Holy Batman

After our walk this morning and as I was getting ready for work, Lily got a little excited with something on the floor in front of the refrigerator.  At first I thought it was a small turd but after giving it a better look - Holy Batman - it was a small bat (and alive no less).  So I put a dish towel over the little bat and picked it up and carried it outside.  I did put it across the fence.
Now how you ask could I have a bat in the house . . . . well, the answer would be Little Kitty.  She was in early this morning and all happy with herself.  I should have known.  So I figure she caught that little bat, brought him in the house and just dumped him, he/she scooted under the refrigerator trying to get away and then it came out later. 
Little Kitty is great - I don't have mice, rats, snakes or much of anything in the garden and around the house.  I'm excited about the bat because they eat mosquitos and that means I must have a family around here somewhere.  A single bat can eat more than 600 bugs an hour — making bats a perfect choice for organic pest control.


Not my hand you see there!



Bats just hanging out!

Again life is interesting with all my animals.

Dimestore

I've just finished reading Lee Smith's "Dimestore".  It's funny and charming - little stories about her life growing up in Virginia, helping in the local dimestore which her father owned, crazy and unusual relatives, her writing and life in general. 
One of the stories was about Aunt Gay-Gay.  "She drank a lot of gin and tonics and sometimes she'd start in on them early, winking at my Uncle Bob and saying, "Pour me one, honey, it's already dark underneath the house."  This just cracked me up!  So now I don't have to wait till five o'clock.

Checking Hives

Hive #1

Hive #3

Hive #4

I checked the hives last week when it was so HOT!  They're holding their own but not making honey like I've seen in years past.  They all still have room in the hive which was surprising.  There's plenty of bees, didn't see but one hive beetle, some ants in Hive #1 but not a problem.  I put a super on Hive #3 and removed the brood box which I had put on in April.  They didn't need all that space and had not started working the frames in the brood box.  Hive #1 and #4 still had empty frames so I left well enough alone.
It seems this year is not as productive for my bees.  I know this is not the case for everyone but I won't be taking any honey till the fall and then we'll see.  Hive #1 and #3 are both new hives - plenty of bees in each hive and they look strong and healthy.  Hive #4 is also a strong hive.  I'll say again the weather this year has been different.  Right now we are in the hot, muggy and thunderstorm period and I expect more of the same for the next several weeks.  Then we'll probably hit the hot and dry spells in August and September.  And I have left the jars on the hives - I'll probably be feeding so it just makes more sense - will be one less thing to do later on. 

European Hornets

I noticed some large wasps going in and out of this hollow cavity in the Mimosa tree the other day.  They are European Hornets (sometimes confused with Japanese hornets).  They're about an inch long and lots of them. They will (so I've been told) completely destroy a hive of bees.  So out came the spray and late evening I went out and sprayed the entrance.  I also sprayed the following evening.  Well, I still have these wasps going in and out.  There must be a bunch of them in there.  They're not aggressive (yet) and we've had rain so I'm gonna spray again in a couple more days. 

There's always something going on with insects or varmints of some kind around here.

 

Old Baldy Lighthouse and Alligators

A little trip to Bald Head Island and what a great place!  Get off the ferry and you're definitely on island time.  Great restaurants, no cars (only golf carts), no where to go except around and around the island - wonderful.
So we stayed in the Villas next to the old club and there's a canal that winds thru the villas.  Very clear water with fish, turtle and alligators!  Yep, standing on the deck and look down and there's a 14 foot alligator swimming along. 

He/she stayed around while we were in a OMG situation.  The last thing we expected to see.  He/she went under the grasses and you would have never know it was there.  Just disappeared.  We saw another large one that day and then the best was the baby alligator.

Just a tiny little fella swimming around.  It was amazing to say the least and we were very careful when we went outside.  Climbed to the top of Old Baldy with the grandchildren.  Beautiful place to visit and when I win the lottery, I'm gonna buy a house there!

Sounded good at the time . . .

Well my cardboard idea went to "H E double L in a hand basket".  It sounded so good at the time.  Line the paths with cardboard and put limbs and other stuff on top to keep from blowing away and in no time I'd have a clean path.  Didn't happen - those pesky weeds are smart and faster than me.  So I'll take the paper off and the chickens and birds will have a field day with all those worms underneath and I'll keep chopping those weeds.  But it did sound good at the time!

Catching Up and Bee Report

Well, I'm just like everybody else - behind!  Saturday afternoon I checked the bees.  I thought all the hives were doing just fine but again I was wrong.  Hive #2 which has been a problem from the get go is done.  I dismantled the hive.  I thought there was a queen because I was still feeding and seeing bees going in and out - well, they must have been the neighbor bees - no queen, brood and very few bees in the hive.  But with that said, Hive #4, #3 and #1 are doing fine.

I added a brood box to Hive #3 and a super to Hive #1.  Both supers on these hives were full of honey and bees.  Hive #4 still has room but again lots of bees. 

So all in all not bad and three hives are plenty for me. We've had a lot of rain or it seems that way but HOT weather is on the way. 

And since my camera is not cooperating - the internet is full of anything you can imagine so some different beehives - unfortunately, I don't know where in the world these are located.