The Glass is Half Full...

Still Going STRONG after all these years...30 YEARS! 

Happy Anniversary to my HONEY! 

Happy Anniversary to Mark & Dorothy 

November 8, 2014

We've lost two hives in the last month...bees just up and gone!   Fingers crossed that we make it through the winter with the remaining hive created from a swarm last spring. This is, in fact, the same scenario we had last year and all worked out with two swarms and a box of bees.  It might be a long winter in the apiary! 

Still picking some veggies and flowers in late October.  Picked the last of  the cherry tomatoes on November 6th!  Thanks to the Honeybees!

Virginia Tech Hokie Pokey

ECU VS VA Tech in Blacksburg, VA, Saturday, September 13

• Weekend at Smith Mountain Lake with the best of friends and Zach & Lorianna
• Ride to and from the game with a fantastic Hokie tailgate and great hosts
• A BIG FAT WIN 28-21
• Priceless! 

Sunday, September 14

It's time to get ready for winter in the hive...honey supers on hives 2 & 3 removed...brood looks good!  Fingers are crossed that the hives are strong and we get through the winter successfully.  

Need a good read...check your local library

Extraction Day at Triple H Farms...don't ask!

Double the Honey, Double the Fun!  Last year 4 gallons...this year 9 and counting! From start to finish, in the hive, out of the hive, in the garage, in the centrifuge, out of the drum, into the bucket...settle first then fill the jars!  Done! 

Dave uncaps the honey with a hot knife and a honey comb.

Around and around the frames go...

The first flow of honey...looking good! 

Sunday afternoon...the frames are put out in the yard for the "girls" to clean and clean they do! They will be dry as a bone by the time they are done and ready to winter over until next March.  A job well done! 

June in the apiary...

Water for BEES and HONEY in the House!

Water for bees and a colorful bunch of glass marbles and other things to stand on while they get a drink and cool off.   

Into the hives on Sunday, June 8...two bee stings and plenty of honey.  Not sure how I got stung twice in just a matter of seconds but I did!  Bees look healthy!   

Hapbee Birthday Zach!

Into the Garden...

Into the Hives and Around the Garden...

The first sign of grapes.

Spider Wart

Honey on the comb! 

More honey!  Some capped, some not. 

Dave doing what he likes best...making fire! 

Oh to the QUEEN...She's Definitively Royalty!

Not my normal BEE stuff but this is one Queen I truly admire.  Check out Lyn Wendon, the inventor of Letterland all the way from the UK for a visit with young children in Raleigh on a beautiful day in May.  Nothing short of AWESOME!  

Could not resist the photo opportunity with  Quarrelsome Queen...That's me Talking Tess...talking all the time! 

 The turn out was fantastic.  More than we imagined for our first Annual Letterland Adventure Day at Pullen Park.  

 Even Clever Cat showed up! Read more about this exciting day at Letterland-inventor-holds-court.html

Want to know more?  Letterland 

Early May in the Garden

The weather this month has been nothing short of fabulous.  No humidity, great temperatures and no bugs...well other than the Honeybees who are certainly not BUGS!  A good friend left me a birdbath as a gift when she moved to Atlanta earlier this year and the bees have taken to it quite well.  Hopefully, this will keep them from visiting my neighbors pool.  Not sure our bees were in their pool last year but they thought so...