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| Grilled. |
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| Roasted with peppers. |
Showing posts with label Country Living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Country Living. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Deer Hunting
Living in the country, the Oldest Son has several friends that do a lot of hunting, and particularly deer hunting. Since I grew up in a family that didn't really do any hunting, it isn't something that I am able to pass on to my sons. But Oldest Son requested that we go deer hunting. So where to start?
First was the hunters safety course. Since I had never had a hunting license, I needed to take the class with Oldest Son to get my license. For the record, Oldest Son only got one question wrong on his test, and his father still did better! Now we were licensed and ready to hunt, but the season hadn't started yet.
Virginia has a youth hunt day before the regular season starts where anyone with a license between 12-15 years old can take any deer on one day. Oldest Son went with some friends to their cabin to give it a try, but didn't see any deer that day.
Several friends we have made here in VA go deer hunting, and several were more than willing to take us out and show us the ropes. But being an engineer, I like to get some hands on instruction before being set loose in the woods. Too many things can go wrong and I wanted to be sure that I was prepared. So it seemed appropriate that a class was in order. Luckily for me, Jackson Landers teaches a class up in Charlottesville. This is a two day, hands on class that goes through hunting tactics, shooting range experience with various caliber rifles, actual hands on butchering of a deer, and cooking of the deer that the class butchers.
WARNING - The below photos may be graphic to people that are not used to hunting or butchering animals!
There was a surprise snow storm up in the hills west of Charlottesville on the Saturday that we were at the rifle range. We went up to a public range in the George Washington National Forest southwest of Staunton.
The trees were still in color, the grass was green and the slow was covering the ground. This made for some postcard photos, and a cold day at the range.
It turned out to be a cold day, but the sun was out and our minds were more on the range than the weather. We got to shoot all sorts of rifles, including .30-06, .30-30, .270 Winchester, .22 and .308 among others. Not sure what other calibers were there, as these were the main ones that I tried. We started with a .22 out a 25 and 50 yards, then moved onto the higher power rifles at 100 yards. At the end, a few clay disks were stuck out at 150 yards. Jackson had a new hunting knife as a trophy for whoever could hit one of the clay targets in the fewest shots. One guy hit it on one shot. My first shot I anticipated, and pulled it to the side. My next shot was dead on. One shot too late.
The next day was butchering after some more class time. One of the additional instructors, Fergus Clare, got a fallow deer from a deer farm. Unfortunately, the deer farm will be closing this year, so Jackson will only be having two more classes this year.
Everyone in the class got a hand in skinning the deer. It was done in a worst case scenario on the ground, without hanging the deer in a tree. He told us that if we could process a deer on the ground, we could do it anywhere.
Everyone took turns as Jackson and Fergus showed us what to do. I got to cut off a quarter and take out a backstrap, along with assisting in the skinning.
Interestingly, there was a lady filming our class as she is working on a documentary on Jackson. We'll have to wait and see if any of us in the class move on to become a star. Although one of the students is an actor, I'm not sure if this class would help his career. Surprisingly, she stuck right there with everything as we processed the deer.
This class is geared towards adults that want to start hunting deer. It has appealed to the slow food and locavore movement, where people are wanting to take responsibility for where their food comes from and have meat that is not stuffed with hormones and antibiotics. A wild whitetail deer is as free-range and natural as it gets. This class showed us how to use all parts of the deer. As you can see below, by the time we were done, there wasn't much left of the deer.
Now that the deer was processed in the field, it was time to head to the kitchen. Jackson showed us how to clean up the cuts of meat and how to get a much meat as possible from the deer for consumption, including grinding the lesser bits for use in things such as tacos, etc.
We started out with a few medallions pan seared with some olive oil and salt and pepper and some fresh thyme. Then it was on to the backstrap with some butter, salt, pepper and thyme.
The hind quarters were then cut up to show us how to get the most out of that portion of the deer. For being a smaller doe, it did provide quite a bit of meat.
The meat was delicious. We talked a bit about the misconception of the "gamey" taste of venison. That is due to the poor handling of the meat between the death of the deer and getting the meat into the freezer. Picture Bubba driving around town with his deer tied on the hood of the truck over the hot engine for a few hours showing all his friends his prize buck. If handled properly, you can not even tell the difference in the taste of the meat from very lean beef. The meat that we ate was incredibly tasty.
I can't say enough about this class. It gave me the confidence to go out and try to take a deer by myself, although I hope to go with one of my experienced friends at first, just to have the backup assistance if things go wrong. This will be something now that I can pass on to Oldest Son and later Middle Son and Youngest Son if they have the interest.
First was the hunters safety course. Since I had never had a hunting license, I needed to take the class with Oldest Son to get my license. For the record, Oldest Son only got one question wrong on his test, and his father still did better! Now we were licensed and ready to hunt, but the season hadn't started yet.
Virginia has a youth hunt day before the regular season starts where anyone with a license between 12-15 years old can take any deer on one day. Oldest Son went with some friends to their cabin to give it a try, but didn't see any deer that day.
Several friends we have made here in VA go deer hunting, and several were more than willing to take us out and show us the ropes. But being an engineer, I like to get some hands on instruction before being set loose in the woods. Too many things can go wrong and I wanted to be sure that I was prepared. So it seemed appropriate that a class was in order. Luckily for me, Jackson Landers teaches a class up in Charlottesville. This is a two day, hands on class that goes through hunting tactics, shooting range experience with various caliber rifles, actual hands on butchering of a deer, and cooking of the deer that the class butchers.
WARNING - The below photos may be graphic to people that are not used to hunting or butchering animals!
There was a surprise snow storm up in the hills west of Charlottesville on the Saturday that we were at the rifle range. We went up to a public range in the George Washington National Forest southwest of Staunton.
The trees were still in color, the grass was green and the slow was covering the ground. This made for some postcard photos, and a cold day at the range.
It turned out to be a cold day, but the sun was out and our minds were more on the range than the weather. We got to shoot all sorts of rifles, including .30-06, .30-30, .270 Winchester, .22 and .308 among others. Not sure what other calibers were there, as these were the main ones that I tried. We started with a .22 out a 25 and 50 yards, then moved onto the higher power rifles at 100 yards. At the end, a few clay disks were stuck out at 150 yards. Jackson had a new hunting knife as a trophy for whoever could hit one of the clay targets in the fewest shots. One guy hit it on one shot. My first shot I anticipated, and pulled it to the side. My next shot was dead on. One shot too late.
The next day was butchering after some more class time. One of the additional instructors, Fergus Clare, got a fallow deer from a deer farm. Unfortunately, the deer farm will be closing this year, so Jackson will only be having two more classes this year.
Everyone in the class got a hand in skinning the deer. It was done in a worst case scenario on the ground, without hanging the deer in a tree. He told us that if we could process a deer on the ground, we could do it anywhere.
Everyone took turns as Jackson and Fergus showed us what to do. I got to cut off a quarter and take out a backstrap, along with assisting in the skinning.
Interestingly, there was a lady filming our class as she is working on a documentary on Jackson. We'll have to wait and see if any of us in the class move on to become a star. Although one of the students is an actor, I'm not sure if this class would help his career. Surprisingly, she stuck right there with everything as we processed the deer.
This class is geared towards adults that want to start hunting deer. It has appealed to the slow food and locavore movement, where people are wanting to take responsibility for where their food comes from and have meat that is not stuffed with hormones and antibiotics. A wild whitetail deer is as free-range and natural as it gets. This class showed us how to use all parts of the deer. As you can see below, by the time we were done, there wasn't much left of the deer.
Now that the deer was processed in the field, it was time to head to the kitchen. Jackson showed us how to clean up the cuts of meat and how to get a much meat as possible from the deer for consumption, including grinding the lesser bits for use in things such as tacos, etc.
We started out with a few medallions pan seared with some olive oil and salt and pepper and some fresh thyme. Then it was on to the backstrap with some butter, salt, pepper and thyme.
 |
| Backstrap being prepared for cooking. |
The hind quarters were then cut up to show us how to get the most out of that portion of the deer. For being a smaller doe, it did provide quite a bit of meat.
The meat was delicious. We talked a bit about the misconception of the "gamey" taste of venison. That is due to the poor handling of the meat between the death of the deer and getting the meat into the freezer. Picture Bubba driving around town with his deer tied on the hood of the truck over the hot engine for a few hours showing all his friends his prize buck. If handled properly, you can not even tell the difference in the taste of the meat from very lean beef. The meat that we ate was incredibly tasty.
I can't say enough about this class. It gave me the confidence to go out and try to take a deer by myself, although I hope to go with one of my experienced friends at first, just to have the backup assistance if things go wrong. This will be something now that I can pass on to Oldest Son and later Middle Son and Youngest Son if they have the interest.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Brunswick Stew at Possum's
Today was a sign of fall. Yes, it is technically fall, being after September 21, but it sure hasn't felt like it. There are a few trees starting to turn colors, and we had a few days of cooler weather, but this week it has been raining almost every day and it has been about 80 degrees this week. It's hard to feel like it is fall when you are still in shorts and tee shirts. My long-sleeve tee shirts have been silently crying to me to get some use.
