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!

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 :)

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!

buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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!!