All the Buzz at Honey B Farm: As Of July 1st............

Things are looking great here at Honey B Farm! The bees are really working now and we're in a good honey flow. When beekeepers (better known as "beeks") talk about a honey flow, they mean there are enough natural plants out there to feed the bees - so much so that the bees have no problems putting away honey in the hive. Right now they are working the birdsfoot trefoil, wild mustard, prairie roses, purple vetch, white clover, red clover, sweet clover and alfalfa. We produce what we call a 'wildflower honey' here on the farm and there are probably over 20 different plants and blossoms that go into the honey throughout the season. Before we put the honey supers on the hives, the bees store honey made from dandelions, chokecherry blossoms, apple blossoms, cherry blossoms, and other wild fruits for their own honey. Throughout the summer the bees also work garden blossoms, like green beans, summer squash, tomatoes and herbs. Very soon the bees will be working the basswood tree blossoms and that makes for a great tasting honey. Somehow those bees seem to know just the right amount to mix, and they bring the honey to just the right density and moisture before they cap it. How amazing those bees are! How marvelous is the Lord to figure all this out! We have 10 hives now. That swarm I wrote about a few posts ago is doing well. We took that swarm and two others we caught over to Joe Miller's farm east of Waubun. This way they won't come back here and they will feel that they have truly swarmed.


One of our bees on birdsfoot trefoil (see upper center)


Bee on Wild Mustard (see center)


Purple vetch - another favorite bee food

Harold has been working in the garden and yard today. He hilled up the potatoes, and cut the tall prairie grasses at the bottom of the yard with the tractor/mower.


Taking a break from hilling potatoes. Soon we will have creamed new potatoes for supper!


Getting that tall prairie grass mowed.

I took a walk on the east side of our land today. Yes, I braved the black flies and ticks, only got 2 deer ticks on me. Hardly anyone drives down the unmaintained part of the road (actually it's not really a road, but has always been known as a "cartway".) I took a photo of our own personal lake, which we call Lake Harold (not for swimming, though, as it has leeches and snapping turtles in it). You can't see them in the photo, but Ma and Pa Canada Goose have 6 goslings on there. The other morning they were trotting around the goslings in the pasture and making a big racket. And check out my pretty petunias now! They don't look so scrubby anymore. There's always something to do or maintain here - we never lack for work. For us work = fun. Or is it Fun = work?