Bee Check Up

Friday afternoon I added more sugar syrup to the hives. The jar was empty and the other three hives needed syrup - their baggie were empty.

This photo is looking at the super on Nuc #2 - the baggie are put right on top of those bees. I did see right many hive beetles - a little surprised but nothing that can't be dealt with and it may be due to the baggies on top of the supers. I'll check on that later - lots and lots of bees though.

This is the front of Nuc #1 - lots of bees and activity. It's turning cold today (Sat afternoon) and possibility of snow Sun/Mon.

Glad I got them fed so they're all set for staying inside a couple of days.

Ethel - The Pink Egg Layer

ETHEL was still on the nest when I went to water and feed yesterday morning and she's the one - the pink egg layer!

She's not as big as the other hens and right now is laying maybe 2-3 times a week.

Drought 2009

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/q/story/1414463.html

Severe drought - 15 counties
Moderate drought - 48 counties
Abnormally Dry - 37 (including Wake)
www.ncdrought.org/

As of last Friday, year to date precipitation in the Raleigh area was half the normal for this time of year - so far only 3.42 inches.
The driest place in the state is Asheville - it gets less than 40 inches of rain a year. And one of the wettest places is 25 miles away in Brevard - it gets more than 80 inches. The mountains never fully recovered - they're facing a third year of drought.
We've recovered from 2007 in most areas in the central and eastern part of the state. In the east some wells are still low - some areas, notably around New Bern haven't fully recovered.
I try to keep fresh water out for the birds and particularly for the bees (although they like yucky water). http://townbees.blogspot.com/2008/06/water-for-bees.html

Folk Art at Fearrington

Fearrington Folk Art Show and Sale this weekend at the Barn. It was a great show with a wide variety of artists. So creative and fun.

Yep, we saw the Oreo cows too!

Raised Beds

I'm doing some more raised beds in the garden. This is an area that was covered in brush - you know, all those limbs, bushes, etc. that you can't burn. It accumulates like crazy but over time decomposes into good mulch and compost.

I'm making the beds 4x8 with some old lumber - nothing fancy and if it rots in a couple of years, I'll just replace them.

And I'm going to dig out some of the soil and put down cardboard and newspapers then add the soil back to the bed.


It was windy and cold on Saturday but the bees were flying so I went to work too. I had lots of help as usual.

This is the new brush pile - it's along the fence and out of the way. In a couple of years, I'll have more mulch and in this area I would like to plant more hollies and maybe some more camillas. Definitely evergreens.

Killer Bees in the Beehive State

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11683327

From "The Salt Lake Tribune" 2/11/09

State and local officials have been anticipating the bees' arrival since they showed up in Mesquite, Nevada in 1999, just a few miles from the Utah line.

Although Africanized bees look like European honey bees, they tend to get irritated faster, respond with more firepower and stay mad longer than other bees. Their stings aren't more powerful but they're just more aggressive.

The bees are the result of interbreeding between European honey bees and bees from Africa. They were "inadvertently released" in Brazil in the 1950s. They were first spotted in Texas in 1990 and have since been found in several other states, including California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada.

They are widely feared by the public but since their introduction to the US in 1990, only 14 deaths have been reported over a period of several years, which makes them less hazardous than venomous snakes.

So far, we don't have any reports of Africanized bees in North Carolina.

Chickens Win a Place in Durham Rules

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1408262.html


Chickens crossed into the city limits Monday night.

"What it really comes down to is a question of freedom, and that's what Durham is about. Live and let live," said Durham City Councilman Eugene Brown.

There's lots of stipulations but Durham joins Charlotte, Raleigh, New York City and Seattle in a nationwide fashion for "urban chickens".

A hard fought battle for the Durham HENS "Healthy Egg Neighborhood Supporters".

Buttercup in the Yard