Short but Sweet

The latest project...

... and of course, blogger is being difficult with the photo. It's the right way on my computer, but blogger thinks you should enjoy it sideways. Sorry guys. 

Anyhoo, this is the newest addition to the decor in Mara's room. She and GG painted the rocks, and they were just lying around so I decided to do something with them.  They're hot-glued to a piece of paper, and that piece of paper is hot-glued to the back of the frame.

The only problem- there's no glass, so the back is super wiggly in the frame.  I think I'm just going to duct tape it in the back and call it a day. 

Another potential problem- it's kind of heavy. You know, because... rocks. So here's hoping it stays in the wall!

Grandaddy and Bees

When I told my grandparents that we were getting bees, my Grandaddy told me that they used to keep bees when he was young.  He grew up on a farm near Heber Springs, AR.

This is what he told me... writing it down before I forget!

-When he was a toddler, he crawled through the hedge around the bee yard and got stung all over.  They covered him in sulfur molasses.  He said that they would have covered him in chewing tobacco, but nobody in the house chewed.

-His job was to light the smoker, which was a rag on a stick, and keep the bees off of his dad while he "robbed" the hives.  He said the he couldn't run if he got stung!

-His uncle died of a bee sting.  He was out working in his fields, got stung and couldn't get to help fast enough.  Grandaddy said he died of a heart attack because of the sting.

-His dad used to find new bees by going to the creek, finding some bees getting water and following them back to their hive.  It was usually a hollow tree.  Then they'd cut out the tree-hive and bring the bees to their bee yard and put them in a box-hive.

-They kept 8-10 hives at a time.

-When I showed him the picture of our hive in the back yard, he said, "Don't let 'em swarm!" And told me that I needed to get another box to put them in if they did.


It seems like almost everyone who had family who farmed back in the day kept bees.  Even myy neighbor was telling me that her father kept bees at their farm.

Answering Some Bee Questions, and Our First Sting

This one's for you, Gina E.!  :)

Some questions about the bees answered...

Where is the beekeeping yard now?  It's out at Two Rivers park right now.  Near the community gardens.  The gardeners are happy to have us, and our teacher is planning on making that his "teaching yard". We'll bring them home sometime this week.

Once you bring them home to your yard, they'll know their hive because of their pheromones, I'm assuming? They know their hive because of their pheromones, and because they will start establishing foraging patterns.  When they are moved, scout worker bees will fly out of the hive, realize that things are different, and start flying in ever-expanding circles around the hive.  They'll recognize landmarks around the hive and remember their way home. The scouts will return to the hive and let the rest of the workers know where things are, and how to get there, with the waggle dance. Click here for a little more information about scouts and the waggle dance. 
While they are doing this, we will be careful to keep feeding them sugar syrup so that they can keep drawing out the comb, laying brood and being happy bees.
Incidentally, we have learned that you need to move the hive less than three feet, or more than three miles, otherwise they get confused and fly home to where the hive WAS, because they recognize the landmarks.

Do you have to do anything with the city to tell them you have a beehive? Do they regulate that kind of thing? The state has laws and regulations about beekeeping.  We have to register our hive with the AR state plant board.  When we register, we are entitled to free apiary inspections.  In other words, if we have or suspect a problem, we can get a little help in solving it.  We also have to have our hive inspected if we ever want to give away our bees, or a part of our colony.  Click here for more info on how and why we have to register our bees.


 In other news, X was stung the other day- on his palm, right through his glove! I wasn't there, but the story I got was that he was holding a jar of bees while his teacher was demonstrating a method for counting varroa mites. He probably squished one accidentally, and she fought back a bit.

Also, we have assembled another hive body to add to the hive.  The brood that was first layed by the queen has hatched, and they are starting to fill in that comb with honey.  I really want to bring the hive home before we add that second story, because it'll be lighter and easier to move.


I don't know if anyone who reads this blog would be interested, but our instructor, Jon Zawislak, is planning on doing a three part evening seminar in the fall, covering everything we learned in our class. It'll be free to the public, and I'll update with more information when I get it.  Also, I'm going to give him my blog address, so he'll probably come on here and tell me everything I'm telling you that is wrong. :)

And... one more braggy thing... We were in another paper, this time with an article.  Click here!