Lots of activity on the farm

This weekend was a busy and productive one. Having Friday off was a blessing not only for the extra time it gave me on the farm, but also because it brought help to us that was much needed. Fairly early, I worked on the lights for the trailer to repair the break where the rats had chewed through the wiring, but I did not manage to repair it sufficiently to use the lights built into the trailer. Fortunately, I have a set of trailer lights that have magnetic bases on them to use in a pinch. They fit perfectly on this trailer as far as the length of the wiring was concerned. Once I made the first attempt at repairing the lights as the trailer sat near the pig building, I moved the trailer to butt up against the pig building and opened the sliding door on the back for the pig to climb into the trailer. She has a curious nature, and I did not have to wait long to shut her in the trailer. I left that in place for a while as I moved on to other things and to her credit, the pig just laid down and waited.

I moved some honey supers from the shop into the apiary area so they would be available when one of the professional beekeepers came by later Friday evening. He had texted Mama apologetically asking forgiveness for the rude way he had spoken to some of the club members in our Thursday night meeting. I did not feel I had been rudely treated, but I did need the help, so we set up a time for him to come by and work with me inspecting our three hives. That was not happening for a while, and I was not sure what we were going to do when he came, so I continued working on little projects feeling like I had done hat I could to be prepared to use his time wisely.

I did some cleanup in the pig building and moved the feed stored there to locations where it would get used. I planted a row of corn, a row of beets and a row of okra in the garden. I also added some crookneck squash to a row containing pumpkin plants. I split a turkey I had thawed and put the two halves on the smoker grill, and I made some cornbread so I could later use it to make cornbread dressing for our dinner Sunday. I did the planting while the cornbread was in the oven – just to make good use of the time. Mama was out running errands for her business and to get the last few items she needed for her Saturday event in Decatur. She was also returning phones to Sprint since we made the switch to AT&T. That return did not go well, but that is another story.

A potential goat buyer showed up at the farm just before James did and Mama met with her as I finished getting ready to meet James – our beekeeping clubmate. When he got to the farm we started right in on the hives. We opened all three hives to look for swarm cells. The first hive we opened had a couple, but they were no threat and the hive still has four frames that can be drawn out. The second hive had a complete swarm cell in it. James estimated that it was only a few days from hatching the queen bee growing inside. (The long cocoon-looking thing on the bottom of the frame is a fully formed swarm cell.)

Since I had a third hive ready to set up, I brought it out from the shop, and we took the frame with the swarm cell and three frames of brood and put them into the new hive. Once the queen hatches from the swarm cell, she will start laying in that hive. That is what is referred to as splitting a hive. Talk about perfect timing. So, now we have four active hives. I also set a swarm trap very near the hives in case the last hive we opened plans to swarm. The two hours spent with James in the hives was the best education I have had on working the hives since we started keeping bees. Soon after James and I had finished with the hives, I took the turkeys halves off the smoker. They smelled delicious.

Saturday morning, Mama headed to Decatur and I headed to Weatherford. I was a little apprehensive because we had not been able to confirm the drop off for the hog and it was Easter weekend. As is typical, I need not have worried. When I got to the processor, there were three trucks with trailers in front of me waiting to offload their hogs. While I was waiting my turn, five more trailers showed up. Our pig walked off the trailer as easily and as willingly as she had walked on. It was kind of sad.

Meanwhile, Mama and the Wycoff’s were fighting some wind issues on the square in Decatur. Leah had gotten there early enough to get them a great spot, but they could not set up a pretty display of the nails or other items because of the wind. Nevertheless, they did very well. Mama sold almost $300 worth of nails while Leah sold about $150 worth of her handmade items. It could have been better but was a good day for them. It was encouraging to Mama.

Once I was back at the farm, I made some syrup (sugar water) to fill a feeder I needed to install in the hive we had split from the original hive. Installing it in the hive was easily done and I moved on to look over the top bar hive I bought a year ago, made some modifications and set it up near the active hives. It is more or less an extra swarm trap, but I plan to put a swarm in that hive when I catch one in my traps.

If that does not work out, I have not lost much in trying.