But this was the day that Possum selected for his Brunswick stew party. For those of you not familiar with Possum, he is the one that saw me working my original two bee hives and asked me if I would put some bees at his 3 acre garden. He starts the stew around 6am in the morning cooking over a wood fire fueled by only hickory. He says it adds flavor to the stew. The main ingredients are tomatoes, butter beans, corn, celery, potatoes, chicken, turkey, stock from the chicken and turkey along with water and a selection of seasonings and spices. Mixed all together and cooked in a monstrous pot over a wood fire. The pot is so large that he doesn't have have a matching lid. Instead, he uses a piece of plywood cut to a matching circle with a handle screwed on the center for lifting.
It was delicious. The Middle Son and Youngest Son chose not to partake and Possum had hot dogs and sausage for them, cooked up in his smoker to add some extra flavor.
A lot of people were coming and going. Possum said about 80 people were invited, and the party started at noon and goes until the pot is empty. That's the way to have a country get together to celebrate the changing of seasons and the coming of fall.
But this was the day that Possum selected for his Brunswick stew party. For those of you not familiar with Possum, he is the one that saw me working my original two bee hives and asked me if I would put some bees at his 3 acre garden. He starts the stew around 6am in the morning cooking over a wood fire fueled by only hickory. He says it adds flavor to the stew. The main ingredients are tomatoes, butter beans, corn, celery, potatoes, chicken, turkey, stock from the chicken and turkey along with water and a selection of seasonings and spices. Mixed all together and cooked in a monstrous pot over a wood fire. The pot is so large that he doesn't have have a matching lid. Instead, he uses a piece of plywood cut to a matching circle with a handle screwed on the center for lifting.
 |
| Possum filling a serving bowl from the main pot of Brunswick stew. |
It was delicious. The Middle Son and Youngest Son chose not to partake and Possum had hot dogs and sausage for them, cooked up in his smoker to add some extra flavor.
A lot of people were coming and going. Possum said about 80 people were invited, and the party started at noon and goes until the pot is empty. That's the way to have a country get together to celebrate the changing of seasons and the coming of fall.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Somebody is Watching!
From checking the blog stats here, it is known that a few people here and there have been checking out my blog and following my haphazard adventures to living the country life. But now it is proven. Concrete2Chickens has been given the "Liebster Blog" award by the nice couple over at Broken Road Farms. It was the bonding we had over waiting for our first eggs this summer from our first chickens.
From "Our Life on the Broken Road": "Liebster" is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.
The Liebster is awarded to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. Concrete2Chickens definitely fits into that category with less than 200 followers!
There are a few rules associated with the Liebster Blog award. So without further ado, here we go.
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
Thank you Broken Road Farms! This award may seem insignificant to some, but it means a lot to me to get some kudos from someone other than family and pre-blog friends.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
This is not an easy task as there are a lot of blogs I watch and I don't want to offend those that are not listed below. There will actually be six mentions, but one of them gave the award to me, so I assume I can't give it back. With that in mind and Broken Road Farms already mentioned more than once, my top 5 picks are as follows:
1 - Haphazardly Coherent - Full disclosure: Cookiedough was my college room mate and we worked together at my last job in Phoenix. Even with that going for him, his blog stands on its own. Most of the posts focus on two of his favorite things: mountain biking and food. Not just any food, but unique combinations of food, and a lot of it on the grill. His photography is excellent and I know he works hard to get better and better. In 2010 he challenged me to do a Photo a Day with him. Well, I made it through about May which is when we moved to VA and everything got really busy and I got distracted. He powered through and completed the entire year with only missing about two weeks total. If you haven't tried this yourself, you can't imagine how impressive that is!
2 - Life in a Little Red Farmhouse - Although I have not met Kim, I feel a bit of a bond with her as we both have three boys and have moved to the country from city life. Her posts are filled with great pictures, and that "Little Red Farmhouse" is awesome! Her and her family built the house by themselves and made it the way they like it. Some country, some modern and a little bit of whatever they want. They also have patience beyond measure. They have been taking horse riding lessons and spent a lot of time just training the horses without even riding. I'm not sure I could have been that patient to wait. And their menagerie of animals on their farm keeps me coming back to find out what they are going to be doing next! (After I wrote this glowing review, I realized that Kim has over 200 followers. I still think she deserves the award though, so I am going to keep it listed here.)
3 - Rurally Screwed - I'm not sure how many followers Jessie has, so I am including her. Jessie is another one that left city life and moved to the country. And her husband is over in Afghanistan serving our country in the US Armed Forces. She is also getting settled into country living and her posts are loaded with photos. And Jessie tells it like it is.
4 - The Locavore Hunter - Again, I'm not sure how many follower Jack has, but his blog is intriguing. I just ordered his first book "The Beginner's Guide to Hunting Deer for Food". The oldest son has a lot of friends that are into hunting and he wants to give it a try. This is a whole new topic for me that I won't get into here. Jack is also working on a new book called "Eating Aliens". Although it sounds odd, it is all about hunting and eating invasive species that can actually make natural species go extinct in certain areas. And I love reading his hunting stories.
5 - Apple Pie Gal - I have just recently started following Apple Pie Gal, but I have spent a little time checking out some of her older posts. She definitely has variety, from hunting, to gardening, to canning, to chickens, to bees, to just about anything. And the best part, they have a tractor that any homestead would love to have. They have done a lot of the things that I hope to do and her blog is a wealth of information to be learned. Looking through her blog I noticed that she has already received the "Liebster Blog" award, but hey, people can get multiple Grammy's and Emmy's, so why not multiple Liebster Blog's?
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
Done above.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
I'm sure they will as all of them have been friendly and welcoming.
5. And most of all - have fun!!
Sometimes my posting has gaps due to either work or personal life, but I try to catch up, even if everything isn't in chronological order. I hope that all of you have enjoyed following everything that is going on here at our home, and please, feel free to leave comments. It is the small affirmation that what I am writing resonates with someone else out there!
From "Our Life on the Broken Road": "Liebster" is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.
The Liebster is awarded to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. Concrete2Chickens definitely fits into that category with less than 200 followers!
There are a few rules associated with the Liebster Blog award. So without further ado, here we go.
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
Thank you Broken Road Farms! This award may seem insignificant to some, but it means a lot to me to get some kudos from someone other than family and pre-blog friends.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
This is not an easy task as there are a lot of blogs I watch and I don't want to offend those that are not listed below. There will actually be six mentions, but one of them gave the award to me, so I assume I can't give it back. With that in mind and Broken Road Farms already mentioned more than once, my top 5 picks are as follows:
1 - Haphazardly Coherent - Full disclosure: Cookiedough was my college room mate and we worked together at my last job in Phoenix. Even with that going for him, his blog stands on its own. Most of the posts focus on two of his favorite things: mountain biking and food. Not just any food, but unique combinations of food, and a lot of it on the grill. His photography is excellent and I know he works hard to get better and better. In 2010 he challenged me to do a Photo a Day with him. Well, I made it through about May which is when we moved to VA and everything got really busy and I got distracted. He powered through and completed the entire year with only missing about two weeks total. If you haven't tried this yourself, you can't imagine how impressive that is!
2 - Life in a Little Red Farmhouse - Although I have not met Kim, I feel a bit of a bond with her as we both have three boys and have moved to the country from city life. Her posts are filled with great pictures, and that "Little Red Farmhouse" is awesome! Her and her family built the house by themselves and made it the way they like it. Some country, some modern and a little bit of whatever they want. They also have patience beyond measure. They have been taking horse riding lessons and spent a lot of time just training the horses without even riding. I'm not sure I could have been that patient to wait. And their menagerie of animals on their farm keeps me coming back to find out what they are going to be doing next! (After I wrote this glowing review, I realized that Kim has over 200 followers. I still think she deserves the award though, so I am going to keep it listed here.)
3 - Rurally Screwed - I'm not sure how many followers Jessie has, so I am including her. Jessie is another one that left city life and moved to the country. And her husband is over in Afghanistan serving our country in the US Armed Forces. She is also getting settled into country living and her posts are loaded with photos. And Jessie tells it like it is.
4 - The Locavore Hunter - Again, I'm not sure how many follower Jack has, but his blog is intriguing. I just ordered his first book "The Beginner's Guide to Hunting Deer for Food". The oldest son has a lot of friends that are into hunting and he wants to give it a try. This is a whole new topic for me that I won't get into here. Jack is also working on a new book called "Eating Aliens". Although it sounds odd, it is all about hunting and eating invasive species that can actually make natural species go extinct in certain areas. And I love reading his hunting stories.
5 - Apple Pie Gal - I have just recently started following Apple Pie Gal, but I have spent a little time checking out some of her older posts. She definitely has variety, from hunting, to gardening, to canning, to chickens, to bees, to just about anything. And the best part, they have a tractor that any homestead would love to have. They have done a lot of the things that I hope to do and her blog is a wealth of information to be learned. Looking through her blog I noticed that she has already received the "Liebster Blog" award, but hey, people can get multiple Grammy's and Emmy's, so why not multiple Liebster Blog's?
