  I have been attending seminars, reading books, and talking to complete strangers about beekeeping for over a year, and yet I was scared  and on my own.  I drove the bees home in the trunk of the car.  I took the bees to the back and loaded them into the hive.  I can't even remember how I did it.  I think I made some mistakes.  Was the queen there?  I was afraid it would rain any second.  And my smoker went out. But....I did it!  I didn't get stung.  I did it! 

I wish I could do it again and remember what I did, so I wouldn't make any mistakes. I think I might have switched some frames around and I wish I would have looked for the queen. It started to sprinkle. But I sat and watched with fascination. The bees were flying in, out and around the hive.   I made some sugar syrup and inserted the feeder into the front. 

 

 

I met some nice people, like Tom and Melissa.  Melissa might stop by this week to help me find Queen Alessandra.  "Alessandra" is an Italian name which means "the defender or helper of mankind".  I look forward to Melissa's visit.  I feel she will be a valuable new friend. 

 

I have so much to learn. I wonder if the bees will recover from nosema.  I hope Queen Alessandra is strong and hearty. One thing I know for sure:  I am falling in love with beekeeping.

Love, Bonnie Jo