Monday, July 25, 2011

good little hen...

this is "omlet" and im very sure she is the little hen doing the laying! she is so cute... she is squwalking up a storm and running between nesting boxes. here i found her in a barrel i use to muck out the coop...she is making her own nest! me & the kids cracked open one of the little eggs she made and it had a perfect, tiny yolk inside...i love it!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

our first egg!

one of our hens finally laid an egg...and it's green! looks like one of our auracana girls wins the prize! yesterday morning i went out to do my usual feeding & clean up, when i saw this tiny little green egg on the ground. at first i thought it was a robin's egg. it is small, the size of a quail egg, but that is normal and in a few weeks she will be laying normal sized eggs. so excited to see months of work start to pay off :)

Monday, July 18, 2011

still learning...

about 2 weeks ago i wrote that i thought 2 of my hives were queen-less...well i was so wrong! i still have so much to learn...i jumped the gun and bought 2 new queens. when i went to hive them, i did another inspection and found eggs and capped brood in both! so we took 3 frames of brood, honey & bees and 1 of the new queens and made a nuc...the other queen i am trying to sell so she doesnt go to waste. making this split was not in my plans, but i hope it grows into another full colony!

today was pat's first day as a beekeeper! he is fearless and has been asking & asking to do an inspection with me...i had to gain some confidence in myself before i took him out there. he wore his dad's jacket (maybe we will save up and buy him his own suit) he did great, he loves it! pat is a nature boy, anything that is alive and growing he is all about it! im happy that we can teach him beekeeping and as he grows it may be a real passion for him...the world needs more beekeepers!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

bee troubles and garden 2011 update...

on sunday i was stung for the 5th time, and this one was the worst yet! she got me on my thigh, through my jeans! i had my gloves on, so i couldnt get the stinger out fast enough...my poor leg got every drop of bee venom she had in her...ouch! by monday morning i had a softball-sized lump...but today its a little better, so i think ill live :)...but, i am very worried because i think 2 of the hives are queen-less! no brood, no eggs, no larvae...not good! thankfully i found an apiary with lots of queens in our area, http://beehavin.com/ , we are going to pick them up ASAP!

today i harvested the first cucumbers of the year...hopefully they are the first of many, because i really want to make homemade pickles! summer squash & beans are still going strong and i can not wait for the tomatoes and corn.

in chicken news...we are still anxiously awaiting the first egg. come on ladies...any day now!!