Struggling Bees

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Ned Newby

The last couple years I have struggled with keeping bees. I entered spring with one very strong hive with plans to harvest honey. That hive box was damaged so I moved the bees into a new hive in the spring. I had another young hive, and added 2 new packages.

Everything was looking up until the rains came. Over the summer the strong hive left. Then the young hive and one of the new ones followed.

Going into winter I have one new hive of Russian Hybrid bees. I have ordered a package of Italians and another package of hybrids for this spring. I may order more but haven’t decided on that yet.

The plan is to baby the new hive through winter and next spring to focus on the bee yard and orchard.

Where has the summer gone!

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Ned Newby

Time flies when you’re busy and this spring and summer have been the busiest. School will be starting in just a few weeks.

All the trips to Birmingham to get to know Jenna and Sebastian. The 2 weeks off when they came home to stay. Camping trip etc,… The grandsons here. It’s been a wild couple of months. The garden is full of weeds. The grass needs to be mowed. The gate opener still needs to be repaired. The weather hasn’t helped in the last one. But the house is still standing and all the animals are healthy so we are doing pretty good.

Grandsons Jacob and Westley left to go home with their Dad on Wednesday. We were all missing them before they ever left. It’s very quiet with them gone but it also gives the four of us time to be together before school starts in a few weeks. Having Jacob and Westley here was perfect for the transition but now it’s our time. I know that we don’t know the kids after just a month and a half but to me it feels like they have been here all along. Sometimes I have to remind myself that we don’t have a history and they don’t completely understand us like Jacob and Westley did. That will happen too with time.

Nothing like having the rules changed in mid stream. This week we were informed that the county requires two things that we were not told about before. CPR and another 5 week class regarding behavior issues. What ever sign me up so I can fill these boxes. I did ask why we weren’t told about this before instead of six weeks after placement. Another few weeks and the adoption would be final anyway. But we are still at the mercy of the system so we will jump rope. Jenna and Sebastian aren’t going anywhere especially over some last minute technicality.

We got a new Great Pyrenees puppy. Her name is Lilly. The kids call her “Silly Lilly.” When she is bigger she will join Remmy out with the goats and cows. For now she is a yard puppy. She and Bonnie are playmates.

June 21^st we had a surprise litter of piglets. One of them was not doing so well. In I found it away from all the others and it had not been cleaned off. I thought it was dead at first. Finding it was still alive I carried it to Lisa and let her work her magic while I continued to feed all the animals and get ready for work. Since then we have added a second one to the playpen in the house. It was thin and trying to eat feed with the sows. I don’t think she would have made it another day. Both are doing well. The first one is named Charlie and the second is Charlotte. Charlie still may not make it. He gets tired when eating and has to stop and rest before taking the bottle again.

Bonnie was way too interested in them so she got locked in the feed barn. She had her head and neck stretched as far as she could just seconds before I took the picture.

Westley and I harvested vegetables from the garden on the 4^th of July. It was hot but we got it done. Then everyone sat in the living room and shelled and snapped beans and peas before we went to see and shoot off some fireworks.

Sebastian and I went out to check on the bees when I got home from work yesterday. It’s been nearly a month and I expected a real mess. Fortunately things weren’t that bad. One hive had some comb running across four bars that had to be fixed. The other hives needed a little adjusting but nothing serious. I added some empty bars between filled ones and tweaked some comb to encourage the bees to keep it all on the bars. I’ll try to check them again in about a week. I’ve got to get Sebastian a bee suit so he can get in there with me. as it is he just helped me carry stuff and kept his distance.

New Arrivals

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Ned Newby

We went on our bi-weekly feed run and came home with two baby gosling’s. Remember George the gander we raised from an egg in the incubator a while back, well we got him some company.

Rosie gave us another little heifer on the 25th. She sure does have cute calves. I have decided to keep last years heifer and may keep this one as well. Marla may have to move on to make room. I’ll cross that bridge later.

The weather finally decided to act like spring instead of winter so we got the garden planted.

A couple of weeks ago I had to fix some comb in the bee hives. I checked on them Sunday and all three hives are doing well. I placed some small hive beetle traps in each hive. I haven’t seen any of these pests this year but I don’t want to get messed up like I did last year when I lost all the hives partially to the beetles.

New Bees and Milk Buddies

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Ned Newby

After I lost all the bees last year I’m starting out fresh in 2018. I moved the hives again. They are close to where they were originally. Much more sun there. I had moved them closer to the house and my daily route when feeding the animals. Unfortunately there wasn’t as much sun there and I think that had a lot to do with the problems last year.

Lisa picked up the bees from the post office. She said it was much creepier than she expected with all the buzzing going on behind her. Guess I’ll have to go back to doing all the bee retrievals in the future.

