Busy Saturday...but hives are built

This morning we went to the second day of a two day marriage seminar. It was nice that we got out around noon and still has half of the day left. After a crazy week at work (800 miles of driving) I was exhausted and convinced Allison of the desperate need of a nap. So we both took a quick nap. Then it was time to get up and GET BUSY! We were sitting around talking about the placement of the bees, the other day, and realized we needed to put a coat of paint on the side of the house that bees will be on. We both figured it might be more fun to paint it now before we had 120,000 curious bees watching us. So we painted the side of the house. We will finish it up tomorrow. It is supposed to be yet another cooler (85 degrees) out. That should make it a little easier.

Allison wanted a night out with her friend and left me to my hive building. I was able to put together four deeps and two shallow supers. In case you were wondering, yes....I am covered in wood glue and yes.....I hammered my finger at least once. I am very happy with the finished product. All that is left to to assemble 48 comb frames and paint the hive body. We are still on track, folks, for the arrival of the bees next weekend.

The pictures above show two starter hives (on the left) and what they will look like once the bees start to grow in numbers and need room for babies and HONEY!!!

Hives in Hand

During a business trip to Jacksonville, today, I picked up the bodies of the two hives. Jacksonville of all places! There in the middle of the city, was a mom and pop operation I found online. I was able to place my order over the phone and they had it all ready to pick up today!

I was so excited when I got home that I put one of the hives together (dry assembled...no glue or nails) just to see what it looked like. Lots of work to get done in the next week, so I can go pick up the bees.

Orders have been placed! There's no turning back now!

Well, the bee keeping supplies have been ordered and have been shipped! I went to my first beekeeper's meeting and after the drama of the members was over we learned about harvesting. Better yet, we had time to spend with beekeepers who are neck deep in honey production for this season. Got some good information and feel totally overwhelmed! Im still very excited and can't wait for them to arrive, just thinking about 50-60,000 bees flying around the house.

Well, fantastic news! We learned today that we will in fact be starting our hives this spring instead of next. I've been frantically searching the net and reviewing for the best way to get this started. Luckily we are connect to our really good friends who have already started the process and have been able to give us a steer in the right direction.
We have decided to start with two hives to make it easier to judge the health of one hive compared to another. That means in the not to distant future we will be delivering about 15000 bees to our property! On purpose!

It is hard to believe all the preparation that goes into establishing a hive, but we expect the reward to be more than worth it. Our calculations tell us that we should be able to replace the 5 gallons of honey we buy per year with our homegrown local honey!

Talk to you soon!

Summertime on the farm

As temperatures reach into the 90's, The Reynolds Nation tends to spend more time indoors and fewer days spent out on the farm. Yesterday, we wrapped up some spring cleaning of the yard. The heat and humidity seems to make you tired so quickly. We are beginning to realize through that our heatwave evacuation will not be a full retreat. A farm takes a lot of work. Although ours is quite small and just starting up, there is always something to do. To abandon the farm for the Florida summer would set us back years!
So yesterday we were getting the yard ready for summer by clearing some more land, cleaning out the area on the side of the shed, i spent nearly two hours with a weed eater, and we managed to get 27 trees planted.
In the very front of our property, he have no plants which leaves a open view to and from neighbors. So to create a natural border, i started researching quick growing plants. I can up with two of the most productive growers (putting aside bamboo). A few months ago, I ordered hybrid willow and hybrid poplar trees. They are said to grow at an amazing 7-10 feet per year. This is exactly what we are looking for. The poplars grow tall and the willows grow full. So along the front of our property, I planted them in a two willow to one poplar ratio. I will update on just how fast they grow!