Putting things in place

So two things to report on the bee-prep front.

First off, I placed the hive in its final location this afternoon. I thought I would put it out in the field so Phil can move it if he would like. This way he has a little control over where it ends up living for year one. Moving it when I expand might be necessary, this is the spot for now though. The hive is placed at the rear of the Acorn Hill property. It is pretty cool because most of the land is a rather long steep hill. There are about 12 acres of property and probably 10 of them are open meadow planted with hay. The hive is at the top of the hill overseeing all of that meadow goodness. It also has a bit of a wind break in the rear of the hive from an old fallen tree and some brush.The picture only shows some of the awesomeness of the place.

They will love the view

I went to Acorn hill this afternoon with my dog Neka and an old friend of mine Mike O'Brien. We brought all of the hive equipment and the wheelbarrow to cart my gear down the trail. There is something quite nice about riding out to Wood bridge and taking a short walk in the woods before coming upon my little apiary. It was a great day. I placed everything where it looked good and stable, then Mike and I took a short tour of the farm. We walked down the hill and saw the wildflowers and clover that has covered the hillside. The bees are going to love it there.

On the walk back we went down the trail along the old rock wall that separates the neighbors property. When we made it to the small field where the truck was parked we saw the neighbor outside mowing his lawn. When he saw us he disengaged his mower and cruised over on his little riding tractor. He shut it down when he got close and asked us in a very Clint Eastwood kind of way, "So... what are you boys doing out here?" Considering Phil's farm doesn't really get very much action, his tone was somewhat appropriate. Two stocky dudes, a little dog, and a wheel barrow coming through the woods must have looked fishy. (On a side note the wheel barrow worked awesome for carting. I plan on crafting a kind of work bench to make the wheel barrow like a portable work station, more on the planning and construction of this in another post.)

As friendly as I could, I explained what I was doing and that Phil had invited us. He turned to all smiles in an instant. He introduced himself as Rick and explained that he used to keep bees himself in his "younger days." He now has grand kids and has been considering getting back into it to teach them. We spoke for quite a while about bees and how great of an area it was. I explained that my bees might come by to sip from his pool from time to time. He shared that they have a small fish pond with a little waterfall that they will probably prefer, and that he was actually excited for the honeybee company. I left by saying I can't wait to share some of my honey bounty and I might come by and ask some advice. He was happy to hear he might have some honey from his own yard, and we left smiling. It's funny that sometimes the world gives you just what you need, and it is rarely what you are expecting.

SYRUP TIME!

The second report today is about sugar syrup. This afternoon I boiled up two batches of syrup to feed my ladies. For the first batch I placed 2 pitchers worth of sugar, about ten pounds, into my lobster pot. Then poured two pitchers worth of water on top. Stirred it up, added heat and let it dissolve. I couldn't get it to boil, I think it was too dense for my electric flat top stove to heat up. (or I'm too impatient) It came out with a sort of amber tint to it.

For the second batch I put the water in first and brought it to a boil. Then slowly added the sugar. This seemed to go much faster and I read that boiling the water lets the syrup last longer because you kill off some nasty stuff when you boil it. This is definitely the technique for next time. The second batch also was tinted amber. I will be consulting the beesource forum for more information on that. I also put some of the syrup in a spray bottle for install day. I plan to lightly spray them before I shake them out of the package. Also spraying them a bit if I have to wait for the rain.

Actually a third update on the bee-prep front. Mother nature is stirring up some bitterness for install day. The forecast says that it will be raining on and off on Sunday. So I hope that the rain will be off for install time. Honestly we really need the rain so I'm not too upset. My well has been acting funny, I bought a few gallons of Poland Springs water to make the syrup so I didn't have to drain the well unnecessarily.

That is it for now. Until next time, when I'm sure I will have a lot to share about the install and how it went, I will do my best to remember the important stuff. I can't wait to get my ladies home.