This morning all was still at the hives. I could hear a little buzzing but not much. It was colder than I expected. I bet there is a lot of activity there now that it’s warmed up.

We rescued two kittens from the dump a couple of months ago. Turned them into barn cats. They have already killed a couple rats but they are also addicted to milk.

Guss the gander always shows up to look over the milk process too. This time of year he’s getting aggressive and at times tries reach through the fence with that long neck of his to pinch me.

Bee Struggles

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Ned Newby

Well the bees have gone again. All started out well but the last couple of weeks I have been struggling to control small hive beetles. The bees finally had enough and both hives left for better surroundings. I had moved the hives closer to the house so I could keep a better eye on them. The problem might have been that the location had more shade than I realized. I’ll just move the hives again and see if I can catch a late swarm or two. If not I’ll buy more next year and start over again.

On a better note, when I checked on Bobby Jo after work Friday she had a brand new heifer calf. The last four calves have been heifers. Lets hope that continues.

Even with all the rain and the weeds trying to take over the garden it is producing well. At least the green beans are producing. Squash, not so much and the peas are just starting to come in. I dug a few potatoes. Most are small but they will be good in soups and stews. It’s still too early for the sweet potatoes.

And then there are the egg eaters. I usually catch two to four of these a year. Caught this one last week and it was the first for this year. Lisa called me today to let me know there was another one on the porch that needed to be rehomed If it was still there when I got home. It will probably be gone because she said the cats were keeping a close eye on it.

The deed is done

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Ned Newby

We sent our first steer to the butcher this morning along with a boar hog.

It took me longer than expected to find someone to do this so Porterhouse was becoming too pet like. If he would have been around much longer I don’t know if we would have been able to butcher him. Well one of we. If everything goes well with this butcher it will be a regular occurrence. I have too many pigs right now and two more steers that are either going to be sold or sent to the freezer. I know one is next years freezer steer but the other may be sold.

Over two weekends I worked to straighten the comb in the hives. It was a mess. Instead of following the guides down each bar the bees built at a 45 degree angle across the bars. I caused so much disruption that I haven’t been back into the hives. I wanted to give them a chance to get all the comb reattached. I use hair clips and string to hang the comb in line with the bars and that means they have about an inch or more to fill in.

I was pleasantly surprised to find both queens had stayed with the hive and both were full of larva and hatching baby bees. I was watching the bees come and go this morning and about half looked like they were carrying white saddlebags.

The garden is doing very well this year with all the rain. So are the weeds.These pictures were taken right before the last series of rains. Now the beans have grown up and over the fence. It is a green wall.

Back in Bees

Posted on May 5, 2017 by Ned Newby

The bees I had ordered a few months ago finally arrived.

Jars of sugar water ready to go into the feeders.

In the homemade feeders.

Sitting in the hive waiting for the thirsty bees.

Cover off and ready to lift out the syrup can and queen cage.

The queen and her maids. I’ll release her in a few days.

Queen cage hanging in the hive with all the new bees.

All closed up for the night.

I was able to go back and shake a few more bees out of the box after I got the other hive taken care of.

I sure am glad to have my bees back.

May 1st 2017 and spring is in full swing on the farm.

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Ned Newby

A couple of weeks ago, April 18th to be exact, Rosie gave us another healthy little heifer.

Here she is at two days old enjoying the morning.

We have five turkey hens sharing a nest. They each have a few eggs under them so I guess they are just sharing the nest site. This brush pile is relatively close to the house so they should be safe from predators. They usually nest out on the fringe of the property and we loose a couple each spring. The dogs just can’t be everywhere.

I got the garden planted and set a box trap with chicken feed to catch a few chickens that are determined to fly over the fence. Not only did I catch several chickens and clip their wings I also caught several members of our squirrel population. Here are two.

Friday the corn started to break through to the sun. Buy Sunday evening the crows had eaten every single one. Each of those little pock marks was once the home to a new corn plant.

Notice the bare patch in the back. Crows…

I replanted about 2/3 of that spot in corn and the rest in sweet potatoes. If something gets the corn again I’ll just plant something else. Maybe okra. I didn’t have room for it this time.

The little garden is only about 40 x 40. I am adding 12 to 16 feet along the back but it won’t be usable until next year and it won’t be good then. I have some work to do building up the soil back there.

I received notice that my bees have been shipped so I will be re-hiving them in the next day or so. I have two of the top-bar hives cleaned up and ready for them. I’m debating on if I need to buy another package or two to fill the remaining hives or just hope to catch a swarm. Decisions, decisions.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Ned Newby

We had a very nice day yesterday visiting with family at two separate gatherings. My niece Ashley and her husband hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family. Then we went to Lisa’s moms house to visit with her side of the family. Good food and company all day.

