First Swarm!

-Posted by Isaac

Our first swarm of the season moved in about two weeks ago. No sweat catching this one-- they came to us! I was late getting the swarm traps out, and somewhere out there a nice sized swarm decided that this looked like a good place to put down roots:

They moved in during the middle of the afternoon, the roar catching our attention. I was working on the house with my cousin Perry (construction whiz and Abercrombie model in Maizy's eyes). We both stopped to watch nature take its course. A hurricane of bees darting every which way; I dared him to walk out in it. Much to my surprise, Perry walked right out and shot some video! Here it is if you want to stand in Perry's shoes. 

"Oh Perry, you're so handsome!"

So by and by, I finally managed to get the traps out. Nineteen loaded and out the door. Fingers crossed.

As I said in a blog post about this time last year, it's a little like fishing for bees.

I know if I was a scout bee searching for a nice pad, I'd head straight for this box. Just look at those locust blooms!

 Black Locust trees in full bloom!

2 a.m. - Our Babies are Home

-Posted by Isaac

I just dropped the last load of bees off, it's drizzling, 2 a.m., and now I'm too hopped up on Coke (the caffeinated sort) to sleep. Might as well post about it.

The apple pollination came off without a hitch this year. No break-downs, no busted hives, a few stings, and (Thank God!), no burying the truck in the mud and running home at three in the morning.

Off the wagons, onto the truck...

 We were lucky enough to have a rainy day taking the bees into the orchards, and almost lucked out today, bringing them out.  Almost... I had to wait a couple hours, catching a mid-afternoon nap under the apple trees. What a pleasant respite... unfortunately I didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of the big hunks of pollen the bees were bringing in. By 5 p.m. the rain had started again and that's when the work began.
Night pictures: I starting thinking about this post a little late.

Rainy midnight caffeine stop

 No real troubles. Just nine hours of trucking and lifting. I just dropped the last yard off, finishing with a big hive:

All done: 1:45 a.m.

 I called the yard rent landowners earlier this evening to let them know I was coming, possibly in the wee hours of the night. One conversation went like this:
"1 a.m.? In the dark? In the rain?"
"Yeah, should be about that time... I hope my diesel doesn't wake you."
"Well if it does, don't expect me to get up and help you. You picked a kinda nasty line of work, didn't you?"
"Are you kidding? I love this. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing right now. Well... maybe one thing. (ha, ha, ha.)"
"I don't know, man. I don't know about you beekeepers."

I was being a little cynical, but the truth is I really do love the pollination work. Alone with the night, my thoughts, the road and the bees. I love it. I can think of about a hundred things that could be worse. A real job (teaching) for instance.

This year the moving of bees was made easier with these special bottom boards I built during the winter:

They have a little trap door on a swivel so the bees can simply be closed in when it's time for the move.

And then opened back up when the bees are brought back to their home yard.

One benefit of moving hives for pollination is that it's easy to change a bee yard or set up a new yard in a better location.

When the bees come out of the orchards, you can fill your new yard quickly without carrying nucs and splits one at a time.

 I set the blocks and timbers for this new bee yard a couple weeks ago. It was a sunny warm day, so Bridger came along for the ride. While I worked on it, maybe twenty minutes, he wondered up the slope toward the lane we had just been on to access the location. I watched him a minute from about thirty yards off, but from the angle I stood I could only see him from the knees up. He was throwing rocks and seemed pretty content. When I finally walked over to get him, I found out why he was so content:

Umm... Mommy may not be happy about this.

God Smiles on the Midwest

-Posted by Isaac

As a lucky few of you know, I sometimes have my misgivings about living here in good ol' Ohio. About once a week, through the winter especially, my very lucky wife gets to hear the worst of my rants: "This is such a flat nowhere place with flat nowhere weather... it sucks, Honey... I'm so tired of it... we don't live anywhere... there's nothing to look at... nothing to do... just tractors and trailers round here... this is just a nowhere place producing food for people who do live somewhere..."

And it goes on.

If I ever get going like this at a market, please just walk away. You caught me in a foul mood.

Jayne is stuck with it. She married me.

As you well know, it's not so bad. I take a little truth and turn it into a big ugly complaint. I'm good at being unsatisfied, and I know I'd find something wrong with wherever I lived. It's just my sunny nature.

The reason for this post is to show you what the Spring can do to even a pessimist like me. For the past few weeks you too have probably noticed things waking up:

Our wonderful pear tree

"Good morning, young Japanese Maple!"

 And the bees notice too. Like fireworks, each tree and flower takes its turn.

The bee yard peach tree

 Although I'm busy these days driving from bee yard to bee yard, I can't help looking on in amazement.

Bradford Pears everywhere dot the roadside

Redbuds too

We have thirty-some hives at Crownhill Golf Course. As the grass greens up, willows light the horizon. There's no better place to be a small pollen-hungry insect.
Or a runner.
Or even, God forbid, a golfer!

And in the non-manicured, set-aside areas of course you get these beauties:

Go Away, Mr. Chem-lawn!

 I love dandelions. And so do the bees.
Other flowers are on purpose:

Tilled garden,  Jayne's tulips, and the white cherry tree behind.

On purpose or on accident, it's like God decided to reach down and touch the Earth. (In spite of my complaining)

And I'm wrong in saying there's nothing fun to do around here.

Reason enough to drop everything and get out in the woods:

We've found a lot of shrooms this Spring, as Jayne has been posting, and we're trying to grow some of our own.

Hard work, growing mushrooms.

 The warm rains brought not only the morels. The apple trees must have also gotten the "go" signal because I started getting pollination calls about 10 days ago.
This year I got lucky with a couple rainy days. The pollination work of moving hives doesn't have to be done at night if all the bees are stuck inside waiting out the rain.

