the beekeeper

THE BEEKEEPER
its is official
as of april 27 2015 i am a beekeeper

i have always wanted to do this for years
so a few months ago i saw a class on beekeeping
and
bee friendly landscaping was offered at my favorite nursery
the natural gardener in austin

that day this energetic addish speaker hooked me

i attended her beginners class
i attended a day long beekeeping class at
the ladybird wildflower center

then
i attended a four hour hands on clinic at her house
getting a chance to take a hive apart and
practicing beekeeping

bluebonnet engelmans daisy prairie verbena winecups
now on my property there is so much native plants
like these available to provide the nectar
and
pollen that the bees will need
even during the winter months
hundreds of sources
heck ive even let my cilantro broccoli kale lettuce spinach
etal all go to seed in my garden
to provide sources for bee food

so
i bought me a top bar hive
it sits on legs
so its much easier on the back
but doesnt make quite as much honey as the standard
langstroth hive
the one thats usually shown in photos

i also have several books on beekeeping that ive partially read

so like preparing for childbirth and a new baby
you think you are ready
but you really arent

so off on an hour trip i went to get my bees
a new queen bee and her 10000 bees
called a nuc

it was duct taped
now thats a good sign
so things wouldnt shift around
disturbing the honeycombs and the bees
hoping i didnt breakdown or have a wreck on the way home
i didnt want to get on the news

so i arrived at home with my brood

fired up my smoker to slow them down some
boy were they ever ticked off at me for moving them
then
i think i got smoked more than they did

i opened up the top bar hive enough to put in the honeycombs
loaded with bees honey pollen nectar bee larva
and
to put a jar of sugar water to provide a food source for them
until they could get established enough to live on what
they made themselves

the queen bee had managed to escape from her cage
somewhere onto one of the honeycombs
i opted to wait a few days to inspect the hive again
to insure she was ok
since
those bees were so ticked off
they were aswarming around me like a scene from the
old movie the birds

i eventually got them
well most of them into the hive

having it mostly all closed up so they could only get
in and out through this opening
with the blue excluder set so the queen couldnt escape
but the worker bees could go back and forth

then
i backed off to let them calm down a lot

later that day near twilight
my wife she and i went out to check on our new babies
looking in from an observation window
they were all swarming around the honeycombs
inside
and
worker bees were landing on the excluder with their legs
all full of yellow pollen
and
im sure they were full of nectar to put in the individual
combs that would eventually become
country n honey

so exciting after all these years

what i realize is
like a new baby coming home
im not sure what to do to do things right
but
i will stumble through as i know that once this
hive gets established there is not a lot of work involved
just
a lot of rewards
country n honey

the contented
beekeeping

organicgreen doctor

bee happy again

BEE HAPPY AGAIN
this weekend i received a light box from ups
i opened it
and
there it was
the beginning of an era here at the country n

this is a smoker
you use it to smoke the bees whenever you have to mess with them
it supposedly calms them down
i guess if i inhaled a lot of smoke
i would be calmed down a lot too
like
smoke inhalation calm
except i would be coughing like heck
and
i wouldnt want to be stinging anyone coming into my hive

i guess thats the way a fireman feels when they get too much
smoke inhaled
i know i see pictures of them sitting on the ground
with oxygen mask on

anyway ill try not to overdo the smoker thing
with my bees

then the biggie happened
the one ive been waiting for

yesterday in walked my wife she as she returned home
from school
in her hand was a big box
i knew exactly what it was

i grabbed the box
i thought as i lifted it
man thats heavy
opened the box
and
there it was
im sure this is the way the little boy from christmas story
felt when he got his bb gun

i opened the box and gently lifted
my new bee suit out of the box
main i thought it sure is heavy
had to get my wife she to help get this thing on

then i modeled it
felt like an astronaut i did
told my wife she
i better not go outside with this thing
or
our two dogs will go crazy and attack me
like
those trainers do who are wearing those big suits
and
the police dogs have grabbed them
and
are pulling down on their arms

ill only wear this away from them for sure

so i am a happy camper this morning
a final bee class in two weeks
then
i get my new hive
then
two weeks later i get my new swarm of bees

yes
i bee happy today

the organicgreen doctor

bee time to plant

BEE TIME TO PLANT
my bee journey continues
this weekend i went to my third bee class
at the wonderful lady bird johnson wildflower center

