Hurricane Farm

The sunflowers are still hanging in there, but we're sure to have a frost soon.  It's amazing what you can notice when you take a moment to look closely at the swirling, buzzing, busy workers that surround you on an early Autumn day. 

The bumblebees are busy, grabbing that last bit of pollen to store away as part of their winter rations.  Will they survive the winter--if it comes without mercy--to see another Spring?  Or will their stores give out in early March, just as the winter season begins to yield to the earliest of Spring flowers?

First he lands on the flower and feels his way around, slowly becoming accustomed to and aware of every inch of his landing zone.

Check out the pollen covering this little guy in the photo above!  He works until his entire body is laden with the riches of the flower and then makes his triumphant return from whence he came.

Watch closely as they take off...stumbling at first as they become acclimated to their new, heavier selves.  Slowly, though, their courage builds and their balance is restored.  Off they zip to their hidden hive.

Watch next time you manage to notice one...they work at once slowly and quickly.  Amazing!

Look at the photo below, just above the flowers on the right-hand side.  There, quick!  Off he flies to his sanctuary--perhaps in the hollow of a tree, perhaps into a hole and under the dry earth, perhaps nestled within the walls of an old barn.

We just uploaded a slew of photos, so here are some from a while back.

Recall that our first shipment of bees did not fare too well in transit.  In fact, the majority of them were dead on arrival.  We installed them into the hive anyways at the advice of the supplier who agreed to send out a replacement shipment.

Below you can see how few bees there were when I opened up the hive two weeks after the first shipment came.  You can see that there are some bees on each side of the first frame and then none anywhere else to be found.  There should be 5-6 frames covered with busy little bees working hard at the process of making more bees, who will then work hard at the process of making more bees, who will then...

Yes, I do look a little over-zealous with the smoker, and yes, I am wearing the bee helmet with the face protection, but it was my first time poking around in there and I am proud to pronounce that I did not find myself on the receiving end of any defensive stingers.

Here is the other side of the first frame. 

The next series of frames were empty.  There should have been bees all over the place in there.

Here are some shots of the new shipment of bees.  Last time there were 3-4 inched of dead bees on the bottom.  This time, only a few did not make it through shipping.  That is a healthy looking crate of bees.

Look closely at the last photo.  That is not an escapee.  In fact, that is a bee who grabbed on when the shipment was mailed and remained there the whole time!  What a go-getter!  Even the bees work hard here at Hurricane Farm.

Since the shipment arrived and I installed it, I have been back to remove the shipping cage and the queen mailing cage.  Let me tell you that it was pretty nerve-wracking messing around in there with the thousands of bees at work.  I still did not get stung, but I don't plan on bothering them again for some time.  When I opened it the last time bees were busy building comb on more than half of the frames.  Great work guys!

There was an "old-timey" Farm Day here in Scotland today and we decided a couple of weeks ago to participate in the fun.  So last night and this morning found us loading up the trucks with some fencing, some posts, our farm goods, and (of course) some 5 gallon buckets.

The festivities took place at the Waldo Farm in Scotland, CT, one of the earlier homesteads in town.  Many acres of fields and stone walls welcomed us as we pulled up with:

2 pigs
3 bunnies
1 calf
2 lambs
2 children
2 goslings
1 chicken coop
and a whole lot of eggs, maple syrup, and flavored vinegar.

We were lucky enough to be set up next to the stone wall (re)builder, who spent the whole day working on tightening and squaring up the old stone wall that bordered the front field.  He has been working on it every Farm Day for several years--about 12 feet a year--and his work is amazing!  Pictures to follow.

There were fiddlers, old tractors, hit-and-miss engines, and a buzz saw.  Liev and I determined that we will be acquiring a buzz saw to attach to my Farmall Cub later this summer.  The day also included some bee-keeping displays, a smelter, open-hearth cooking, and lots of Colonial hobbies to see and experience.  We had a great time and met tons of new folks.  Many of our friends and neighbors came out and it was fun to see everyone.

Our piglets were quite popular throughout the day.  They tilled up the area that we penned them up in and we could probably go into business as an "Eco-friendly Tilling Company" based on all the inquiries about their rooting!

We'll post some photos of all this soon.

Also, as if we were not busy enough getting ready for the Farm Day Fest, we received a call from the U.S. Government (Postal Division) this morning informing us that our bees were in.

"The sooner the better," was when the good folks at the post office wanted us to pick them up. 

We also have some great shots of us trying to put the bees from their shipping crate into their new hive.  It is a little like Keystone Cops, and I'm sure you'll love the photos...Check back soon to see them.

Here is our newly painted hive awaiting arrival of Her Royal Highness, along with 10,000 or so faithful servants.

They actually come in the mail, believe it or not!

That's right, I used a lopped off black cherry tree trunk for the front foundation.  Yes, I strive to do something different in all that I do.  It's sort of like a personal moral code or something.

I'm sure there will be photos and stories a-plenty regarding our exploits with the bee queendom to share as soon as they make their grand entrance to our farm.