Bees on their way to Sunny Hill Orchards in Pickerington

The apple trees are about as full-bloomed as I've ever seen:

Mason explains the birds and the bees ...

Adding to the business and midwest joy, the market season is right around the corner. Our outdoor season is always kicked off with the Earth Gathering in Chillicothe. This is a fun little enviro-friendly festival celebrating Earth Day and the awesomeness of Spring.

Come check it out next year.

See you this Saturday. Get your honey fix at the North Market and Worthington Farmers Markets!  Jayne will also be at the Eco-Chic craftacular in Clintonville from 11-7.  It's a fun art/craft show with great local food trucks, bands, and even demos throughout the day.

Update on Mushroom Hunting

We're finally starting to find a size-able amount of mushrooms around here.  I had several people comment on our facebook page that they wanted more information on how to find mushrooms, and how to know what they are doing when mushroom hunting.  Here is a nice reference to what edible morel mushrooms look like, and what "false morels" look like.  This website has some great pictures that show you the difference between the edible variety and the non-edible varieties (which do look very similar).  The only other advice I have it to find a nice wooded area, and look down.  I find it easiest to stand in one spot for a time and scan the area all around me before moving on.  

Happy Hunting!
-posted by Jayne

Mushrooms!

We can't seem to stop thinking about mushrooms this week.  It's morel season in Ohio... the red buds are blooming, the May apples are growing.  It's getting warm, yet the ground is damp... this means morels start popping up and it's time to go find them.  We go out every other day looking for them, and regardless of whether we find them or not, it is a great excuse to spend some time with friends in the woods.

My first mushroom find of the season... small, yet quite the prize.

Yes, it really is that small!

This past winter we sold honey at the Clintonville Farmer's Market and had the pleasure of selling next to Swainway Urban Farm, which produces these gorgeous Oyster mushrooms shown in the photo below.  Oyster mushrooms are so intricate and beautiful!  After talking with Jen about how they grow them, and also getting some advice from Margaret Wince of Somerset Herbs, I decided to try my hand at growing our own mushrooms.  Margaret recommended Field and Forest Mushrooms out of Michigan to supply the tools needed to get started.

I bought enough supplies to innoculate 12 logs, which is about 750 plugs.  I chose the plug method because it was recommended for beginners.  

Supplies: Mushroom Plug Spawn, 5/16" wood spade bit, aluminum tags for labeling

Here is a close up of the plug spawn.

We headed out to find the perfect tree along the stream.
I'm glad I married someone with chain saw skills.

Holes are drilled about 6" width, 2" apart in a diamond pattern.

Yes, that's my toddler below, playing with a tape measure.  Did you know that a tape measure can provide 45 minutes of contentment for a 17 month old?  I am not exaggerating.  I don't know why people buy so many toys for kids.

Plus spawn is gently hammered in the holes.

Plugs are coated with a hot layer of melted beeswax.  

From here, I need to do more reading on how to water/store my logs.  I know innoculation happens best between temps of 65-85 degrees, and the logs need at least 1" of water a week (by rainfall or a garden hose).  These logs should produce mushrooms in about one year, and can continue to produce mushrooms for up to 8 years.

You know the rule:  Cut down a tree, plant another one!

The tulips are in bloom, and the kids love to cut bouquets.

 Friday night was really cold, so we decided to cut an abundance just in case they would get nipped by the extreme temperatures.  Maizy took the job really seriously, and when I tried to get her to smile for the camera she said, "I can't Mom, I have to keep cutting these!!"

We've also been inspired by the song "Tea Party" by Frances England.  So we set up a little nook in the trees and had a tea party.  The kids informed me that you had to have milkshakes and graham crackers at a tea party.  I hope to add a little fabric tent canopy this summer, clear away some of the brush, and make this area a nice little get-a-way place for the kids to play.

We also began some renovations on the back of our house.  We're adding a laundry room, a mud room, and "breakfast nook" in the kitchen.  We currently don't fit around our kitchen table very well, so the extra space will help out.  I can't wait to show you the before and after photos.

But why is Uncle Perry digging in to the back of our house?

Isaac has been busy this week, moving bees to pollinate apple orchards, bottling honey, making splits with new queens, and making honey deliveries.  You'll see another blog post from him, coming soon.  Have a wonderful weekend!  It's our last Worthington Winter Market of the season.

A little arrow of Truth

-Posted by Isaac

I was out painting equipment in front of the barn yesterday and I got to watch the following:
A car pulls up to the farm stand, and a lady with her young son get out and make their way over. Maizy, just milling around and being Maizy, immediately takes it upon herself to give the boy a tour.
"This is Honeyrun Farm. We have lots of bees."

(She points at the old tanks and extractors)
"And lots of Honeyrun Farm... umm... stuff..."

Maizy shows off our junk pile

Maybe it's time for some Spring cleaning.

Purple Deadnettle

-Posted by Isaac

A quick blog post to show what the bees are doing as these April days continue to brighten and warm. This early ground-covering plant is called purple deadnettle. You can see the small purple flowers, and in this photo, a bee collecting pollen (center).

The pollen is an impressive bright red. The last few days have been good for collecting and the bees have been bringing it to the hives by the wagonload.

This is a rich source of protein for the growing brood nest.

The Good Life in early April: 

 This stuff is everywhere- fields, roadsides and gardens. It can stay around awhile but the farmers will spray it down soon, as other weeds start coming on.

Fields get sprayed, gardens get tilled.
Usually there is only about a one or two week window for collecting the delicious red pollen

 And for making pretty deadnettle bouquets for Mommy.