Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Bee Happy

Kelsey was selected to be part of a bee keeping program through Iowa State Extension 4-H.  This spring she got her hive and bees.  The program comes with a mentor.  Kelsey is off to a good start as her bees are multiplying and making honey.  We may not harvest honey this year but just knowing that bees are important for the pollination of most plants and we are a part of this is rather fulfilling.
Apprehension could describe my feelings about having bees in our yard.  To date there have been no issues with them.  Bees do best with morning sun and afternoon shade.  Best location was deemed next to the grove on the west side of our yard.


 The first thing that had to be done was the building of the hive and painting the outside of the hive.  Matt and Kelsey did that this winter and early spring.  There are lots of  brood frames inside the hive.  My guess if that it came as a kit.   A couple of weeks ago they added another box.

Bees need water so I moved a butterfly water dish to a spot by the gazebo for the bees.  I have seen some there so it must be working.  Our yard has a bird bath and another butterfly water dish that I attempt to keep filled.  On hot days this means it needs to be filled two or three times. Today it is raining so I am relieved of that duty.

So now we have added bees to the menagerie of chickens, dogs, rabbit, and cats. Life on the farm can be fun and interesting!!!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! This is an incredible project! Good luck with it, I am sure you all will manage just fine! I love bees and honey!
Be(e) happy!
xoxo V.

for the love of a house said...

hi Rebecca!
I am fascinated by bees! what a wonderful experience for your Kelsey to have- I'm sure she will learn a lot.

Thank you for the bd wishes- you are the first, as it is actually July 29th;), I appreciate your thoughtfulness! Sorry you had to go back through- if you ever want to find it again, just click on the picture of the mailbox on my sidebar and it will take you to the post, or I also have an index on the sidebar where you can click 'mailbox'!
Yes, a granite post and a tractor do not mix well;)
Hope it's a beautiful day in Iowa today!!
best,
joan