A Swarm In July Is Not Worth A Fly

" 'A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly’—for it is then too late to store up honey before the flowers begin to fade."
~from Wild Life In A Southern County by R. Jefferies, 1879

Our bees were NOT supposed to swarm now! Unlike our Genesis colony, which we kept up on the mountain and lost to the wax moths, we now have our hives just outside the kitchen window. We can see them all the time and Lisa has been checking on them regularly. We've given both of our colonies two hive bodies, so they should have had plenty of room, and the one that swarmed had filled less of the frames than the other one that has not swarmed. We were hoping to put supers on them within a week or so, but Lisa checked them just yesterday and thought we had plenty of time since the frames were not full!

We are very concerned that the colony which lost this swarm will be too severly weakened this late in summer, and we are sad that now we won't be able to get any honey from them this year. And if we can capture the swarm, will they be strong enough to make it through the winter? It seems doubtful.

Would we be able to put the swarm back into the original hive? We are still novice beekeepers so we don't really know. We will have to identify the queens and decide what to do with each of them. If we can capture the swarm we will be calling in for some help in identifying the queen since we don't know exactly what to look for.

At least we were successful in getting the swarm to land on a tree in the front yard, not far from the original hive. We made such a racket, that I'm sure folks could hear us all the way across the river! Erica was doing the dishes when she noticed the right bee hive buzzing around very vigorously and told me to look at the bees. When I saw the bees, I ran out to get Lisa who was heading to the garden. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew she would be interested.

Lisa immediately yelled, "They're swarming, oh no! Get some pots and start banging!" Erica hastily handed out some pots and pans and Lisa, Matthew and I commenced to making the most noise we could! (I think my pots had the most melodic sound of the three of us.) Christina went to the front porch and began ringing our large dinner bell. We watched the cloud of bees hover above our house and move to above the side yard and slowly on up toward Simon's tree house tree where they gradually settled as a mass waaay up toward the top!

We succeeded in persuading the swarm to stay close to home, but how in the world could we get to that branch 40 foot above? I asked Matthew if the fire department had any ladder that could get up there. He said they had three extensions but we would need something solid to lean the ladder up against, not just some little branches.

We put a hive box with a bit of honey underneath the tree in hopes that they will find it and decide to move in. That would be the ideal conclusion to this puzzle, but what are the possibilities of that happening? We don't really know. We will be watching them carefully tomorrow to see where they head off to.

Lisa suited up and wanted to check on the hive that lost the swarm. She was happy that there were still very many bees left in the hive. She had been afraid that Matthew weed-eating below them had caused them to swarm and maybe the entire colony had departed, but that is not the case. She thinks it must be a legitimate swarm.

She didn't check them until 8:30 or so and it was starting to get darker. But since I had not taken any pictures of our new hives, I decided to capture the moment on film anyway.

Here is Lisa checking the frames:







Here is the tree where the swarm landed. You can't see them in this picture, but you can see Simon's tree house. The swarm would be above the top of the frame:



Waaay above the tree house you can make out the glob of bees:



The pictures didn't show up too well since it was so late, and when I zoomed up on them it got more blurry than I wanted, but maybe you can get an idea anyway:




Simon was a trooper, and went up on the hill with Lisa when she got a closer look at the bees. He didn't get very close, but afterwards he decided to put on the bee keeper garb just for fun:





I say that he was a trooper becasue this is what he looked like just one week earlier after being stung in the face by two honey bees:





He wasn't wearing a veil when he was changing out the bee feeders, but we have done that chore several times before without a veil. This time, however, was different! He put the first feeder in with no trouble, but the second colony didn't like him being there and let him know it! He's not been allergic to bee stings before, but I guess with two of them getting him in such a sensitive area made the difference. He didn't feel like going to church that Sunday, but after some cayenne pepper, the swelling went down pretty quickly. Some children may be scared of bees after something like that. Simon was a bit nervous about bees for a day or two after the stings, but he was very interested in them today, just a week later.

So, we have a swarm in July, which, according to the old proverb, isn't worth a fly! So sad. But will we be able to salvage something out of this experience? I guess only the days ahead can tell the rest of the story.

