Where to start? What have I been doing? Well...
Yes, I'm using a vacuum to suck the honeybees out of the log! My friend Judy (she's been a Beek for 30 years) is using the chainsaw to cut them out...
Judy brought her special bee vacuum. It's got an adjustable suction so the bees don't get harmed... This is brood, honey, dark wax (from being old), new wax, just everything you'd find in a standard bee hive but in a log. I was told this hive had been in the huge White Oak branch for over 30+ years. Whether this is the original hive or replaced, I don't know. I do know Judy said the bees were small. Petite bees. Well, ok then! The bees subsequently didn't like my new hive and swarmed out to a branch in my orchard and then back into the hive. Then several days later they swarmed ONTO THE GROUND - something I'm told Beeks very rarely see. And now I have. I captured them and reinstalled them. The hive is weakened, but may have a chance. I like honeybees!
The comb was in sheaves in the hollow log. The bees were fairly quiet (notice there aren't any around my head...) Very cool all in all... Now I need to keep feeding them and hopefully they'll make it through the Winter without their cozy log...
The picture is a bit odd, granted. But these are honeybees swarming ON THE GROUND. The queen is in there somewhere and the bees are about 2" thick or so in this mostly perfect circle. Very odd... I put a deep box with frames over the top of them, supported by rocks to not squish them and they went inside...
I'm still milking!!! Six and a half months so far on MayBelle's lactation...
MayBelle, my beloved Queen milk doe. A Queen is the BOSS goat. And she's it. She's in the milk stand ready to be milked. I really enjoy her lactation. She's been nursed by her baby and milked by me since March 1 of this year... I'm a lazy milker and only milk ONCE a day (it's supposed to be every 12 hours) and MayBelle is still giving me 3 quarts of wonderful milk a day. Enough to make lots of cheese for the freezer... Mozzarella, Ricotta and whey for the pigs. The pigs love the whey. I have bright orange glow collars on my goats so I can shine a flashlight on them at night if I have to see who is where.... Although MayBelle's udder isn't perfect, it still shows 1/3 at the front of the leg, 1/3 hidden by the leg and 1/3 behind the leg. A nice udder (but not show quality). I like her. I put roofing shingles on the stand so she doesn't slip and hurt herself getting onto the stand. MayBelle is an Oberhasli. She broke out the other day as did the Oberhasli buckling... I believe I'm going to have December babies from MayBelle now... Silly girl. Maybe I'll have year-round goats milk... I found another, smaller recipe for ice cream that's very nice and works out well for one person (ahem)...
This is Taffy's daughter from early this year (March 4). I've decided she's going to be a replacement doe to milk. Her "official" name is Geraldine SnowBelle. Snowy for short. Her grandpa was a giraffe-spotted buck I called Jerry (he had a brother I named Ben) and her grandma is MayBelle. So, she's Geraldine SnowBelle. She's very big (daddy Victor and grandpa Jerry are both huge Nubians) and is very friendly. I like Snowy very much and think she'll make a nice milk doe. Rachel Rae had a buckling but her udder has not improved with this freshening so I, sadly, will replace her with Snowy. I hope Snowy has a decent udder. Momma Taffy and grandma MayBelle both have decent udders with a nice long lactation. Snowy also has very nice muscling and should give nice big
Geraldine SnowBelle - She's a sweetie...
Curly Bella Sue the very pregnant Asian Heirloom Hog. She's more of the true small-sized hog. She's due in just one more week. She will be dragging the ground before she gives birth. She's not very hand-tame yet, but I'm working on it. She may not be a good momma this first litter but I'll be patient if she isn't...
She is about 100# or so. So much less than Ellen J. Pettibone's 250# or so size... Amazing the amount of diverse genetics in these hogs. I like them. They make my farm truly independent.
She is about 100# or so. So much less than Ellen J. Pettibone's 250# or so size... Amazing the amount of diverse genetics in these hogs. I like them. They make my farm truly independent.
Thanks to a friend giving me wood for hunting rights, I now have about 4 1/2 ricks of wood. As I heat solely with wood, I need about 10 ricks to feel comfy. I have quite a few trees I cut down as I moved two horses from a remote pasture into my woods. The Arab is thin and poorly, but is showing some improvement. These two stacks (there are two - one behind the other) are roughly 18-20' long & 4' high. A rick (or face cord) of wood is 4' high, 8' long and 1 1/2' wide. The wood I mainly have to split yet from the pasture is Black Cherry. It'll be nice to have wood ready and seasoned (dried)...
AND I bought two ewes! One (the brown one) is the daughter of the other one. Suffolk/Dorset crosses (so they aren't as large as Suffolks). Nice loins, meaty, decent udder on the mother. The mother's name? 59. From her eartag. The brown one is just 5 months old and is named Annie. Born March 15th of this year. I found out that Judy the Beek raises Dorpers (the sheep I'm interested in crossing to). So all in all, I think it's been an interesting 2 months! I'll try to post more in the next day or so...
My tomato plants in the old goat pen/pig pen are SEVEN FEET TALL... Reckon I'll have some tomatoes to can! Oh, my...
My tomato plants in the old goat pen/pig pen are SEVEN FEET TALL... Reckon I'll have some tomatoes to can! Oh, my...
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