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...
- Casualties Of Winter
I don't have to tell any of you...This was the HARDEST winter ever...of my life...ever! Now, we've had winters with more snow.We've had winters just as cold.But we have never had a winter with this much snow and ice and this much cold,that...
- 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...
- To Bee Or Not To Bee
Whew! Internet connection problems almost made it so that I would NOT BEE today!! Sorry so late with the posting. The bugs are all worked out. Now on to the REAL bugs!.....Bees, that is Yesterday's temperate weather gave Hubbs...
- Honey Snacks
It has been a long cold winter here in PA. Jack and I have spent the past several weeks taking an evening beekeeping class at our local community college. We have learned a lot and I feel confident that I am ready to take over as beekeeper. Yesterday...
Animals
Colony Collapse
Life on the farm has its ups and downs.
With this past few days came a couple downs.
First of all,
I lost my sweet Eileen.
You might remember my gold laced Wyandotte chicken
that we treated for bumblefoot last summer.
She did recover from that and by winter was walking
on both feet without a limp.
Yesterday I found her dead in the chicken house.
She was the sweetest of my chickens.
I gave her a little loving each afternoon as I visited the chickens...
she was always receptive.
I'll miss her.
Sadest of all, however, is the loss of most of my beehives to
Colony Collapse.
We opened up the hives this weekend to get them ready for
summer honey production...
to find that we have only one living hive.
The bees from all the other hives were gone...
vanished.
Although we practice organic farming,
our local farmers do not.
Most are dairy farmers who plant corn, soy and hay.
The latest research suggests that Colony Collapse
is due to a very specific insecticide.
I am just sick about this loss.
We will start all over with new bees, but at a slower pace.
I will not be replacing all 8 hives this year,
but will gradually replace them over the coming years.
And so it is with life on a farm...
you take the bad with the good.
Over all...the good far outweighs the bad.
It is still hard to take some losses, though...
and the bees are one of those tough losses...
and something we all need to be concerned about.
- 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...
- Casualties Of Winter
I don't have to tell any of you...This was the HARDEST winter ever...of my life...ever! Now, we've had winters with more snow.We've had winters just as cold.But we have never had a winter with this much snow and ice and this much cold,that...
- 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...
- To Bee Or Not To Bee
Whew! Internet connection problems almost made it so that I would NOT BEE today!! Sorry so late with the posting. The bugs are all worked out. Now on to the REAL bugs!.....Bees, that is Yesterday's temperate weather gave Hubbs...
- Honey Snacks
It has been a long cold winter here in PA. Jack and I have spent the past several weeks taking an evening beekeeping class at our local community college. We have learned a lot and I feel confident that I am ready to take over as beekeeper. Yesterday...