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
Done above.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
I'm sure they will as all of them have been friendly and welcoming.
5. And most of all - have fun!!
Sometimes my posting has gaps due to either work or personal life, but I try to catch up, even if everything isn't in chronological order. I hope that all of you have enjoyed following everything that is going on here at our home, and please, feel free to leave comments. It is the small affirmation that what I am writing resonates with someone else out there!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
And then there was one...
Unfortunately more bad news for the guineas. Their number have dwindled from a high of eight at one time, down to two. And now, only one left.
The last two guineas, a male and female pair, have been free-ranging for the last couple months. They are let out in the morning and show up back in the coop at night when the door gets closed for their protection. Throughout the day they wander all over the place, including all of our neighbor's yards and the woods surrounding and between all the houses. They had even started laying eggs in a nest out in the pasture and had created a collection of seven eggs. We like to think that their wandering range has expanded due to the fact they have eaten all the ticks in our yard and need to expand out to find more ticks!
This time the neighbor's yellow lab decided she didn't like the guineas roaming into their yard and put an end to one of them. The Oldest Son had to go over and put it out of its misery. Not being a "hands-on" type with the animals he used his pellet gun to finish the job. The Good Wife offered to do it, but the Oldest Son said he would do it. I'm proud of him for that, but he is taking it really hard. He really enjoyed the guineas and got attached to them.
Overall, it is a part of country living and having animals. It is a part of life that a lot of people are not exposed to, especially growing up in a city. We will all be better people for having experienced the raising of the guineas, and now the death of the guineas.
With school starting next week and being late in the season, I'm not sure we are ready to start again with another batch of keets. If we decide to do guineas again, it may have to wait until next year.
What will happen with the last guinea? Will it get lonely and wander away for good? Will it integrate more with the chickens and make new friends? Only time will tell what will happen with the last lone survivor.
The last two guineas, a male and female pair, have been free-ranging for the last couple months. They are let out in the morning and show up back in the coop at night when the door gets closed for their protection. Throughout the day they wander all over the place, including all of our neighbor's yards and the woods surrounding and between all the houses. They had even started laying eggs in a nest out in the pasture and had created a collection of seven eggs. We like to think that their wandering range has expanded due to the fact they have eaten all the ticks in our yard and need to expand out to find more ticks!
This time the neighbor's yellow lab decided she didn't like the guineas roaming into their yard and put an end to one of them. The Oldest Son had to go over and put it out of its misery. Not being a "hands-on" type with the animals he used his pellet gun to finish the job. The Good Wife offered to do it, but the Oldest Son said he would do it. I'm proud of him for that, but he is taking it really hard. He really enjoyed the guineas and got attached to them.
Overall, it is a part of country living and having animals. It is a part of life that a lot of people are not exposed to, especially growing up in a city. We will all be better people for having experienced the raising of the guineas, and now the death of the guineas.
With school starting next week and being late in the season, I'm not sure we are ready to start again with another batch of keets. If we decide to do guineas again, it may have to wait until next year.
What will happen with the last guinea? Will it get lonely and wander away for good? Will it integrate more with the chickens and make new friends? Only time will tell what will happen with the last lone survivor.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Chicken Update...aka Egg Update
The chickens have finally started laying eggs as was posted previously. Small light brown. Medium dark brown. Medium light brown. And small dark brown. First it was one egg a day. Then two eggs a day. Then tree and four eggs a day. But there are seven chickens. Who was laying what?
The boys had identified a few of the layers by keeping an eye on the coop and tracking who was spending time in the nesting boxes. The Buff Orpington was the first to lay an egg. Next was one of the Barred Rock chickens. They also believe one of the Black Australorps has been spending some time in the nesting boxes.
Today we know for sure who one of the eggs layers is. It is one of the Americauna chickens, also known as an Easter Egger, due to the green and blue tinted eggs they lay.
Every day going to the coop and getting the eggs is an exciting event for the boys. They race to the coop to see what might be waiting for them. Today it was an extra special surprise with the green egg.
We still have two more chickens that need to start laying, and we are sure it will only be a matter of days now. All these weeks of raising the chickens from just day old chicks is now paying off.
Eggs don't get more fresh than right out of the coop and into the frying pan. Less than 50 yards and a matter of minutes from the egg 'factory' to the frying pan. No nasty chemicals or processing. And our chickens are free ranging and happy! We can tell by how they come running up to me when I get home from work.
The added bonus this week is that our friends nearby that have chickens are on vacation. So they asked us to take care of their chickens. The payment is that we get the eggs while they are away, and they have 14 chickens, although only six are currently laying. Next week they are going to take care of our chickens while we are gone for a few days, and they get to keep our eggs. By quantity and size, we get the better end of the deal. But from a good looking carton of eggs, they definitely will come out ahead!
The boys had identified a few of the layers by keeping an eye on the coop and tracking who was spending time in the nesting boxes. The Buff Orpington was the first to lay an egg. Next was one of the Barred Rock chickens. They also believe one of the Black Australorps has been spending some time in the nesting boxes.
Today we know for sure who one of the eggs layers is. It is one of the Americauna chickens, also known as an Easter Egger, due to the green and blue tinted eggs they lay.
 |
| Our first "Easter Egg." |
Every day going to the coop and getting the eggs is an exciting event for the boys. They race to the coop to see what might be waiting for them. Today it was an extra special surprise with the green egg.
We still have two more chickens that need to start laying, and we are sure it will only be a matter of days now. All these weeks of raising the chickens from just day old chicks is now paying off.
 |
| One of the Americauna chickens at only a few weeks old. |
Eggs don't get more fresh than right out of the coop and into the frying pan. Less than 50 yards and a matter of minutes from the egg 'factory' to the frying pan. No nasty chemicals or processing. And our chickens are free ranging and happy! We can tell by how they come running up to me when I get home from work.
The added bonus this week is that our friends nearby that have chickens are on vacation. So they asked us to take care of their chickens. The payment is that we get the eggs while they are away, and they have 14 chickens, although only six are currently laying. Next week they are going to take care of our chickens while we are gone for a few days, and they get to keep our eggs. By quantity and size, we get the better end of the deal. But from a good looking carton of eggs, they definitely will come out ahead!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Japanese Beetles and My Picky Chickens and Guineas
This last fall we planted a dozen various fruit trees. We planted a selection of apple, pear, peach, cherry, plum and even a kiwi. We bought them online at Stark Brothers Nursery.
Overall they have done really well, except for the plum, kiwi and one of the apple trees. The plum was just a stick with no roots, so not sure what happened there. The kiwi was but a sprout, and that died out. The apple tree death was due to the boys. When we got a bit of snow this last winter, they were being towed on a sled behind the neighbor's ATV and swung wide. They went past the tree and the rope did a great job of cutting the tree right at the base.
They have a one year guarantee, so we will get those replaced early this fall and try again, although we may skip the kiwi as we later learned it was a vine, not a tree. Not sure I want to deal with that at this point. Although the trees have done well overall, we probably would have bought locally if we had known last fall that everyone would be selling fruit trees locally in the spring. Being from AZ, how were we supposed to know?
The last couple weeks we have noticed that there are a lot of Japanese Beetles on the cherry trees, and starting to head to the apple trees. For some reason, they don't like the peach trees. After purchasing some spray at the hardware store, the Good Wife pointed out that it is extremely toxic, not only to humans and every living creature, but particularly to honey bees! Yikes! I can't do that. The online search began for an organic method to control the Japanese Beetles.
One website mentioned to pick them off by hand and place into soapy water to kill them if you don't have a lot of trees. Since we had less than a dozen, that seemed like a good idea. Later on the website it mentioned that if you had chickens, you could feed the beetles to the chickens and they would really like them. Aha! Save the trees and give the chickens and guineas a treat!
So this morning I went out to the trees and picked all the Japanese beetles off the cherry trees and placed them into a glass jar. After collecting about two dozen beetles, I went down to the poultry run to deliver my special treat to the chickens and guineas. Before opening the run, I went inside and dumped the jar of beetles on the ground. The chickens stopped and looked at the beetles, then looked at me, as if to say, "You want me to do what with those? You want me to eat those? Gross!" They totally ignored the beetles. I opened up the run to let them free range and they all took off, out of the run. They had no interest in the beetles at all. I had to go back into the coop and step on all the beetles to kill them so they didn't head back to the trees.
Who would have known that the chickens would be so picky. Maybe I need to give the beetles to the chickens after they are out of the run and aren't distracted with getting free. Or maybe they would be a better treat before bedtime when they head back to the coop at the end of the day. I'm not going to give up on this, since if the chickens do acquire a taste for these little beetles, they may search them out and help save my fruit trees. Stay tuned to see if my chickens only like "free-range" bugs.
