Sunshine Sunday

Hey there, how ya doing?

Welcome to another installment of Bushman shares his boredom.
Just in case you didn't have enough boredom of your own I can share some of mine.

Last post we watched as I walked around and acted like I knew something about something and guess what?   Here is some more of that!  LOL

Today marks the official yet unofficial last week of my lockdown.  I have orders to return to work in one week.  Our Governor has extended the lock down yet another two weeks and I for one mostly believe it is to cover her own butt because I still believe that most of this was unneeded.
I won't get into details nor will I go all political on this blog but I'll leave it as is...unsettling.

I spent a big portion of my time cleaning up bee hives and frames this weekend.  It was fun and definitely out of the ordinary which made it even more enjoyable.
I scraped propolis and old wax off of all the frames.  Pulled the plastic foundations out of them and cleaned all the grooves and then fired them with a torch to essentially sanitize them of any hidden bugs I may not have seen with my naked eye.  Better safe than sorry.
It took a long time and a ton of scraping but I wanted to start with a clean slate.

I have ordered fresh beeswax to re-coat the frames and they should be ready to go as soon as the supplies arrive.

There are a few areas in the lawn that have been re-seeded.  One was the last remnants of my old wood stack.  I finally got that all cleaned up and put down some grass seed and straw.
The other was an elm tree that was dead at the top and was unsightly so I cut that down and seeded the old mulch area under it.

The apiary is all set for the bees to arrive.  I needed to make sure I finished that as any work after the new tenants arrive would most likely irritate them enough to sting me as I would have to be right next to the hive working.

If all the seed germinates that I put in around the apiary it is going to be spectacular!

Morning glories, Nasturtium, Four O' Clocks, Sunflowers, Purple Coneflower,
Candytuft, Siberian Wallflower, Zinnias, Single China Aster, Cosmos, Sweet Williams Pinks, Coreopsis, Sweet Basil, Larkspur, Corn Poppy, Blanketflower, Lacy Phacelia.

I am hoping that some of these perennials like the coneflower, coreopsis and blanketflower will do well enough that maybe next year I can divide them up and spread them throughout some of my other planting beds.

I lost my beautiful Moonbeam Coreopsis last season because a Trumpet Vine had invaded it and the only way to eliminate the vine was to spray roundup all over everything.  :(

10 day forecast looks promising for getting the plants in the garden  I'm dragging my feet as much as I can but my tomatoes are getting huge.

Ok enough for now.  Below is a link to the video I took last night.  Enjoy and I'll see you soon!

Sunshine Sunday

Busy as a Bee

Hey all,

I've been a bit busy and at times not so busy!

Our spring this year has been pretty sketchy so far.

One day it is 60 and sunshine and then the next we get 2 inches of snow.

Warm and sunny, cold and windy and don't forget the rain either. 

In the midst of all that (while still on lockdown) I have managed to get a few things done.

First off is some more gardening work.  I'll let the video explain.

Bushman's garden updates


Secondly is I am bringing honeybees back to the acre!
I am super excited about this.  I love honeybees and honey too!

I was watching some youtube gardening videos the other day when a beekeeping video popped up on my feed so I watched it.  I was entranced and more than a little inspired to try my own hand at bee keeping. 

An old friend of mine used to keep bees on our acre a few years back but he did all the work and I just reaped the rewards.  I want to do this on my own now.  I think I can do it.

So I called him up and we agreed on a hive lease (sort of).  Instead of outright buying the hive from him he agreed to let me use it for a season and I will help him out whenever I can with his hives.
A little labor trade and I get the benefit of working with someone who has been raising bees for quite awhile. 

I picked up the hive on Thursday night and last night I began doing some maintenece on it.
I'll let the video explain that part.

I also created a nook in the corner of the yard where the apiary will be.  I built a "bench" to sit the hive on and cleared out a bunch of debris.  I will be installing fence/trellis in the back of it and planting things like morning glories and four o clocks that will climb all over the fence and provide a beautiful backdrop as well as loads of flowers for the little bees.

In the foreground and on the sides will be a mix of lovely flowers like dahlias, astors, echinacea, daisies and such.  There will be a little mulch path leading around to the back of the hive so I can access it for maintenance. 

Stay tuned for more to come!


Bee Hive Maintenance