New Bee Package

The new package of bees arrived today. I purchased it from the Guilford County Beekeepers Association. I think they got the packages from Georgia. I'm not thrilled about that. I have developed a belief in local bees. But, I decided to take what I could get.


I am putting the bees in Clarence's yard again. The one thing Doug Shaw suggested was inserting the queen cage into the hive in a different way that he had read about recently. We parepared the cage the same way you normally do by taking out the cork and poking a hole into the candy. What we did differently this time was to attach a bamboo shaft to the side of the cage. We wired it on. I guess a rubber band would have worked as well.


Then we put the cage at the bottom of the brood box. The idea will be that we won't have to open the hive by taking off the super to check the release of the queen and pull out the queen cage. We can just pull the bamboo stick out to do that.


The other thing we did was to reloacte the hive a bit. It used to be in the shade a bit more than I liked. So we moved it into the sun and angled it to the south east.


By the time we left, the bees had already oriented and were starting to go after Clarence's holly bushes that have just come into bloom. The good thing about this installation is that there was already pollen in the hive and all the frames were fully built out so no new wax need be created. They can just start storing nectar and making honey.

Aargh Update

To be brief, after watering and waiting, all of the John Baer seedlings that were drooping have more or less recovered and are alive. I have given many of them shikabob skewers to rest against, but their leaves have all revived. All but 6 of the Italian Heirloom also revived. The 6 that didn't are probably done for and I will need to replant.

Aargh

It always happens. You think you are doing your best and then you goof up. My tomatoes were coming along just fine. I thought that by turning on the fan, the stalks would thicken up a little. I went in on Wednesday and examined. Things were a little dry so I watered, giving about 2 quarts among the three planters. (I actually bought a 1/4" line so that I could syphon water from the pitcher and control its flow more easily. The syphon worked great. It just needed to work more.) The plants in the top photo are the Italian Heirloom.

But then I went in this morning and felt that sinking feeling in my chest. Two of the three plantings had gone totally dry and the tomatoes had started to (or completely in some cases) keeled over. The soil was totally dry. Of course, the fan is the culprit, but it is my lack of diligence that is the real problem. Seedlings cannot be ignored and I had ignored them. The plants in the center photo are the John Baer. They are the ones that have had the greatest problem in color -- the leaves have a yellowish tint.

Amazingly, the Hungarian Heart (in the bottom photo) seemed to do the best. The soil was just as dry but they had not wilted. I guess their point of catastrophe is a little different than the other varieties.

I immediately gave each bed water, about 2 quarts each. I turned off the fan. I will give them a while to see if some respond. I will replant where I see that a seedling has died. What else can I do at this point?

The ten days we were gone on vacation with the fan off, nothing bad happened. Just a few days with different conditions changed everything.

Wild Turkeys

This really has nothing to do with having sufficient for our needs, but I thought I would document it anyway. Everyday, I drive down a country road on my way to work. I've periodically seen wild turkeys as well as buzzards near the road. It is pleasant to think that I live in a place where there is still ample wildlife. Of course, there are plenty of deer and raccoons and occasional foxes and coyotes as well. But the birds are the most interesting to me.

I have noticed that there is a rafter of turkeys that have stationed themselves in one field in particular in the mornings. I took the camera with me today just to get a photo. I have noticed in the past couple of glances that some of the turkeys have a whitish shade to them. I wonder if the wild and domestic have been intermingling. I like the fact that in this photo, the tom has his tail feathers spread. When I got there, they were already heading off to the left into the woods, where I take it they hang out during the day.


The irony of this is that there used to be a turkey shoot very close to this field. We used to pass men out with their rifles in the evenings raising funds for a local Civitan organization. They weren't shooting turkeys, just targets. I wonder if they knew how close they were. Perhaps the turkeys stayed away until the shooting range got taken down this last winter.

Rhubarb

I ordered rhubarb from Holland Bulb Farms back in February. The package finally arrived yesterday. I knew it was going to freeze last night, so I didn't plant as soon as I could. Plus, I have come down with a decent cold that has wiped out my energy. Today was a very nice day with temperatures in the low 60s F. So, I opened the package up today and planted. Just planting these few made me so tired I took an hour nap.

I ordered 6 plants -- 2 sets of 3. Each had 4 roots in them, although one of the roots was very small and the other root was actually still somewhat attached (just by a thread) to another root. So I planted 8 roots. These roots are different from what I have seen in the past. The crown was less well defined. In one case at least I just made a best guess about which end should be up.

Rhubarb pies have been a family tradition as long as I can remember. My mother used to always have a rhubarb pie ready for me when I came home to visit. I request rhubarb pie for my birthday instead of cake. The rhubarb we had earlier died out a couple of years ago and we have been surviving on the stems I cut and froze but finally used the last of it on my last birthday. The new rhubarb won't be ready to harvest for a year, and then only sparingly. So I will have to supplement with rhubarb from the store. (I actually found some in a store last year.) But, it's good to know we are getting back in business.

Spindly Seedling Growth

I've been away from the house on vacation for about 10 days. I watered the tomato seedlings well before I left and kept the grow light on. Upon my return, they had grown. But I think they are a little spindly.


I also have some yellowish leaves.


I think most of this will be taken care of when they are transplanted. I got some general advice from an online source. I may turn on the fan in the room where they are located. Other than that, I don't think I will worry.

Onion and Garlic Report

I assessed the status of my garlic and onions. Despite my early attempt to keep them covered, i left them exposed most of the harsh winter in their beds. The garlic I bought from Seed Savers Exchange, Chet's Italian Red, did very well. The only weak garlic plants were the two I planted from garlic I found in the refrigerator.


The Long Red Florence onions did not do as well. I only had a few survive.


The Yellow of Parma onions on the other hand did really well and survived nicely. I don't think I lost any that had sprouted.


I decided to supplement the Long Red Florence bed with some new onions. A friend had encouraged me to plant onion seedlings that were supposed to be available at Webster Brothers. I drove there and only found sets. I wanted red onions if I could get them, but they only had white and yellow. So I got just shy of 100 sets and planted them this afternoon. I may have to make another trip, probably to Kernersville Seed and Feed to get some more because the ones I got were only about half what I needed. Feed and Seed usually has red onions, so that should work.