Charlie

Heidi, our golden retriever, died a month or so ago. I finally decided I needed a new walking pet. So we got Charlie on Saturday.

Reduced Hives

I took the top super off of Doug's three hives and set them about 30 yards away. There was some wax that needed to be cleaned near them, so, if there was any honey in the supers, I'm sure the bees will take it away. In the photo, the left most hive had the guard bees that were most protective of my entering. When we moved the hives to my yard, the right most hive seemed to be the meanest one. They were rather gentle this time.


I also took the top two supers off of my hives in Clarence's yard and set them about 15 yards away. When I checked yesterday after church, they were being cleaned as well, although I doubt the top supers from each hive actually had anything in them. My bees are most gentle. I don't think I had a guard bee come after me at all.

Still Alive

Admittedly, not much happens in the garden or with bees on Thanksgiving. However, I have a small report to make.

Last week, I moved cold frame hoops from one of the beds that will be dormant over the winter to the bed where the cauliflower are planted. I rained during the interim, so I wasn't worried about freezing temperatures. Yesterday was windy and felt cold, but the low was predicted to only get down to 39F so I didn't cover the plants in any of the garden boxes. I woke up this morning to learn that the low was at that time 34F and had been down as low as 30F in the yard. I think it will get cold again this evening. So this afternoon, I went out and put on the covers on the three raised beds. Fortunately, nothing had succumbed. The broccoli heads are getting big. We don't need them for our Thanksgiving meal, but I will need to harvest some of them soon, as there are four of them that are rather large.


While I was covering the last bed, I saw a bee exploring. So, I went to look at Doug's hives. All three of them had bees coming and going. I took a photo. They were orienting when I first looked at them, but not when I grabbed the camera. But you can see 4 or 5 in flight if you look closely. The look like little brown dots.

Cold Frames

I'm trying it again. I've covered two of the cold frame hoops with plastic. The beds have broccoli that is just on its way to growing. I am hoping that this year, unlike last year, the cold frames will be able to keep things alive. I've covered them for the past week. I took the covers off today to allow the rain to soak as much as it could, although the rain was rather light. It's already 34 and Kathy and I just went out to put the covers on. There was already frost on the twin sheet that I have over the cauliflower. (I had to use a sheet because where I planted them I didn't have hoops installed.) It's frozen several nights and things have survived so far. I hope we weren't too late this evening.


Of course, I don't need cold frames over the onions or garlic. Last year, I had four covers. One of them had water in it when it was stored and when I tried to unfold it, it just broke apart. I have one left that I haven't tested. I may try putting that over one of the onion beds to see if it helps things along when it gets a bit colder.