Skip to main content

A Spring Swarm

A friend reminded me that I have a blog. There is so much other busyness to take up my time that I find it difficult to take photos, upload photos, edit photos, download photos, and then find words to put with them.

But if I think I am busy, The Farmer is even more so. Spring tillage has started--we have the oats and the hay planted, and he is working the ground for corn and beans. Our parents are busy with other things around the farm--groundskeeping, gardening, cleaning dry beans for sale, fixing things that break, etc.

The other day The Farmer was out in the field in his tractor and saw something strange on a fencepost. It seemed to be moving. When he got closer, he saw this:


Sometimes bees will swarm, following a queen to find a new place. I am not an expert on bee activity, but we do know who to call when we see a swarm. A couple of beekeeping friends came out right away. It's a little like being called to a fire--if you stop to finish what you're doing, you'll miss all the fun.


They were able to coax the swarm into one of their boxes, and take them home.



For more in-the-moment news and photos, consider following us on Instagram or Facebook.


Comments

  1. It's the same here, Lona, made even more challenging by frustratingly s-l-o-w internet speeds ;/ And yet, I love catching up on blogs and was very glad to see your posts. And how lucky to find a swarm of bees! Hope you are well ;)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloggy Giveaway--Now Closed

**This bloggy giveaway is now closed** Thanks to all who participated and gave such great comments. Janette is the winner of the $15 gift certificate to our etsy store . I'm participating in the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival . Click the link to go to the carnival where you can enter to win literally hundreds of things. The good news is that even if you have no time to play on the computer trying to win hundreds of things, you can still enter to win one thing right here. This week, I will be giving away a $15 gift certificate to be used toward the purchase of an item in my etsy shop . This contest is open to residents of the United States or Canada only. The winner will receive free shipping on whatever item they choose. Items in my etsy shop include handwoven rugs, wool yarns and roving from our farm, and the ever-popular cotton dishcloth! To be entered in this wonderful drawing, you must go to the etsy shop and look around a bit. Then come back here and type a comment that ...

This Giveaway Is Now Closed!

Today starts a giveaway at Farming in the Shade! I am happy to contribute this complete hat kit (needles not included) to someone who has a knitting obsession and a small person in their life. Here are the rules (contest open to US or Canada residents only): Giveaway ends May 1 at 9 p.m. EST. Winner will be announced by Sunday, May 3. Enter by posting a comment on this blog post. Tell me something about your knitting--who taught you to knit, your favorite yarn, the coolest thing you ever knitted. Make sure you leave contact information! Earn extra entries by: 1) Following me on twitter. (If you don't know what twitter is, don't worry. It's another way to waste your time on the computer.)  Add a comment here so I will count it as one entry. 2) Tweeting this giveaway (no more than once daily). Add a comment here so I know you did it. 3) Blog about this giveaway. Add a comment (with link) here so I can go visit your blog. 4) Follow or subscribe to this blog (or tell me if have...

Lambing Jugs

We usually let ewes begin lambing in the large pen, with the other expectant ewes. After the first lamb is born, The Farmer will let her care for it for a few minutes. Then he will go in and pick up the lamb (or lambs, if he's arrived after multiple births) and move slowly out of the large pen. In this case, the lamb is the bait that makes the ewe move, too. She is very concerned about her lamb, and will follow closely, calling out the whole time.  The ewe and her lamb(s) are placed in a small lambing pen, called a jug. I have no idea why they are called jugs. If anyone knows the origin of that term, I'd love to know. They are kept there for 1-3 days to ensure that they bond, and that the ewe is caring for her lambs well. No distractions. We set up a whole row of temporary jugs during lambing time. This is one of our hay storage areas, so we need to be sure that we've used most of this hay up before lambing begins. After their time in the lambing jugs, the ewe...