Bee Debris

Phil was up long past midnight finishing a big project. It's a relief to have that done. After daylight, Phil did the chores and went back to bed, so I calculated the spacing for the hazelnuts the UPS man would bring.

Phil didn't sleep nearly as long as I thought he should have, but when he got up, we went to work on the next twenty bee frames. They've been here two weeks, and I was getting a bit skittish about their living quarters. When bees get crowded, they swarm, and I had no desire to force a swarm from such new little hives.

Phil and I pulled the white board from under the hive. It gave us a sneak preview of what might be happening in the hive. Bee debris rains down: tiny black bee poo, large yellow globules of dropped pollen (which I tasted: delicious!), tiny shiny flakes that were dropped wax flakes, produced, I think, from the bees' abdomens.

Where the debris was most concentrated, the bees were most active above. Since neither white tray was entirely covered with debris, clearly the bees had not yet exhausted their living space.

And there were no caps yet: baby bees hatch after about three weeks, and push out the caps that cover their cells. Since we've only had the bees 15 days, it's too early yet for bees to be born. Next week, I expect.

Then we opened the hive, which was incredibly non-stressful. (And please do note the amazing shadow across the inner cover!) Few bees noticed us at all; their buzzing changed not a bit. All was happy and light, and Joe even moved in front of their door way a few times (don't do it! it's like standing on the plane's runway), but there were no unhappy incidents.

Although I didn't remove every frame, I could tell that work was progressing smoothly, that the frames were getting filled in. So we put on a second "hive body," the large boxes where the queen bee lays her eggs. That may have been premature, but I think that it will be okay.

Phil and I then spent a couple hours trying to figure out where to put the raspberries, chestnuts, hazelnuts, hybrid poplars, and elderberries that we have yet to plant. As we walked the land, we had some good insights: where to put a new road, where to clear for an eventual vineyard, where chestnuts belong and where they don't. I have renewed vision, and direction.

Then I went to work on the newly arrived hazelnuts. I got all 75 in the ground that I had hoped to, just before dusk. The first bundle I pulled out said, "100 hazelnuts." The bundle hardly fit in a 5 gallon bucket, but it was a bit disappointing: 100 little trees in a 5 gallon bucket? How many decades would I have to wait before they would produce!

Happily, the bundle was only 25. The hazelnuts appear to have good roots and good buds coming. I'm excited!

Phil went to work on plowing and tilling a new garden section for me. I have six or eight more flats that really need to go in the ground (I was sort of hoping today even). Joe sat on the riding mower and watched his Dad. Since we had dry lotted many of our animals there over the winter, the ground was quite deep with composting manure. Phil spent a couple of hours just plowing one small section: back and forth and up and down, trying to get traction and a good mix. Then he tilled.

He finished after dark, but reported a dark brown soil resulted, compared to the orange we've seen thus far.

Meanwhile, the boys entertained me with their antics. Jadon is an expert at standing on his head. Joe adores his big brother and wants to be like him.

When he gets a little tired, he is sure a giggle box!

The forecast predicts 42 as the low tonight. It's 42 now, and feels like 35 to me. I have 176 tomatoes and three flats of flowers that I hope will still be living tomorrow morning when I wake up.