Overall they have done really well, except for the plum, kiwi and one of the apple trees. The plum was just a stick with no roots, so not sure what happened there. The kiwi was but a sprout, and that died out. The apple tree death was due to the boys. When we got a bit of snow this last winter, they were being towed on a sled behind the neighbor's ATV and swung wide. They went past the tree and the rope did a great job of cutting the tree right at the base.
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| All that is left of the apple tree after the boys decapitation. |
They have a one year guarantee, so we will get those replaced early this fall and try again, although we may skip the kiwi as we later learned it was a vine, not a tree. Not sure I want to deal with that at this point. Although the trees have done well overall, we probably would have bought locally if we had known last fall that everyone would be selling fruit trees locally in the spring. Being from AZ, how were we supposed to know?
The last couple weeks we have noticed that there are a lot of Japanese Beetles on the cherry trees, and starting to head to the apple trees. For some reason, they don't like the peach trees. After purchasing some spray at the hardware store, the Good Wife pointed out that it is extremely toxic, not only to humans and every living creature, but particularly to honey bees! Yikes! I can't do that. The online search began for an organic method to control the Japanese Beetles.
 |
| Cherry tree eaten by Japanese Beetles. |
One website mentioned to pick them off by hand and place into soapy water to kill them if you don't have a lot of trees. Since we had less than a dozen, that seemed like a good idea. Later on the website it mentioned that if you had chickens, you could feed the beetles to the chickens and they would really like them. Aha! Save the trees and give the chickens and guineas a treat!
So this morning I went out to the trees and picked all the Japanese beetles off the cherry trees and placed them into a glass jar. After collecting about two dozen beetles, I went down to the poultry run to deliver my special treat to the chickens and guineas. Before opening the run, I went inside and dumped the jar of beetles on the ground. The chickens stopped and looked at the beetles, then looked at me, as if to say, "You want me to do what with those? You want me to eat those? Gross!" They totally ignored the beetles. I opened up the run to let them free range and they all took off, out of the run. They had no interest in the beetles at all. I had to go back into the coop and step on all the beetles to kill them so they didn't head back to the trees.
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| Japanese beetles making more beetles after eating the leaf empty. |
Who would have known that the chickens would be so picky. Maybe I need to give the beetles to the chickens after they are out of the run and aren't distracted with getting free. Or maybe they would be a better treat before bedtime when they head back to the coop at the end of the day. I'm not going to give up on this, since if the chickens do acquire a taste for these little beetles, they may search them out and help save my fruit trees. Stay tuned to see if my chickens only like "free-range" bugs.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Storms and Generators
Today was hot and humid. Which in Virginia this time of year means afternoon thunderstorms. And that is exactly what happened.
Arriving home from work, we ate supper as the clouds were starting to form. The Good Wife left shortly after to take Fenix, our incredibly perfect dog, to obedience class down at the Goochland community center. Fenix already passed the first round of obedience classes, but the Good Wife figured he needed to learn to walk on a leash better when we go for walks, so off they went to class. I was able to get on the lawn mower and outline around the house so Oldest Son would be able to finish the yard later. I stayed on the mower until a flash of lightning was so close it seemed bright as I was looking down at the ground, while I was mowing around the Good Wife's raised beds.
In the house, all the blinds were closed, as all the boys are afraid of storms. That may have to do with the tornado that came through after the Good Wife had assured them there are no tornados in Virginia before we moved.
We decided to play the Wii to get their minds off the storm. That worked for a little while until the lights flashed off, then on, then off, then partly on, off again, partially on again, and then finally off. About one minute later we could hear the generator outside kick in. And thirty seconds later, the lights were on! Along with the fridge, well pump, A/C and an assortment of other lights.
The household generator is not something that was paid much attention when I bought the house without the Good Wife seeing it, but that is another story. My family and I are just glad it is there and automatically does it's thing when it is needed. Hopefully it won't be long until the electricity comes back on.
Arriving home from work, we ate supper as the clouds were starting to form. The Good Wife left shortly after to take Fenix, our incredibly perfect dog, to obedience class down at the Goochland community center. Fenix already passed the first round of obedience classes, but the Good Wife figured he needed to learn to walk on a leash better when we go for walks, so off they went to class. I was able to get on the lawn mower and outline around the house so Oldest Son would be able to finish the yard later. I stayed on the mower until a flash of lightning was so close it seemed bright as I was looking down at the ground, while I was mowing around the Good Wife's raised beds.
In the house, all the blinds were closed, as all the boys are afraid of storms. That may have to do with the tornado that came through after the Good Wife had assured them there are no tornados in Virginia before we moved.
We decided to play the Wii to get their minds off the storm. That worked for a little while until the lights flashed off, then on, then off, then partly on, off again, partially on again, and then finally off. About one minute later we could hear the generator outside kick in. And thirty seconds later, the lights were on! Along with the fridge, well pump, A/C and an assortment of other lights.
The household generator is not something that was paid much attention when I bought the house without the Good Wife seeing it, but that is another story. My family and I are just glad it is there and automatically does it's thing when it is needed. Hopefully it won't be long until the electricity comes back on.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Guinea Attack!
If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know that the guineas have been the evil fowl in our attempt at animal husbandry. After one of the guineas was suspect in the killing of one of our Buff Orpington chickens, my compassion level for the guineas has waned. The only reason they have continued to be tolerated is only because I dislike ticks a whole lot more. Much more!
I had planned a couple weeks ago to write a post about the guineas and particularly their social order in the guinea gang. As the gang roams our property, the leader of the gang will usually be on the lookout for any mischievous activity or innocent chickens they can harass. Most of the guineas are oblivious to what is happening, filling their bellies, hopefully on ticks.
Until the leader of the gang sounds the signal while standing tall.
Then they all let loose with their farm yard siren. Surprisingly none of the neighbors have made any comments or complained, but in their defense, we have some really great neighbors.
Last week I was pretty upset with the guineas about the gang style murder of my Buff Orpington. Yes, I am assuming guilt without full evidence, but sometimes that has to happen in the country when no one was around to witness the dastardly deed. I decided to leave them out all day, even though the Good Wife was taking the kids to King's Dominion amusement park all day and I was going to meet them there after work and I knew it would be late before I got home. They had already been free ranging all day for a few weeks, and they always came back to the coops to roost at the end of the day.
We didn't get back home until 10:30 pm and I went down to the coop right away. I looked in and there were only two chickens inside! I had a flashlight and looked around. There were two more up on the coop, so I reached up and grabbed them and put them into the coop. Another was found up on the top of the rail of the run. After a little coaxing, I was able to reach her and get her into the coop. I couldn't find the other two chickens or any of the guineas.
I walked the perimeter of the yard at the edge of the woods, hoping to find them under the brush or up in the trees, hoping they had enough natural instinct to go somewhere safe. After searching in the dark for what seemed a long time, I closed up the coop and left the run open, in case any decided to come home in the middle of the night.
Come morning I was eager to find my runaways. Looking out the window from my bedroom I saw the two runaway chickens walking around the coop, along with a couple guineas! They were safe...or so I thought.
As I headed down to the coop, I noticed a lot of feathers in the yard. They were all guinea feathers. This wasn't good.
Feathers everywhere. I started following the clumps of feathers. Obviously they had fought and ran, fought and ran, fought and ran.
There must have been 15 small clumps of feathers all over the property. After following clumps of feathers around the yard and through the pasture, I finally found one of the feather sources.
It was sad to see one of the guineas dead. I was mad at them, but I didn't want to see them die, and especially suffer as it appeared this one did. I never found the other three guineas. I like to think that the gang leader had a turf war to the end, defending his gang, and the other three guineas were chased out of town and are now free roaming on someone else's property. Unfortunately that probably isn't the case, although the other three are still MIA.
So now, if you are keeping count, we are down to seven chickens and only two guineas. I know one of them is a male, but I'm not sure about the other. It is hard to tell the difference, and these last two don't make much noise any more. They also seem to be hanging around closer to the house, and definitely get back to the coop before sunset.
These last two guineas better be hungry, because we still have a lot of ticks around. And so far it seems like a lot of work with minimal reward from the guineas.
I had planned a couple weeks ago to write a post about the guineas and particularly their social order in the guinea gang. As the gang roams our property, the leader of the gang will usually be on the lookout for any mischievous activity or innocent chickens they can harass. Most of the guineas are oblivious to what is happening, filling their bellies, hopefully on ticks.
Until the leader of the gang sounds the signal while standing tall.
Then they all let loose with their farm yard siren. Surprisingly none of the neighbors have made any comments or complained, but in their defense, we have some really great neighbors.
Last week I was pretty upset with the guineas about the gang style murder of my Buff Orpington. Yes, I am assuming guilt without full evidence, but sometimes that has to happen in the country when no one was around to witness the dastardly deed. I decided to leave them out all day, even though the Good Wife was taking the kids to King's Dominion amusement park all day and I was going to meet them there after work and I knew it would be late before I got home. They had already been free ranging all day for a few weeks, and they always came back to the coops to roost at the end of the day.
