Well, my weekend plans were screwed over by rain. I was going to take a ride down to Indy to see Chrish and stay overnight with him, but instead I watched my basement spout water just like a drinking fountain. Luckily the leak was close to the floor drain and thanks to the new street storm drains the all night rain of biblical proportions didn't wash out the entire basement as it used to. I decided I wasn't going to let the change of plans stop me from having some fun and getting some stuff accomplished. The door window is replaced and trimmed out. It's not perfect, but the poor old thing was so out of square I defy anyone to have done a better job. It just needs a little more caulk and some paint, and I'll call it done. I had planned to take Chrish's license plate to him, but because of the rain ended up mailing it out bright and early this morning. Then took a ride to Roanoke Farm Market and had a lovely fresh fruit crepe made on the spot. I picked up some stuff at the grocery on the way home because I needed some corn oil to finish the wintergreen grease patties for the hives, then discovered the bottle of wintergreen oil I bought only contained half the amount needed to complete the recipe. Just another good excuse to hop back on the bike and ride around. Fortuitous that I stopped at the Bean for a chai, met a young woman who works there named Samantha who's started an urban farming business and sells at the local farm markets. We're going to talk bees sometime in the near future. Came home and finished the wintergreen patties and tucked enough in the freezer to last for a good long while. The bees were exceedingly cranky today, I only managed to pull out a couple of frames for inspection before my smoker went out, so I just slapped the patty on the top of the frames and closed it up. The top bar has almost stopped comb production and seem to be concentrating on storing honey when they're not busy stinging me. I thought when I had gloves on, I'd be impervious to stings, but one got me right on the end of the finger. Then I burnt my thumb on the smoker which hurt more than the sting. I decided to stop poking my nose around in their hive and just close it up. I'll have to open it one more time this month to give them some Better Bee sugar water. I wonder when the top bar queen is going to slow down on brood production, it is just boiling with bees. Hopefully they'll have enough honey for the winter. The buckwheat I planted is coming up nicely. As I pull out the spent vegetable, I'm filling in with buckwheat. It's one of the best late summer supplies of nectar and then can be spaded under as a green manure. I wanted to get a stock pot since the pressure cooker I bought last year and used once started leaking steam the second time. So, after a lovely dinner from the garden I hopped on the bike again to go shopping. I found a good deal on an aluminum 4 piece stock pot set. I wanted a heavier gauge, but the really nice ones were sold only as sets. This will do for a little while. I want to make bruschetta and salsa tomorrow. I'm not really that hepped up on the Black Tula tomatoes. The color is actually a little off putting. Next year I'm going to make sure I get some Romas and hopefully some more Sun Sweets if I can find them. I have two more days of freedom from work, and if I just keep moving it keeps me from feeling lonely and thinking about J.
Funny, I have a thumb just like Sissy, too.
3 comments:
I'm curious, what happens to the bees in winter?
The bees stay in a cluster inside their hive and generate heat by flexing their wing muscles. They can't fly unless the outdoor temp. is above 52. When that happens they take short cleansing flights out of the hive to defecate. They don't like soiling their nest. The queen slows down brood production so the size of the nest decreases. Bees only live for 21 days, longer for the ones that hatch out at the end of the season. They stay in a ball that constantly moves from the inside to the out, which keeps them from freezing. If I lay a stethoscope on the hive, I can hear them buzzing away inside all winter. Supposedly they can maintain an internal temperature of 92 degrees inside the hive, nice and cozy. The trick is making sure they have enough food stores to last until nectar flow. I don't really like the idea of feeding with sugar water, it's a poor substitute for nectar, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It's almost time to prepare the hives for winter, wrap them in tar paper, put on the bottom boards and mouse guards, and cross my fingers until spring.
Thanks for explaining. I have always wondered that. For some reason I think I thought they migrated like birds, but that just didn't make sense.
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