Growing Springing

This is a picture of one of my four blueberry bushes.  The nicest one, I'm still working on getting the soil PH right.  from the looks of this plant I'm getting close.

Early bee food, these are 2 of the early flowers that the bees feed on.  The hairy vetch is a very early bloomer.

The first blossoms.  When I was out working on my chicken enclosure yesterday I noticed one or 2 blooms.  This is what I found today.

 In a few days this will all be a beautiful pink and white landscape full of bees making me honey and apples. 

This was one of the things I was working on yesterday.  My daughter will be gone more this summer so I'm using more mulch to help me combat the weeds.  I stopped at the onset of the rain.  

In the foreground  is my asparagus and past the broccoli under the straw is romaine lettuce.  I covered these plants earlier this week expecting a freeze.  The cover is now so much mulch, I will add more to it.

These are freshly set tomato plants.  I will set more later as some of the early spring crops fail.

The cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are coming along nicely. As are some other things like the onions and romaine.

Hobby Bee Keeper

This is a trailer load of packaged bees, ready to be distributed to local beekeepers form K&K Bee Farm. 
This is a package of bees.  It contains 3 pounds of bees, a queen and a can of sugar water for food.
This is an existing hive the one I thought I had lost the queen from.  Next to it is the wood ware and the 2 packages of bees staged and ready to start.
A closer look at the wood ware and packages.
Done and walking away.  I left some trash, I will pick it up in 3 or 4 days when I remove the queen cages.

This is a queen cage with a queen and 3 or 4 nurse bees.  The white area under the penny is candy.  This is what the worker bees eat and feed to the queen.  When the cage is placed in a hive the workers will eat their way through the candy from the other end releasing the queen into the hive.  This takes several days allowing the bees to acclimate to each other.

My new bees came in today as seen above.  After doing some tilling in the garden and setting out a few more broccoli plants I ran to K&K Bee Store and picked up my 2 packages of bees, a queen and a few supplies.  I didn’t need the queen so I will try to return her or ask them to sell her for me. 

When I checked my hives earlier this year I failed to fine the queen in one hive.  Because I didn’t find the queen and although there was capped brood, I didn’t see any fresh eggs or early stage larva.  And because a mouse had gotten into this hive during the winter I thought she might be dead.  So I ordered a new queen.  Today as I prepared to insert the new queen I discovered a very active and healthy hive with lots of new brood and fresh eggs.  This is good, because it means I will get honey from these girls this year.

 

God is good,

Patience

The spring rains have set in and while I have seed in the ground, I whish I had planted other things.  This rain will bring things springing to the surface and beyond.  In the past I have worked some stuff in the garden while it was wet.  If setting plants it works well if you have raised beds but I don’t, so I wade though mud up to 8 inches deep sometimes.  

I have been enjoying our asparagus I love to just pick and eat it raw, on the spot.  But alas I have to put some on the table for everyone else.

We have finished the apple trees and they are now budding leaves out with some red showing.  

Waiting again!

 

I have cobbled together all the supplies needed for the new bees I ordered and again I wait for their arrival.  They should arrive this coming week.  I will try to get some pictures of them.  It is hard as I need a second person when it comes to getting pictures of them.  For some reason no one wants to be around when I get into them.

Yesterday I went to the nursery and bought some more plants; more broccoli and some tomatoes plants and some jalapeño plants (yes I still buy plants but I’m working on that, next year).  Sunday I will set the broccoli plants and after the coming cold snap I will set all the rest of the plants.  Yes I gamble sometimes but I think this will be the last freeze/frost. 

It’s Sabbath and what a relief it is to sit quietly and feel God’s arms around you.