We didn't get back home until 10:30 pm and I went down to the coop right away. I looked in and there were only two chickens inside! I had a flashlight and looked around. There were two more up on the coop, so I reached up and grabbed them and put them into the coop. Another was found up on the top of the rail of the run. After a little coaxing, I was able to reach her and get her into the coop. I couldn't find the other two chickens or any of the guineas.
I walked the perimeter of the yard at the edge of the woods, hoping to find them under the brush or up in the trees, hoping they had enough natural instinct to go somewhere safe. After searching in the dark for what seemed a long time, I closed up the coop and left the run open, in case any decided to come home in the middle of the night.
Come morning I was eager to find my runaways. Looking out the window from my bedroom I saw the two runaway chickens walking around the coop, along with a couple guineas! They were safe...or so I thought.
As I headed down to the coop, I noticed a lot of feathers in the yard. They were all guinea feathers. This wasn't good.
Feathers everywhere. I started following the clumps of feathers. Obviously they had fought and ran, fought and ran, fought and ran.
There must have been 15 small clumps of feathers all over the property. After following clumps of feathers around the yard and through the pasture, I finally found one of the feather sources.
It was sad to see one of the guineas dead. I was mad at them, but I didn't want to see them die, and especially suffer as it appeared this one did. I never found the other three guineas. I like to think that the gang leader had a turf war to the end, defending his gang, and the other three guineas were chased out of town and are now free roaming on someone else's property. Unfortunately that probably isn't the case, although the other three are still MIA.
So now, if you are keeping count, we are down to seven chickens and only two guineas. I know one of them is a male, but I'm not sure about the other. It is hard to tell the difference, and these last two don't make much noise any more. They also seem to be hanging around closer to the house, and definitely get back to the coop before sunset.
These last two guineas better be hungry, because we still have a lot of ticks around. And so far it seems like a lot of work with minimal reward from the guineas.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Second Hive Inspection
This week went by slowly, partly because I was so anxious for Saturday to arrive. My next hive inspection was scheduled for Saturday morning, between 10am and noon, so a lot of the bees would be out foraging and the hive would be nice and calm. They seemed a little anxious the last time I was there in the later afternoon, so I thought I would try the morning to see how it went.
I had three helpers this time, oldest son, middle son and a friend's daughter that was at our house when the inspection time arrived. Since I only had one extra jacket and veil, they all took turns coming up to the hive and "helping" me.
The entrance reducer was still in the hives from the original installation, so I needed to get that removed. The bees were doing really well and the hive appeared really strong, but what do I know. I have only had bees for two weeks! If you click on the picture above and see the full version, you can see the one bee heading into the hive with its legs full of orange pollen.
I wasn't in such a hurry this time as the bees seemed really calm and it was a nice day, being a little cooler out. After looking through all the frames on the first hive, I couldn't find the queen. As was mentioned before, it isn't so important to actually see the queen as it is to see evidence of the queen. There were lots of eggs and larva in cells, so she had been there in the last four days and done her work. That was nice to see.
As you can see from the above picture, the hives are doing well. There are lots of bees, lots of capped brood (baby bees) and lots of honey and pollen throughout. It was nice to see capped brood and eggs/larva in the new foundation. Not sure if that really means anything, but it was nice as I felt it was a sign that the bees have accepted the home I have provided for them and were making themselves at home.
The second hive we were able to spot the queen. She was busy doing her thing. Right when I saw her, she disappeared. There happened to be a small hole in the foundation and she went from one side of the frame to the other. I had to flip the frame to find her again. Seeing the queen gives a calm to the beekeeper. Even though you can see evidence of the queen, you like to actually see her moving around on a frame.
The second hive had a minor problem. The hive top feeder was empty. When I added syrup to the hives last week, I didn't add near as much to the second hive because it didn't look like they had used that much. Well they went into turbo mode this past week and cleaned the hive top feeder out. That was kind of disappointing because I let them down and didn't give them the food they needed. Luckily I still had some left from my last inspection so I put it all in this feeder after cleaning out the ants. In case I didn't mention it, I had a lot of ants at the top of this hive. They had gone up on the outside of the hive and up into the top of the hive top feeder.
I'm going to have to make some more syrup early this week and get it into both hives to make sure they have enough syrup to help them build out the comb. Another hive body was added to each hive since they were more than 70% built up on the frames in the existing hive body. I didn't want them to have a reason to leave, even if I hadn't done my duty and kept their feeder filled up.
Once I was done and my three helpers all had a chance to see the bees up close, it was time to close it all up and let them continue on. As I was taking off my jacket a gentleman in a pickup drove up and stopped. He got out and came around to talk to me. He introduced himself as Floyd, but his friends call him Possum. He proceeded to tell me about his garden and asked if I would keep some bees at his garden. He has three acres that he gardens and has just about everything you can imagine planted there. He asked us to follow him to his house so he could show us his garden. If this had been Phoenix, I would have politely declined and went on my way, but not in rural Virginia.
After driving a couple miles down the road we pulled into his place. A small home with a couple small gardens. He talked to us for a little bit, then we walked through a row of trees and saw the real garden. It was 3 acres of garden! A small pond on the other side of the trees, and a field of hay behind that. Then he invited us into his house and gave us a jar of homemade salsa, that was incredible! He also gave us a bag of chips to try the salsa. He gave each of the kids a candy bar and a drink of lemonade.
During our short visit we got most of the story on Possum. Six kids, over ten grandchildren, retired for 19 years from DuPont, wife died in 2000, got rid of the Buick station wagon and got a Monte Carlo. After the quick life story, it was time to go. I got his phone number and address. He lives in Bumpass, VA. Yes, that is really the name of the town. He sent us on our way with the jar of salsa and a bag of chips.
By the end of the day, we had eaten almost the entire quart of salsa. It was that good. Now I am looking for another hive that I can put by his garden. I don't want to move the hives I have now since I don't want to make it more difficult for me since I am just starting. Ideally, I would get another hive or two and put it out at his garden. An e-mail has been sent to my bee club to see if anyone would be willing to part with a hive or nuc or package of bees. If nothing else, I will order a package online and try that method of starting a bee hive.
This bee keeping hobby sure keeps getting more and more interesting. And you never know who or what you will stumble across out in rural Virginia. Maybe even a Possum.
I had three helpers this time, oldest son, middle son and a friend's daughter that was at our house when the inspection time arrived. Since I only had one extra jacket and veil, they all took turns coming up to the hive and "helping" me.
The entrance reducer was still in the hives from the original installation, so I needed to get that removed. The bees were doing really well and the hive appeared really strong, but what do I know. I have only had bees for two weeks! If you click on the picture above and see the full version, you can see the one bee heading into the hive with its legs full of orange pollen.
I wasn't in such a hurry this time as the bees seemed really calm and it was a nice day, being a little cooler out. After looking through all the frames on the first hive, I couldn't find the queen. As was mentioned before, it isn't so important to actually see the queen as it is to see evidence of the queen. There were lots of eggs and larva in cells, so she had been there in the last four days and done her work. That was nice to see.
As you can see from the above picture, the hives are doing well. There are lots of bees, lots of capped brood (baby bees) and lots of honey and pollen throughout. It was nice to see capped brood and eggs/larva in the new foundation. Not sure if that really means anything, but it was nice as I felt it was a sign that the bees have accepted the home I have provided for them and were making themselves at home.
The second hive we were able to spot the queen. She was busy doing her thing. Right when I saw her, she disappeared. There happened to be a small hole in the foundation and she went from one side of the frame to the other. I had to flip the frame to find her again. Seeing the queen gives a calm to the beekeeper. Even though you can see evidence of the queen, you like to actually see her moving around on a frame.
The second hive had a minor problem. The hive top feeder was empty. When I added syrup to the hives last week, I didn't add near as much to the second hive because it didn't look like they had used that much. Well they went into turbo mode this past week and cleaned the hive top feeder out. That was kind of disappointing because I let them down and didn't give them the food they needed. Luckily I still had some left from my last inspection so I put it all in this feeder after cleaning out the ants. In case I didn't mention it, I had a lot of ants at the top of this hive. They had gone up on the outside of the hive and up into the top of the hive top feeder.
I'm going to have to make some more syrup early this week and get it into both hives to make sure they have enough syrup to help them build out the comb. Another hive body was added to each hive since they were more than 70% built up on the frames in the existing hive body. I didn't want them to have a reason to leave, even if I hadn't done my duty and kept their feeder filled up.
Once I was done and my three helpers all had a chance to see the bees up close, it was time to close it all up and let them continue on. As I was taking off my jacket a gentleman in a pickup drove up and stopped. He got out and came around to talk to me. He introduced himself as Floyd, but his friends call him Possum. He proceeded to tell me about his garden and asked if I would keep some bees at his garden. He has three acres that he gardens and has just about everything you can imagine planted there. He asked us to follow him to his house so he could show us his garden. If this had been Phoenix, I would have politely declined and went on my way, but not in rural Virginia.
