HoneyBees- 1 week update

One week ago, in the dark of the night, we installed a swarm of bees into our Top Bar Hive.  Being new to beekeeping, we were not really sure what to expect.  Would they stay, or decide they wanted a better place?  Is the queen present or are we queenless?  It's been a week of observing and learning- and I have loved every day of it.  It's exceeding my expectations, as I have always been fascinated by the idea of beekeeping.  Homesteading, gardening, beekeeping, chicken raising... they all involve a level of keeping records of observations, and I absolutely love that part of it.  I love keeping track of what happens each day, as I know the notes will be very helpful this time next year when we're doing all of it all over again.  We think we will remember from year to year, but it's literally impossible- just the same as the first year of your baby's life.  It all blends together, though you do have a general idea of the memories of what happened, but the specifics get lost.  No matter how hard you try.

So far it seems as though our hive is doing what it should.  Each day we go out and check on them and based on my notes, it seems as though we have observed a new Top Bar of comb being built each day.  In 7 days, the bees have built up 7 bars of comb that we can see from the observation window.  They are "busy bees" and it's so awesome to watch.  We have been feeding them a simple 1:1 sugar:water syrup in a homemade mason jar feeder.  The Laird and I are growing more comfortable with the bees and opening the hive, which is also good news.  No bee stings yet.  No fear.

6 Visible Top Bars of comb

The Laird took lady genevieve & lord alastair to the zoo with friends last weekend.  Lady genevieve's friend spotted a bumble bee and started to squirm in fear--- to which lady genevieve responded in confusion:  "We like bees.  They are our friends!"  Very cute, and definitely demonstrates to me how much she is learning alongside us as we walk this journey of beekeeping.  Where we have no fear- she has no reason to fear.


CHICKENS:
The Queen Mother & Diana have spent the past 2 weeks cooped up in the coop- as is recommended with chickens that will free range.  This past weekend they got to experience their first days outside the coop and they did awesome.  They pecked and hung around in proximity to us while we worked to get a little more finished on their coop.  It's a beautiful thing to see chickens roaming around our yard.  I love it!  We love checking the nesting boxes every afternoon to see if we got any eggs.  With 2 layers, we're getting "just enough" eggs to keep us going.  In 6 months, when the chicks are ready to start laying, we will have eggs coming out our ears!  And I can't wait.
The chicks got to have some outside time in the baby gate area.  They are so friendly.  The chicken coop is coming along.  The roof is about 90% shingled.  We hung trim and an adorable window box on the southern side of the coop (fixed window).  We still have to hang the other 2 windows with their cute shutters- build a cupola- fence in the run below the coop- and cut the interior door to the run.  Hopefully we can get these things done and the chicks can move out of my dining room- sooner than later.  They are quickly outgrowing their cardboard boxes & my house is smelling like a barn.

The Lusty Month of May- Chickens, Bees & Berries

So much has happened in the past 2 weeks!  We have added some ladies to our flock of chickens. The Laird's friend gave us 2 of his Copper Maran laying hens, plus 4 month old chicks.  Our hens are named, The Queen Mother & Diana.  Within the first 24 hours of having them at Redwoodshire we had 2 different escaping events- but thankfully they both returned and we are wiser in the ways of these chickens skills.

We have a double brooder set up in the dining room.  The newest princesses (on the right) are: Mulan, Pocahontas, Jasmine & Tiana.  When the weather warms up a bit, the Copper Marans (right) will head out to join Queen Mother & diana in the coop.  The little ones will head out shortly after that.  We still have to secure the chicken run, shingle the roof, & install the windows.

 Our original chicks are growing so quickly.  Their feathers are so beautiful!  We currently have 4 different breeds of chickens- and because the Americanas can lay different colors, we may have 4 different color eggs in our collections.  We will have to wait until they start laying to see what color eggs Cinderella & Belle will produce.  The other chickens will range from dark chocolate brown, to light brown.