A Common Man

I've been listening to the radio this morning via the internet, and the station I'm listening to just played a song I really identify with. It's called "A Common Man" by Carroll Roberson.

Carroll was actually the evangelist in a revival meeting at Liberty Baptist Church in Berea, Kentucky way back on April 26, 1991 when I first accepted that God was calling me to preach the Gospel! He has recorded many, many wonderful songs over the years.

Here are the lyrics of the song that really blessed me this morning:

"I'm just a simple, common man,
an ordinary, common man.
I know the world don't really care.
But I've got eternal life,
Because I know Jesus Christ.
That makes me a millionaire.

Wherever I go, whatever I do,
I'm just as common, as a plain old shoe.
But in God's eternal plan,
He chose a common man
When Jesus came, to set us free,
He became a common man like me.

I'm just a simple, common man,
an ordinary, common man.
I know the world don't really care.
But I've got eternal life,
Because I know Jesus Christ.
That makes me a millionaire.

I don't fit in, with the modern days.
I like those good, old fashioned ways.
And you don't have to pretend,
When you've been born again,
You can be, just what you are,
When Jesus comes to live, in your heart.

I'm just a simple, common man,
an ordinary, common man.
I know the world don't really care.
But I've got eternal life,
Because I know Jesus Christ,
That makes me a millionaire."

I realize it is a pretty simple little song, but I guess that goes along with the message! Here is a link to a video of the song if anyone out there would like to listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlO3xdu3n5Q
I pray you each have a wonderful day today as you get to know our wonderful Savior in a greater way! God Bless!

Just a Moment to Pick Some Blackberries

Lisa, Timothy and I did a bit of blackberry picking this evening. I was suprised to find only a meager selection of ripe berries because the briers are usually full by this time of July. Most of berries are still small and red, but we did find some juicy black ones. Perhaps they are behind this year because of the record amount of rain we had in May? Or maybe this will just not be a very good year for blackberries here? Most of the ripe berries today were pretty small, but they were still tasty.

Timothy loves to eat berries of any kind, and this is the first season that he has been able to pick them himself. He has already mastered the art of picking and eating our black and red raspberries, which were producing a good crop a couple weeks ago. He has also gobbled on our wild strawberries and some of the few regular strawberries we've had so far this year. When he heard that we were going blackberry picking tonight, he was very excited and kept saying, "Bite! Bite!" I took a few pictures of him up at the clearing where most of the blackberries of Pure Water Hollow grow. He is a cute little berry picker!

After a while, Simon came up on one of Matthew's four-wheelers to let us know that the girls had homemade pizza ready. Timothy was very glad to get a ride! I think he enjoys four-wheeling better than berry eating!



And that's all I have for this post. Just a glimpse into a few moments of our evening.

God blesses us with special times so much that we can forget how special they truly are. It is easy to get into a rut and just take everything for granted, and I think that is what I had been doing for the past several months. I guess that is one reason I haven't been blogging much.

But I don't want to let things just go through the motions without realizing how blessed every moment is with these precious ones that God has placed in my life. I only have a brief time to be with my children before they will be grown and gone! I must make the most of every moment God gives me, and I will give Him thanks!

I love these verses in Ephhesians chapter 5:
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Riding Our River

"Oh, Big Sandy River and a mountain man,
We get together anytime we can.
Oh, Big Sandy River and a mountain man,
We play together in Mother Nature's band.

Me and my woman's done made our plans
On the Big Sandy River, walkin' hand in hand
Gonna raise a famly, Lord, settle down
Where peace and love can still be found. "
(only the name of the river has been changed to protect the innocent)

We've been enjoying our river in a whole new way this summer. We've had a john boat for a couple of years now, but we have never made the time to put it into the river in front of our house. That is until an early morning last week when we finally decided to take a little boat trip. I took Matthew and Simon and the three of us floated down the river about 5 miles to our other piece of river bank down the road.