After driving a couple miles down the road we pulled into his place. A small home with a couple small gardens. He talked to us for a little bit, then we walked through a row of trees and saw the real garden. It was 3 acres of garden! A small pond on the other side of the trees, and a field of hay behind that. Then he invited us into his house and gave us a jar of homemade salsa, that was incredible! He also gave us a bag of chips to try the salsa. He gave each of the kids a candy bar and a drink of lemonade.
During our short visit we got most of the story on Possum. Six kids, over ten grandchildren, retired for 19 years from DuPont, wife died in 2000, got rid of the Buick station wagon and got a Monte Carlo. After the quick life story, it was time to go. I got his phone number and address. He lives in Bumpass, VA. Yes, that is really the name of the town. He sent us on our way with the jar of salsa and a bag of chips.
By the end of the day, we had eaten almost the entire quart of salsa. It was that good. Now I am looking for another hive that I can put by his garden. I don't want to move the hives I have now since I don't want to make it more difficult for me since I am just starting. Ideally, I would get another hive or two and put it out at his garden. An e-mail has been sent to my bee club to see if anyone would be willing to part with a hive or nuc or package of bees. If nothing else, I will order a package online and try that method of starting a bee hive.
This bee keeping hobby sure keeps getting more and more interesting. And you never know who or what you will stumble across out in rural Virginia. Maybe even a Possum.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
BEES ARE HIVED!!!!!
I know it is probably against blogging etiquette to use so many exclamation points in the title of this post, but I am a bit excited, if you couldn't tell! Oops, there is another one. I apologize now that this blog is going to be long, but there are a bunch of pictures to show and information to share about something I have been waiting a long time for.
Friday night at 12:30am I awoke to my cell phone ringing. I answered it and confirmed the call. I then went into the bathroom to try to keep from waking up the Good Wife and got my phone tree list. I then called the next person on the list below my name, letting them know that the bees would be arriving at approximately 1am at the Powhatan, VA fire station. I quickly got dressed and headed for the car. I had already put a few tools and things into the car that evening that I might need for this journey.
I got to the fire station and was like one of the bees, arriving in a swarm. All the other HBA (Huguenot Beekeepers Association) members were arriving, anxious for their bees. After a few minutes of conversation about what is blooming, what is flowing and other bee talk (I didn't have much of a clue about most of it, but nodded my head as though I was affirming everything they were saying), the truck with the bees arrived. I wish I had gotten a picture, but forgot. Remember, I was excited. It was a small flatbed truck loaded up with 65 nucs full of bees. It was quite a site.
The men that had driven the truck got the list out and started calling out names and how many nucs we had ordered. Within a few minutes, I had my two nucs in my car and we were ready to go.
Once I got the boxes into the back of the car, I put my hand on the screen on the end, and I could feel the heat coming out of that box. It was amazing how much heat those bees were producing.
When I picked up the bees, they instructed us that we would need a philips head screw driver to open the hives. Did I pack a philips head screwdriver? Lets see, I packed the camera, a hive top (not sure why I packed that), my hive tool, a towel, a flashlight, my bee jacket, my bee veil, my leather gloves, nitrile gloves, a... nope, no screwdriver. So I had to go past the house on the way back from picking up the bees to grab a screwdriver. It was only about a 1/4-mile out of my way, so no major problem.
I got to my apiary and set one box on top of each hive. They looked so nice. As I was putting the boxes on top of the hives, I noticed a few bees on the outside of the boxes that were hanging around the screen hole on the one end. I'm glad I didn't notice those when I put them in my car, or I probably would have been thinking they were flying around my head on the drive back, ready to sting me for taking them away from their homes.
Once I put them on my hives, I got my screwdriver and opened up the entrance to each nuc. I didn't bother putting on my bee veil or anything as it was cool out and they didn't seem that active. I'm sure the long drive on the back of the truck bed got them a bit disoriented.
Once I opened the entrance on one of the hives, the bees slowly started climbing out and going around the entrance to the hive. It looked like a sausage maker full of bees pouring out the front. I was quite amazed at all the bees coming out, but I didn't want to hang around to watch in case they were upset about their ride. It was also past 2am by this time. With that, I went home and went back to bed. The hiving of the bees would wait until Saturday afternoon.
Saturday afternoon came and it was time to "hive the bees." I won't lie, I was as nervous as I was excited. I had read all about what I was to do. I even read Beekeeping for Dummies from cover to cover. Other HBA members had assured me it would be no problem. I had some hands-on experience the week before. But there was no one else there, except for me and the oldest son. He was there to document the experience, good or bad. He stood nearer to the car than the hives, just in case it went bad. Not sure if he didn't have faith in my abilities or was just the more logical of the two of us at the time.
I got my smoker going and got suited up. I had all my tools out of the car and the hatch closed, just in case things went really bad and the oldest son needed a place to hide. Off to "hive the bees."
I took my drill and removed the two screws from the lid. Then I realized I had to move one of the nucs off the hive to open it up. I took the drill and put the screws back into the lid. The bees were all around the front and didn't leave me a good place to grab the nuc. A little puff of smoke and they moved out of the way. I moved the nuc over to the other hive next to the other nuc. I took my drill and removed the two screws from the lid, again. I had to use my hive tool to pry open the top of the lid. It was amazing as I looked into the nuc and saw all the bees in there. They had started to create comb between the top of the frames and the lid, which is why it was so difficult to open.
After a bit more smoke on the top of the frames to get the bees to go down into the frames, I grabbed the first frame and took a look.
I was looking for the queen, which was supposed to be marked with a yellow paint dot. I didn't see her on this frame, but I also didn't spend a lot of time looking. The bees were anxious and so was I. I wanted to get them into their home as quickly as possible. This was also one of the outside frames, so I figured the queen may be more towards the center. I grabbed a second frame.
No queen there. At least not with my 30 second look on each side. There were so many bees. During my hands-on experience the week before, I don't think I saw this many bees the whole day. These frames were LOADED! (This one required the exclamation point.) Quickly I got the frame into the hive. There were a lot of bees flying around by now.
I grabbed the third and fourth frame from the nuc and put them into the hive. I checked each one for the queen, and I didn't see her. I will admit that it was a half hearted attempt to find the queen. It was hot out, I was sweating a lot, although I don't believe these two were related on this day. Once all four frames were in the hive, I got the frames situated and spaced correctly. Then I had to get the rest of the bees that were in the nuc box into the hive.
A quick thump of the box on the ground and then I poured the remaining bees into the hive. Just so you don't think I made a goofy decision to do it this way, I was told by everyone that this is how it is done. The bees didn't seem to mind, but it sure put a lot more bees into the air. I quickly got the top feeder placed and then the top lid placed. I was done...with the first hive.
I will admit that the second hive went slightly easier. I knew what to expect to some extent, and the hive I had already placed was the hive that seemed more active and looked like the sausage press of bees the night before.
On the second hive, I moved the nuc box to the other hive top before removing the screws on the lid. I did learn something. I did a quick inspection of each frame, trying to find the queen on this hive. Again, I was unsuccessful at locating the queen on any of the four frames from the second nuc. My goal was more speed and getting the frames put into the hive, than taking the time to look around for the queen. There were so many bees, it wasn't going to be easy. And by now, there were a LOT of bees in the air.
As with the first nuc, once the frames were installed, a quick thump of the nuc on the ground and a quick pour into the hive.
After I got the hive top feeders filled, I placed the nucs and lids at the front of each hive, hoping that any bees that were still in the nucs would find their way back into the hive that they were near. There weren't many left, but I wanted to give all the bees a chance to be a part of the hives.
Overall, it was a good experience. Everything went as I was told it should go, for the most part. I never expected the nucs to be that full, of bees or brood. These hives look like they are going to explode in population in the next couple weeks. The queen was much harder to find than I thought she would be. And I didn't get stung once! In my book, that was a successful "hiving of the bees."
I did have one interesting thing happen. While I was doing the second hive, there seemed to be one persistent bee that kept banging into my veil. She just kept flying around my head and banging into my veil. Once I was done and walked back to the car, she was still there, banging into me. I even took the smoker, closed my eyes and gave my head a couple puffs of smoke, figuring that she would leave. Nope. She was my new friend. The oldest son thought it was funny and took a picture.
You can see it right in front of my face, buzzing around and banging into my veil. But I was done, and it was time to get out of the bee suit. I walked over to the hives and gave her a gentle swat to the side with my hand and I quickly walked back to the car. Apparently that was enough to discourage her from using her stinger on me and ending her life. Besides, she had a brand new hive that needed her help.
I went back and checked on the hives today (Sunday). I wanted to make sure a skunk or raccoon or something didn't get into the nucs in front of the hives. I was pleased to see everything where I had left it. There were still a few bees in the nucs, but they may have been cleaning out the left over honey from the burr comb they built on the sides and on the lid. I walked around to the front, giving them a large distance since I didn't have my veil on. I took my binoculars with me and looked at the entrances. The bees were coming and going. That was a good sign. In about 5 days or so, I will go back to the hives and open them up to see if I can find the queen. If I can't find the queen, at least I can look for eggs as a sign that she is there.