now i love this place
i really like to go there by myself so i can just wonder
around and look at things

now this is a larger cistern at the front of the entrance
to the wildflower center
they collect rainwater there in large quantities
to use to irrigate the plants with
and
to keep their small ponds full
its worth the trip folks

it was nice to wonder around this weekend before my
bee class started
looking at what stuff looks like in the dead of winter
and
to compare it to my landscape

looked closely at some thunderturf lawn that was dormant
i was impressed at how compact it was
its made up of blue grama buffalo and curly mesquite grasses
nice lawn
drought tolerant

after roaming around for awhile i went to my bee class
a beginners class
which built upon the last two bee classes i have been to

now
i am ready to read more on beekeeping
order my bee suit
get my smoker and hive tool

then im all set to go

i have an upcoming class in march on handling the hive
a four hour class with an experienced beekeeper
its a hands on class

i also am increasing my bee friendly plants in my landscape
i already have most of them suggested for this area

i recently planted a mistflower a mexican oregano lantana
mexican mint marigold and firebush
i will  let my arugulas broccoli lettuce go to seed and flower

i want to keep those bees happy and busy

i have a ton of bees at my place already
wonder where they live
im not sure what kind they are
but hopefully soon i will be able to identify them

its that time of year
to plant the onions in this area

i use onion plants like these since they do better here than the sets do

in our kitchen we are close to using up all the onions we planted
at this time last year

we hang them in panty hose and hang them from the rafters in our garage
using them as we need them
last year many of ours were the size of a softball

i choose the 1015 onions for this area
since they are sweet
dont seem to burn my eyes when i cut them up
eg
today i will use two of them from last years crop to make some
anasazi beans along with last years garlic and last years poblano pepper
using my organic bean recipe

so be looking at the nurseries or feed stores for these onions
they can be planted in the garden or in flower beds or in flower pots

its well worth it
to go out
cut down an organic onion that you have grown yourself
they just taste better that way

the organicgreen doctor

bees

BEES
several years ago i sat at the family union talking
to my nieces husband about bees
he didnt usually say much at these events
but he seemed animated when he talked about bees

seems he does organic beekeeping

so later i called him and talked to him for a long time
took a lot of notes
afterwards i said to myself
i want to have bees and raise honey
but
i want to do it like he does
organically

however at that time my life was too busy
to get involved in this new endeavor
but
it was always back there in the back of my head
like
solar panels for our electricity stayed there for several years
until i acted on it
rainwater dripped back there for at least a decade
then drained right out one day
well
when my well started acting up
i knew i had to do something

so
last month i saw in the natural gardeners newsletter they
had a class coming up
bee landscaping and beginner beekeeping
so
i looked at my boss my wife she
and
said im in
its time to do honey here at the country n

so
off to the talk i went
after an hour or so listening to this energetic person
who i call the bee lady
from bee friendly austin talk
i was hooked

so i told my wife she
i want bee stuff for my christmas and my birthday
so

first i got these two books
recommended by the bee lady
with plans to read the one for dummies first
that would be me
a bee dummie

i also got this book
the beekeepers bible
a historical bee book for the coffee table
added of course to my alzheimers ones
my organicgardening ones
and
my rainwater harvesting one
mixed in with texas gardener magazines mother earth news
and consumer reports

then
i signed up for a beginners bee class at the the bee friendly austin
place with the bee lady
a little addish on the presentation but worth the time

then
i also signed up for a bee keeping seminar this saturday at the
ladybird wildflower center in austin
taking the beginners class and other multiple breakout sessions
on bee care

then
i went ahead and purchased my hive
its a topbar hive


it looks different than the one you think of as a hive
its easier to care for
then
i bought my first bees
i bought a thing called a nuc
20000 bees with a queen bee and a box of goodies
with bee combs already made and some beginning honey
all this comes to the country n in early april
apparently these bees have to be ordered weeks ahead of time

then
i will go to a 4 hour hands on class at the bee ladys place

then
off i go to be a
organicgreen bee keeper

i cant wait

future posting as we progress will be posted

for those who buy me birthday presents
hint hint my wife she etal
i need

a beekeeper suit
a smoker no not the kind for cooking food
a beehive tool

i cant wait for the
country n organic honey

the organicgreen doctor