Animals
- Just An Ordinary Day
It seems as though we have skipped over Autumn and gone right to Winter!Temperatures never left the 40's yesterday,and nighttime lows are in the 30's.Brrrrrrrr..... We had a peaceful weekend at home with our animals.Chores, cooking and knitting...
- Buzzing Along.....
It has been quite some time since I have talked about our bees.Yes, we still have bees....but, sadly, only one hive at the present time. Over the past two years we have suffered massive losses.Our eight original hives have suffered gravely. Colony collapse...
- Winterizing Hives
We've had a week of unseasonably warm temperatures.An occasional frigid night reminds us, though,that winter is just around the corner.And this reminder means that time is running out forfinishing Autumn's chore list. The last of the extra chores...
- Beekeeping Basics
Yesterday was another sunny day with temperatures in the 60's. The rain held off (I think today may be the day, though). I took advantage of the wonderful weather, donned my bee suit, and headed out to feed the bees. Earlier this week I mixed...
- Baby, Its Hot Outside!
I have come to notice that the bees act as a thermometer. A few weeks ago, I published a picture of how they hang outside their hive on a hot day, cooling themselves. What I have come to notice is that the hotter it is outside, the more bees are on the...
Animals
We are in that time of year when there is not much
naturally occurring nutrition available for our animals.
As you can see in this picture our front pasture is dry and barren.
Yet, every day the horses love to go out and forage.
They find precious little to eat out there,
but it is a change of scenery and it satisfies them.
Plenty of hay keeps them satisfied through these grey months.
We have had a spell of unseasonably warm weather this past week.
The bees, whose hive we winterized in November,
have been out and about looking for food.
Usually at this time of year they are huddled together inside their hive
keeping warm
and surviving on their stores of honey.
The average life span for a worker bee is about 6 weeks,
however during the winter months it can be much longer.
This is due, in part, to the fact that they spend all winter inside their hive.
So, you see...during warm spells like this when they come out and fly around,
they exert a lot of energy looking for food...
which actually shortens their winter lifespan.
Winters like this can be just as bad for the health of the hive as harsh winters.
We count on the bees living through the winter so that they can repopulate the hive in the Spring.
If they are out and about like they have been lately, we run the risk of them dying before Spring's arrival.
The only green area on the farm right now is the land around the old
log cabin.
The cabin is built on top of a spring.
That spring keeps the surrounding grass green and lush
for much of the winter.
This spring provides constant fresh water for our duck pond.
Originally it provided fresh (indoor) water for the inhabitants of the cabin.
Even with the obvious lack of vegetation,
Ginger and Maryann still enjoy their daily trips outdoors.
Even more than that, though, they love running back to the barn
for their afternoon meal!
- Just An Ordinary Day
It seems as though we have skipped over Autumn and gone right to Winter!Temperatures never left the 40's yesterday,and nighttime lows are in the 30's.Brrrrrrrr..... We had a peaceful weekend at home with our animals.Chores, cooking and knitting...
- Buzzing Along.....
It has been quite some time since I have talked about our bees.Yes, we still have bees....but, sadly, only one hive at the present time. Over the past two years we have suffered massive losses.Our eight original hives have suffered gravely. Colony collapse...
- Winterizing Hives
We've had a week of unseasonably warm temperatures.An occasional frigid night reminds us, though,that winter is just around the corner.And this reminder means that time is running out forfinishing Autumn's chore list. The last of the extra chores...
- Beekeeping Basics
Yesterday was another sunny day with temperatures in the 60's. The rain held off (I think today may be the day, though). I took advantage of the wonderful weather, donned my bee suit, and headed out to feed the bees. Earlier this week I mixed...
- Baby, Its Hot Outside!
I have come to notice that the bees act as a thermometer. A few weeks ago, I published a picture of how they hang outside their hive on a hot day, cooling themselves. What I have come to notice is that the hotter it is outside, the more bees are on the...