My bee adventure has officially begun. Remember, I am as new as it gets to this hobby, so I am sure I am going to do things wrong. But at the same time, whenever you ask more than one beekeeper a question, you will be guaranteed to get more than one answer. Please leave me your comments so I can learn if you have a different suggestion for how I should do something. I just hope that I am able to take good care of the bees and next year, they will take care of me with some honey for the Good Wife.
Friday night at 12:30am I awoke to my cell phone ringing. I answered it and confirmed the call. I then went into the bathroom to try to keep from waking up the Good Wife and got my phone tree list. I then called the next person on the list below my name, letting them know that the bees would be arriving at approximately 1am at the Powhatan, VA fire station. I quickly got dressed and headed for the car. I had already put a few tools and things into the car that evening that I might need for this journey.
I got to the fire station and was like one of the bees, arriving in a swarm. All the other HBA (Huguenot Beekeepers Association) members were arriving, anxious for their bees. After a few minutes of conversation about what is blooming, what is flowing and other bee talk (I didn't have much of a clue about most of it, but nodded my head as though I was affirming everything they were saying), the truck with the bees arrived. I wish I had gotten a picture, but forgot. Remember, I was excited. It was a small flatbed truck loaded up with 65 nucs full of bees. It was quite a site.
The men that had driven the truck got the list out and started calling out names and how many nucs we had ordered. Within a few minutes, I had my two nucs in my car and we were ready to go.
Once I got the boxes into the back of the car, I put my hand on the screen on the end, and I could feel the heat coming out of that box. It was amazing how much heat those bees were producing.
When I picked up the bees, they instructed us that we would need a philips head screw driver to open the hives. Did I pack a philips head screwdriver? Lets see, I packed the camera, a hive top (not sure why I packed that), my hive tool, a towel, a flashlight, my bee jacket, my bee veil, my leather gloves, nitrile gloves, a... nope, no screwdriver. So I had to go past the house on the way back from picking up the bees to grab a screwdriver. It was only about a 1/4-mile out of my way, so no major problem.
I got to my apiary and set one box on top of each hive. They looked so nice. As I was putting the boxes on top of the hives, I noticed a few bees on the outside of the boxes that were hanging around the screen hole on the one end. I'm glad I didn't notice those when I put them in my car, or I probably would have been thinking they were flying around my head on the drive back, ready to sting me for taking them away from their homes.
Once I put them on my hives, I got my screwdriver and opened up the entrance to each nuc. I didn't bother putting on my bee veil or anything as it was cool out and they didn't seem that active. I'm sure the long drive on the back of the truck bed got them a bit disoriented.
Once I opened the entrance on one of the hives, the bees slowly started climbing out and going around the entrance to the hive. It looked like a sausage maker full of bees pouring out the front. I was quite amazed at all the bees coming out, but I didn't want to hang around to watch in case they were upset about their ride. It was also past 2am by this time. With that, I went home and went back to bed. The hiving of the bees would wait until Saturday afternoon.
Saturday afternoon came and it was time to "hive the bees." I won't lie, I was as nervous as I was excited. I had read all about what I was to do. I even read Beekeeping for Dummies from cover to cover. Other HBA members had assured me it would be no problem. I had some hands-on experience the week before. But there was no one else there, except for me and the oldest son. He was there to document the experience, good or bad. He stood nearer to the car than the hives, just in case it went bad. Not sure if he didn't have faith in my abilities or was just the more logical of the two of us at the time.
I got my smoker going and got suited up. I had all my tools out of the car and the hatch closed, just in case things went really bad and the oldest son needed a place to hide. Off to "hive the bees."
I took my drill and removed the two screws from the lid. Then I realized I had to move one of the nucs off the hive to open it up. I took the drill and put the screws back into the lid. The bees were all around the front and didn't leave me a good place to grab the nuc. A little puff of smoke and they moved out of the way. I moved the nuc over to the other hive next to the other nuc. I took my drill and removed the two screws from the lid, again. I had to use my hive tool to pry open the top of the lid. It was amazing as I looked into the nuc and saw all the bees in there. They had started to create comb between the top of the frames and the lid, which is why it was so difficult to open.
After a bit more smoke on the top of the frames to get the bees to go down into the frames, I grabbed the first frame and took a look.
I was looking for the queen, which was supposed to be marked with a yellow paint dot. I didn't see her on this frame, but I also didn't spend a lot of time looking. The bees were anxious and so was I. I wanted to get them into their home as quickly as possible. This was also one of the outside frames, so I figured the queen may be more towards the center. I grabbed a second frame.
No queen there. At least not with my 30 second look on each side. There were so many bees. During my hands-on experience the week before, I don't think I saw this many bees the whole day. These frames were LOADED! (This one required the exclamation point.) Quickly I got the frame into the hive. There were a lot of bees flying around by now.
I grabbed the third and fourth frame from the nuc and put them into the hive. I checked each one for the queen, and I didn't see her. I will admit that it was a half hearted attempt to find the queen. It was hot out, I was sweating a lot, although I don't believe these two were related on this day. Once all four frames were in the hive, I got the frames situated and spaced correctly. Then I had to get the rest of the bees that were in the nuc box into the hive.
A quick thump of the box on the ground and then I poured the remaining bees into the hive. Just so you don't think I made a goofy decision to do it this way, I was told by everyone that this is how it is done. The bees didn't seem to mind, but it sure put a lot more bees into the air. I quickly got the top feeder placed and then the top lid placed. I was done...with the first hive.
I will admit that the second hive went slightly easier. I knew what to expect to some extent, and the hive I had already placed was the hive that seemed more active and looked like the sausage press of bees the night before.
On the second hive, I moved the nuc box to the other hive top before removing the screws on the lid. I did learn something. I did a quick inspection of each frame, trying to find the queen on this hive. Again, I was unsuccessful at locating the queen on any of the four frames from the second nuc. My goal was more speed and getting the frames put into the hive, than taking the time to look around for the queen. There were so many bees, it wasn't going to be easy. And by now, there were a LOT of bees in the air.
As with the first nuc, once the frames were installed, a quick thump of the nuc on the ground and a quick pour into the hive.
After I got the hive top feeders filled, I placed the nucs and lids at the front of each hive, hoping that any bees that were still in the nucs would find their way back into the hive that they were near. There weren't many left, but I wanted to give all the bees a chance to be a part of the hives.
Overall, it was a good experience. Everything went as I was told it should go, for the most part. I never expected the nucs to be that full, of bees or brood. These hives look like they are going to explode in population in the next couple weeks. The queen was much harder to find than I thought she would be. And I didn't get stung once! In my book, that was a successful "hiving of the bees."
I did have one interesting thing happen. While I was doing the second hive, there seemed to be one persistent bee that kept banging into my veil. She just kept flying around my head and banging into my veil. Once I was done and walked back to the car, she was still there, banging into me. I even took the smoker, closed my eyes and gave my head a couple puffs of smoke, figuring that she would leave. Nope. She was my new friend. The oldest son thought it was funny and took a picture.
You can see it right in front of my face, buzzing around and banging into my veil. But I was done, and it was time to get out of the bee suit. I walked over to the hives and gave her a gentle swat to the side with my hand and I quickly walked back to the car. Apparently that was enough to discourage her from using her stinger on me and ending her life. Besides, she had a brand new hive that needed her help.
I went back and checked on the hives today (Sunday). I wanted to make sure a skunk or raccoon or something didn't get into the nucs in front of the hives. I was pleased to see everything where I had left it. There were still a few bees in the nucs, but they may have been cleaning out the left over honey from the burr comb they built on the sides and on the lid. I walked around to the front, giving them a large distance since I didn't have my veil on. I took my binoculars with me and looked at the entrances. The bees were coming and going. That was a good sign. In about 5 days or so, I will go back to the hives and open them up to see if I can find the queen. If I can't find the queen, at least I can look for eggs as a sign that she is there.
My bee adventure has officially begun. Remember, I am as new as it gets to this hobby, so I am sure I am going to do things wrong. But at the same time, whenever you ask more than one beekeeper a question, you will be guaranteed to get more than one answer. Please leave me your comments so I can learn if you have a different suggestion for how I should do something. I just hope that I am able to take good care of the bees and next year, they will take care of me with some honey for the Good Wife.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Free-ranging Guineas
I figured it was time to start letting the guineas earn their keep. As I had read on Backyard Chickens, I only let 3-4 of the six guineas out at once. That was supposed to keep the free-ranging guineas close to the coop. It actually worked really well. A little too well. I don't think the guineas went more than a foot from the outside of the fence.
Over the next few days, I let a few of the guineas out each day. I have a couple guineas that have started to be mean to my chickens, so I tried to get those out of the run each day and have them free-range. The thinking was two fold: 1) Having the mean guineas out of the run would protect the chickens and allow them to enjoy their day without being harassed by the bully guineas, and 2) If the dog, a hawk, owl, raccoon, skunk or possum decided to go after the free-ranging guineas, at least I would only lose the mean ones. I know, it is kind of rude, but if I was going to lose a guinea in this learning process, at least it should be a mean one.