It was a wonderful 2 1/2 hour expedition, full of beauty and grandeur! Most of the time we just floated and took in the scenes, but we did land at one place to explore an interesting looking spot on the bank. We also spent some time testing out the anchor, which held the boat perfectly still even in the current, and we practiced paddling upstream some, just to see how difficult it was. We found that we could manage it pretty well, even though it was very slow going. (Some time in the future we will put our outboard motor on the boat and see how that does in the river.)

Floating down the river put things in such a different perspective, with the river being so much lower than the surrounding houses, roads and railroad tracks and being covered with large trees and other river growth. It felt like we had gone back in time, before civilization had dug it's fingers into every nook and cranny. We saw an occaisional riverbank garden and a barn every now and then, and we passed a couple camp sites where folks had been fishing, but other than that, it felt like we could have been the first pioneers exploring this river!

One very special 15 minutes or so involved a mama deer and her two small fawns. We spied them far ahead of us on the riverbank, so we stopped paddling and remained as quiet as possible as the boat silently drifted closer. They paid us no mind at all as we watched the two spotted fawns play tag and run around in circles as their mama munched on various low hanging leaves. When we were pretty near, she stopped and looked at us for a few seconds but then went about her business. She evidently did not feel threatened at all by what she must have thought was just some big log, and we were able to watch them the whole time as we passed just 50 feet away or so. Looking over my shoulder I could still see the adorable fawns taking turns getting a drink of milk from their mamma as she ate the river grasses.

I enjoyed the trip so much that I was determined for Erica, Christina and Lisa to get a chance to experience it. Timothy would love it too, but we figured that a 2 hour trip would be a bit too much for him to sit still. Yesterday evening, Matthew and Simon took Lisa, Erica, and Christina on the same boat ride while I kept Timothy. I tried to get some pictures, but since they were taking off in front of our house at the shoals, they zoomed off pretty quickly.

Here is the boat waiting to be put into the water:

And here they are in the water after a hearty push off:




And there they go, down a river that time forgot:




Timothy said, "They go float away!"


But then Timothy had a good time playing on our river bank and throwing rocks into the river:







After they had gone just around the first bend, maybe 10 minutes into the trip, they passed one of those gardens that some folks have near the river. When the boys and I had gone last week, no one was in this garden, but this evening found folks tending it. They had music going as they worked the garden and Lisa was amazed at the song she could make out as they came nearer: "Rollin... rollin... rollin on the river..." It was as if someone was playing the song just for them!! It was actually on a radio station at that moment because they heard the announcer come on after the song finished. That was some pretty awesome timing, I think!

It is too bad that they didn't get to see the deer like we did earlier, but they did see several birds, ducks, fish and much beauty. One awesome moment involved a large flock of vultures that were covering a dead tree very near as the boat passed.

Timothy and I went down to our new river bank to await the family's arrival. After about 2 hours they came into sight:



Timothy was so happy to see them! He even ran down and slipped into the river trying to get into the boat. He then got to take a boat ride with the rest of the family and he enjoyed it very much! This is where they stopped to let Timothy in:

And then they took him down the river a bit more to the landing place where the four-wheeler was waiting to load the boat up onto the trailer.

This river has always been a special place for us at Pure Water Hollow Homestead, but now, traveling down it by boat, it is even more special! It is also good to know that it is still possible to use the river for transportation, if the need should ever arise. But since it is not exactly a need, we will travel it for enjoyment and as an escape from the civilized world. It is a blessing indeed!

Pure Water Pastures

pasture = grass or other growing plants used as food by grazing animals; ground suitable for grazing; a field, plot, etc. set aside for this.

Today we saw one of our long-laid dreams come to fruition. We actually put up hay from our own pasture field!

But let me go back a bit since I have not been taking the time to blog lately. It was an exciting moment on June 15th when we closed on the property 5 miles down the road from Pure Water Hollow. This property had been up for sale since early spring, and we first seriously began considering purchasing it back in April. After looking it over several times and counting up the cost, we decided that we could not pass it up.