It’s been a while so a little catching up is in order.

I don’t think that I mentioned the last hive swarmed late this summer. I don’t know what caused it but my guess is it was a combination of ants and the drought. So, I’ll buy some more bees and start over in the spring. Maybe I can catch another swarm or two. I didn’t get any last summer.

With the drought still in full swing and the unusually warm weather I never did plant a fall garden. I placed the last two sows and their oops piglets in the garden area for now. The plan is to castrate the males this weekend and move them all back with all the rest. Then I can plant my garlic and onions. The weatherman is saying that we have a good chance of some rain in about a week. We’ll see. A lot can happen in a week.

A couple of weeks ago my cousin, his girlfriend and her daughter came to visit the farm. The piglets were a hit but nothing like Ava. We have gotten used to Ava stealing the show.

Everyone waiting for breakfast.

Something you don’t expect to see at Tractor Supply. I stopped in for a few items and had to get a picture of what was in the trailer next to me. Lisa wouldn’t have believed me without proof. It might be a little hard to tell but there are two camels in the trailer. A large one on the left and a much smaller one on the right.

Found this little guy in the basement when I was feeding the cats. He was small and cooperative so he lived and went for a ride to a new location away from houses. I was able to slide a pet carrier up to him and he went right in. He must have know what the alternative would be.

Here we are torturing Ava with pecan pie. She wanted out badly. I missed getting a picture of her head upside down looking through the mesh. She is just too quick.

Due to other commitments Lisa’s younger brother Greg and his family wouldn’t be able to attend Thanksgiving so they came down a day early. We had a nice visit and as usual the animals were a hit. Especially for little Cooper.

The only remaining registered boar for sale may have gotten a stay of execution. If the weather would have stayed cool this week he would have made it into the freezer this weekend. I just got a call from someone who wants a pair of American Guinea Hogs. If he takes the offer he will be getting a deal. I’m over run with hogs and need to move them.

The aquariums in the basement are full of fish and I noticed tilapia fry in the outside tank. I will have to try and move them this weekend or they may not last if the temperature drops again. The heater will keep the water warm enough for adult fish but I don’t know about fry.

Billie Jo has moved on.

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Ned Newby

Well Billie Jo has gone to her new home. She now lives in Arkansas with a small herd of Lowline cattle. Thank you Dewayne and Cindy and I hope she makes you a nice little homestead milk cow.

The only real downside to selling her so soon is now I have to milk Olive twice a day. Bobbie Jo, our other midsize Jersey should be giving us a calf in the next month or so. It will be her first. Assuming all goes well I will milk her and give Olive and me a break. Olive didn’t get dried off as long as I would have liked so she could use the extra time to put on some weight until the next calf.

I have some eggs in the incubator. I started a few goose and turkey eggs and then a week later I added some chicken eggs. The turkey and chicken chicks should start hatching about the same time with the goose a couple of days later.

Bees! Mom had a huge swarm in one of the oak trees in her backyard. It was too high for me to reach and the limb was too small to climb out on. I set the swarm trap up neat the swarm but once the storm ended and the sun came out they left. I’ll have to move the trap to it’s usual location. I probably should have put it there in the first place but I was hoping closer would be better. Guess I was wrong.

The storm I mentioned hit Thursday night and it dumped between 5 and 6 inches of water on us in a short time. I didn’t notice it until Sunday afternoon but it washed out my fence along the power line. I have know idea how the horses, hogs, and dogs didn’t find it and go roaming. Just lucky I guess.

While I was repairing the fence I noticed that one of my 2 remaining hives did not have bees coming and going. I opened it up and it was empty. No pile of dead bees or any sign of problems. They just left. I wonder if they were the swarm I saw last week. Looks like I now have 4 boxes to fill. The last hive is full of bees or nearly so. I might try to do a split. That is something I have never done. I’ll need to check and see if they are making queen cells. If they are I can move about half of the bees into another box along with the queen. The existing hive should raise a new queen and the new hive should continue on as if it had swarmed into the new box. In theory that’s the way it is supposed to work. Well see if my bees read the book.

We also lost 6 chicks to the flood. A hen hatched 10 chicks 2 days before. She hadn’t set up for the night in the same place twice and unfortunately the night of the storm her resting place flooded. Fortunately for her and 4 chicks there was a board laying next to her and they were able to get up onto it. Sad way to find things first thing in the morning but you can’t be everywhere all the time. I don’t think anyone expected that much rain either.

Newby's Homestead Hideaway Farm

A lifetime work in progress.

Category Archives: Bees