At my last bee club meeting, I mentioned to a couple people about my mean guineas. The solution I received took me by surprise. "You know, guineas are all dark meat!" I guess that would be one way to address the problem, but it would reduce my tick patrol force, so I was hoping to avoid that solution.
They stay pretty close together as a pack, or flock since they are birds, and don't like to get separated. They have started to move further from the coop and run, but not much more than about 10-20 feet. The flock does like to go over to my burn pile which is about 20 feet away from the coop and stare into it. Then they usually start squawking and all at once turn and fly back towards the run, and proceed with their marching around the run, while the two or three left inside the run follow right along.
Over the next few days, I let a few of the guineas out each day. I have a couple guineas that have started to be mean to my chickens, so I tried to get those out of the run each day and have them free-range. The thinking was two fold: 1) Having the mean guineas out of the run would protect the chickens and allow them to enjoy their day without being harassed by the bully guineas, and 2) If the dog, a hawk, owl, raccoon, skunk or possum decided to go after the free-ranging guineas, at least I would only lose the mean ones. I know, it is kind of rude, but if I was going to lose a guinea in this learning process, at least it should be a mean one.
At my last bee club meeting, I mentioned to a couple people about my mean guineas. The solution I received took me by surprise. "You know, guineas are all dark meat!" I guess that would be one way to address the problem, but it would reduce my tick patrol force, so I was hoping to avoid that solution.
They stay pretty close together as a pack, or flock since they are birds, and don't like to get separated. They have started to move further from the coop and run, but not much more than about 10-20 feet. The flock does like to go over to my burn pile which is about 20 feet away from the coop and stare into it. Then they usually start squawking and all at once turn and fly back towards the run, and proceed with their marching around the run, while the two or three left inside the run follow right along.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Rain Barrels
Living in Goochland County, VA it seems that rain barrels are as common as spiders. They are sold on Craigslist, shown at the farmers market in the summer, and even sold at Whole Foods in Richmond. It seems that the most popular style is the one made from old 55-gallon plastic barrels that were originally used to import olives. For the record, I can't stand the smell of olives ever since I went through an olive market in Morocco many years ago on a warm summer day and smelled all the varieties of olives and saw all the flies hanging around that open market! But that is another story.
Being the type of person that is always looking for a project, because my list isn't long enough already, I figured I could build my own and save a few dollars. I was able to find a guy on Craigslist selling the plastic barrels. Then I went to Home Depot and asked my friendly neighborhood plumbing specialist what I needed. Everyone online had talked about 3/4" spigots, but he recommended a 1/2" spigot. (I later compared the two and the throat opening on both are the same size, and the 1/2" is a couple dollars cheaper.) After thanking him for his advice, I took the parts home and built my first rain barrels and installed them at my home.
It seemed to work so easily that I made another set for the other side of the house. The real goal with these was to use them to water my new fruit trees that we planted last fall. We don't have a water spigot from the house on that side, so figured this would make it easier.
I used a simple flexible gutter connector and cut a section of the gutter out so that when the barrels are full, I can redirect the rain down the gutter and away from the house. I put a simple gutter connector into the top of the rain barrels and put a screen over it so that the rain barrel doesn't become a mosquito breeding ground.
It doesn't take much rain to fill both barrels. With the connector hose at the top, a nice average rainfall overnight will fill both barrels.
My oldest son is taking a class in middle school called "Make it My Business" as one of his electives. He questioned if we could sell these rain barrels on Craigslist. I thought, why not give it a try. There may be some people out there that aren't so handy and would rather buy them. So I threw up a quick ad and within a few hours, had our first call! She wanted two! She ended up only buying one, but I thought, this is easy. The next day I got a call from a guy that wanted three. I told him he could stop by the next evening after work and pick them up. I went and drained my two full barrels onto my fruit trees, which didn't need it since it had just rained, and got them ready to go. The next day came and went and he didn't show. I had his number on my cell so I called him back and he rethought about it and decided to go a "different direction". Easy come, easy go. Now I have three extra rain barrels sitting on my driveway, waiting for a buyer. I think once I sell these, I'll get out of the rain barrel business and stick with my day job.
This whole rain barrel situation got me thinking. Do they really make sense for me? When I lived in Phoenix it would have been great but it only rains about 4" a year there, and it usually comes in the span of a month or two. I had to constantly water my lawn to keep it alive and it always greened up better when we got the ocassional rain water rather than "chemically treated" city water.
If you are on city water here in Richmond, they would be a good thing because I think there are more nutrients in rain water than the "nutrient depleted but safe for us" city water and it would be free water. It also rains enough to keep the barrels full on a regular basis. But where I live, I have a well. So am I gaining anything by having rain barrels? Is it better to catch the rain water right away and use it, or let it soak through the earth and filter itself naturally before going back into the ground where I will pump it up as well water for my house? Why not just pump it up and put it on my trees and plants? Am I doing this just because it seems to be the "right thing to do" for the environment? Or did I just need an easy project for the weekend because I didn't want to do any of the tough jobs on my list?
Let me know what you think about rain barrels. Do they make sense for you?
Being the type of person that is always looking for a project, because my list isn't long enough already, I figured I could build my own and save a few dollars. I was able to find a guy on Craigslist selling the plastic barrels. Then I went to Home Depot and asked my friendly neighborhood plumbing specialist what I needed. Everyone online had talked about 3/4" spigots, but he recommended a 1/2" spigot. (I later compared the two and the throat opening on both are the same size, and the 1/2" is a couple dollars cheaper.) After thanking him for his advice, I took the parts home and built my first rain barrels and installed them at my home.
 |
| Empty barrels, ready to be filled at the next rain. |
It seemed to work so easily that I made another set for the other side of the house. The real goal with these was to use them to water my new fruit trees that we planted last fall. We don't have a water spigot from the house on that side, so figured this would make it easier.
 |
| Full barrels ready for use on my fruit trees. |
It doesn't take much rain to fill both barrels. With the connector hose at the top, a nice average rainfall overnight will fill both barrels.
My oldest son is taking a class in middle school called "Make it My Business" as one of his electives. He questioned if we could sell these rain barrels on Craigslist. I thought, why not give it a try. There may be some people out there that aren't so handy and would rather buy them. So I threw up a quick ad and within a few hours, had our first call! She wanted two! She ended up only buying one, but I thought, this is easy. The next day I got a call from a guy that wanted three. I told him he could stop by the next evening after work and pick them up. I went and drained my two full barrels onto my fruit trees, which didn't need it since it had just rained, and got them ready to go. The next day came and went and he didn't show. I had his number on my cell so I called him back and he rethought about it and decided to go a "different direction". Easy come, easy go. Now I have three extra rain barrels sitting on my driveway, waiting for a buyer. I think once I sell these, I'll get out of the rain barrel business and stick with my day job.
This whole rain barrel situation got me thinking. Do they really make sense for me? When I lived in Phoenix it would have been great but it only rains about 4" a year there, and it usually comes in the span of a month or two. I had to constantly water my lawn to keep it alive and it always greened up better when we got the ocassional rain water rather than "chemically treated" city water.
If you are on city water here in Richmond, they would be a good thing because I think there are more nutrients in rain water than the "nutrient depleted but safe for us" city water and it would be free water. It also rains enough to keep the barrels full on a regular basis. But where I live, I have a well. So am I gaining anything by having rain barrels? Is it better to catch the rain water right away and use it, or let it soak through the earth and filter itself naturally before going back into the ground where I will pump it up as well water for my house? Why not just pump it up and put it on my trees and plants? Am I doing this just because it seems to be the "right thing to do" for the environment? Or did I just need an easy project for the weekend because I didn't want to do any of the tough jobs on my list?
Let me know what you think about rain barrels. Do they make sense for you?
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Introduction
Since I moved from Phoenix to Virginia, I have been saying that I was going to start a blog so that all my friends could keep track of what I am doing. I have talked a lot about it, but not much action has followed. Now that Starr says, "I am embracing my country lifestyle." I figure I better get going or I will have too much to say at once.
I have always said that I am a "Jack of all trades, master of none." This shows up in my diversified list of interests, from bee keeping to dirt bikes, raising chickens to photography, sustainable living to wakeboarding. This blog will be a place that I can talk about all my interests, and immerse you in my thoughts. (Don't worry, they aren't that deep, so you shouldn't drown.) This will also be a place to show you the projects I am working on and what I have learned from them. It will hopefully be informative, and at least be entertaining.
This is the continuing saga of how I am becoming...The Haphazard Countryman.
I have always said that I am a "Jack of all trades, master of none." This shows up in my diversified list of interests, from bee keeping to dirt bikes, raising chickens to photography, sustainable living to wakeboarding. This blog will be a place that I can talk about all my interests, and immerse you in my thoughts. (Don't worry, they aren't that deep, so you shouldn't drown.) This will also be a place to show you the projects I am working on and what I have learned from them. It will hopefully be informative, and at least be entertaining.
This is the continuing saga of how I am becoming...The Haphazard Countryman.
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