   

Here are some blossoms on a blueberry bush.  It's the 3rd season for these blueberries and it looks like it's going to be an amazing year.  Both baby apple trees are slowly but surely growing and getting better looking with each passing year.  

It is swarm season, and the Laird's friend also caught us a swarm from one of his hives.  Two weeks ago, his bees swarmed for the first time this season.  Despite his best efforts to catch them for us, they swarmed and found one of this other hives that was empty because the hive didn't make it through winter.  Yesterday they swarmed again (multiple times) and he was able to capture them in this box.

The Laird brought them home, and together we donned our veils and gloves and a good flashlight and headed for the hive.  Both anxious to remove the lid and get to work- we set to work.  I lifted the lid.  The Laird flipped the box, and banged the bees into the hive.  Then we quickly replaced the top bars.  The darkness made it difficult to see what we were doing, but we're hoping the queen made it into the hive.  There are a number of bees still lingering in the nuc box.  Now we just watch and wait, and then watch some more.  And take a few photos too! Really looking forward to the awesome opportunities that bees and chickens will lend towards my photography.

Our Top Bar Hive has a sweet observation window.  We are able to open it up and see what they are up to.  Day 1- the bees are mostly  clustered in the corner & near one entrance.  Some bees are still clustered on the nuc box.  There is some activity outside of the hive.

Things are very exciting here at Redwoodshire.  We read lots of books about bees and chickens over winter, but have had to get the books back out to refresh our memory.  In addition to the livestock, we've been harvesting first fruits of rhubarb & asparagus.  We added 10 Queen Anne Golden Raspberries to our 3 year old Red raspberry row.  Not sure what this first year will amount to, but I have heard that the Golden Raspberries are amazing.   We are very grateful for the help we have had from friends who are helping us enter new territory of homesteading (chickens & bees).  I hope we can be those kind of friends to eager learners in the future, once we have skills to offer.

Chick-Inn Coop Progress- Part 2

Stats: 6 Chicks here.  We are adding a few Copper Maran chicks to the bunch this weekend, in addition to a couple laying marans to give us some eggs until the chicks start laying (in about 6 months).  The chicks are currently living in our dining room while we work on the coop and while they grow their feathers and get big enough to move into their coop.  But we've been in "finish mode" with the coop this past week since the laying hens we're borrowing won't be able to live in our dining room.
Here's our progress:

 The Laird installed plywood onto the roof, in addition to cutting the southern window out.  Unfortunately we had a few days of rain, and failed to cover the roof with a tarp.  We discovered some substantial warping of the plywood when we went back to work.

Next the Laird laid felt roof underlayment on the roof, and hung the final piece of siding.  In the midst of all the work on the coop up to this point, we tore apart the pallets and pulled nails to build the coop entry door.  We finished it with a coat of tung oil- and it looks AMAZING!  I love the different wood colors, mixed together.  I absolutely LOVE making barn doors.  I will be building little pallet shutters for the 2 small Western windows, and hopefully a nice window box for the Southern window.  I am undecided about how I feel about working with pallets- it's a TON of work- pulling pallets apart without breaking the boards.  The great aspects are the unique and weathered appearance, and the fact that they are free.  They are truly perfect for the chicken coop or play house application- where you're not striving for perfect.

In addition to building the coop, the Laird decided to do a Garden expansion- which involved re-building the fence (3rd fence in 3 years!).    He expanded it upwards to include the top tier, and be right along the raspberry row.  He also expanded it on the Southern side towards the woods.  His intention for expansion is in effort to grow hard corn and sunflowers to supplement the chickens feed.

 Next up was to cut the 2 western windows.  Yesterday, I was able to paint the entire coop during nap time! Yay for good kids.  Last night the Laird built the soffits and started working on the nest box roof/ door.

The trim is drying with first coats of paint.  With the chickens arrival, we really need to hang the entry door and nest box door, hardware cloth on the windows.

More to come your way!

 We painted the coop to match our barn