It has a nice old 2 story house on the property and about 15 acres of mountain behind the house. On the other side of the road from the house and mountain is approximately another 14 acres containing a small barn, some level land that needs to be cleared, a large area of river bank, and an acre or two of a hay field. It is this part of the property that we are naming Pure Water Pastures, which is a name that Simon came up with. I was calling it Pure Water Bottoms, but Pure Water Pastures sounds much nicer, doesn't it?

For quite some time we had seen the need to have some flat land where we could raise our own animal food. Pure Water Hollow is a fantastic piece of land, but it has always been missing that nice, large piece of flat land. I never wanted to trade my hollow and mountain sides and ridges for a coulple acres of flat bottom land, but if we could just add some flat land to what we already owned, we knew we would be set up! Now that potential has arrived!

Now, on to some pictures that recorded this momentous event in Our Life at Pure Water Hollow! Here you can see some of the field with the tractor that was used to mow it. It was a 1957 International 200 tractor:



The tractor does not belong to me (sad face), but belongs to the Younce's who live across the river. I was so glad that they were able to help us out! Here is Neil on the tractor cutting the hay. This was on Thursday, June 30th:





And then today, July 2nd, the hay became square bales and was ready for a Purewater crew to pick up and get it into the barn. It was a hot 90 degree day, and the humidity was high. It was a bit overcast and we were afraid we might get some rain before we got the hay up into the barn. Our fears of a shower proved to be unfounded, however, as it continued to just be hot and sticky all afternoon with no rain. After all the bales were in the barn, I wouldn't have minded if God had allowed a nice cloud burst to cool off 3 hot field hands!

Here we are ready to start. We took the sides off of our 97 Dodge with the 12 foot dump bed. It made a perfect flat bed hay-hauler! You can see that the Younces were still baling the hay as Matthew and I threw the bales onto the truck for Christina to stack.





I've gotten used to Matthew working so hard, and he did today also. When I checked out the pictures I took, however, I discovered that I took more of Christina. She is always a hard worker, too, but I guess I just can't get used to the idea that such a pretty and petite girl could be such a big worker! She stacked the truck all by herself as we threw the bales up to her. Some of those bales weigh a good bit, too!





Here is one of Matthew in the driver's seat. He drove the truck all around the field to get it closer to the bales. If I had to do that, I would have had a hard time getting in and out of the truck so much! I'm sure Matthew still threw more bales of hay up to the truck than I did, even with him driving!



We only put 59 bales of hay on the truck on the first pick up, but we could have loaded many more. The barn is just above the field, so there was no need to work ourselves too hard. Since we had never done this before, Christina was ready in case the load shifted going up the hill. There was no problem at all, though. Going up the lane to the barn you can get a glimpse of the house that is on the other side of the road. That part of the house you can see was built around 1890!



Here is another one of Christina up at the barn. Can you believe she is still that pretty after working on a hay truck on a 90 degree afternoon for over an hour at that point? After a bit of a break that we all took, Christina would next drop all that hay off the truck for me and Matthew to put into the barn.


You can get an idea of the barn in this picture. It is not very big, but I like that the hay loft is on the same level with the road. So all we had to do was pull the truck up and put the hay directly into the barn loft without throwing it up so high like our barns up in Pure Water Hollow.



Putting the hay into the barn proved to be much more work than picking it up out of the field, and we took several breaks moving the hay. I took a couple of pictures in between the unloading of the hay.



I was fairly worn out after that first 59 bales of hay, I'm sorry to say. I'm not sure how many hundreds of bales of hay I used to put up in an afternoon when I was a teenager, but it was always several large wagon-fulls! It never affected me much back when I was 15, 16 and 17. I have come to a startling revelation that I am not able to do as much work now at 44 and 120 pounds heavier, compared to when I was 17! Time does have a way of catching up with a man...

But, our field only yielded 33 more bales of hay, so the second truck load wasn't nearly as strenuous on us. I was pleased that we were able to get 92 bales of hay from our new field! The fellows that baled it for us thought we could easily double that number if we cleared the rest of the flat land that has grown up and sow it with seed. Perhaps someday!

I'll end this post with a few pictures of the father and daughter ready to ride the hay truck driven by the son up to the barn to unload these last bales of hay. God sure has been good to me!