I still have a few mini patches of white clover that are blooming.
My red (pink)clover is insanely still in full bloom. The pasture has become a sanctuary for thousands of bees of different types (mainly bumble bee types but many others) and there is always at least seven butterflies out there floating around. The main types are Monarchs, Black Swallowtails, Tiger Swallowtails, and a couple of Zebra Swallowtails have been seen.
The butterflies tend to take trips back into the Forest to … I assume lay eggs… before coming back out and feeding again. Lots of butterfly breeding going on as well. Even saw a swallowtail hanging from the backside of another as it flew away the other day.
The first pic is of a section of pasture in late Spring just a week or two before I butchered it to the ground. I waited until the seed heads dried/matured so I could get a grass seed bank in the top layer of soil. We were supposed to have a week solid of rain starting the next day after the buzz-cut… that never came. It then got super hot and dry/no rain for about 2.5 more months. It kept missing my property!
Anyways, towards the end of last month we finally got that rain. Almost 17” by the end of the month in fact!!!
The ditches never got water in them this time!!! I bet the soil is already getting better at absorbing water at a faster rate.
THE SECOND PIC is of the pasture as it sat a few days ago before the 2” more of rain we have gotten since then. The “Red Clover” is an amazing plant me now thinks.
The grass that had turned brown is back out and growing vigorously… and almost ready for animals.
I keep knocking the red clover back with the tractor since it is shading out all the grass in certain patches. It does have deep taproots… which just be why it was the only thing that stayed green during the drought.
The trees are doing the first year Creep thing. They have not put on much growth since the first flush. Did got a few more minimal flushes of growth but not much. Looking happy and healthy though. Hopefully this is helping them lignify their wood further which is a good thing.
Lots of Lemons set. One tree did a ton of lemons and the other put on more growth.
If you are willing to try hybrids, or if you just want to see how Johnny's recommends farmers go about providing broccoli all year round, read this chart and growing guide. It's so helpful, very illuminating as to planting times and plant tolerances/needs. It also tells which varieties they sell are the most heat and cold tolerant. And you can obtain those varieties from other places, oftentimes.
I believe that Tuscan (Dinosaur) kale is one of the most heat tolerant, as is Portuguese Kale. I like both. Portuguese kale is a short lived perennial, but lives longer if you remove the flowers. It was both cold and heat tolerant in the regions that I've grown it (PNW and desert SW).
Maybe others will share some of the varieties and techniques that have worked for them?
I do hope others chime in on that subject.
Thank you for the link. I shall disappear and read it now. It is too hot outside at the moment to be working in the sun after eating that big dinner I just had. lol Finished it off with a whole cucumber and some honey rock melon.
I actually got some seed of the Tuscan Kale this Spring but didn't grow it yet. I shall give that a shot!
I will give that hybrid Gypsy broccoli a shot as well.
I will totally try out hybrids so long as they work well. All a hybrid is... is taking two highly inbred plant strains and letting them pollinate... to produce a new strain that is not yet inbred. Which can cause higher vigor, production, and a stronger immune system. lol
I will always shy away from gmo though. That is just not natural... literally.
Everyone I am loving the comments and experiences with no-till. Thank you for the great inputs!!!
Kim Goodwin wrote:Your tomatoes look awesome Marty! Your whole garden does. I love seeing the pictures.
Thank you for the compliment, Kim!
Just some FYI... your garden is very beautiful as well!!! I keep zooming into the pics to see if I can learn some high-heat tricks.
Also, what is that secret heat-tolerant broccoli!?!?! I am just getting into the broccoli game and have been just doing it in the Fall thru mid-Winter and Spring crops.
If I were to be able to do a Summer crop as well... we would not have to freeze as much. Which would free up space for more Fall/Spring crops like potatoes, onions, and garlic. Things we eat like crazy and can't grow enough.
Next year during the Summer, I aim to cut the 16' row of cucumbers in 1/2; which will make room for two 8' rows of broccoli (and kale if you know a heat tolerant type?)
My kale and such always bolt just as soon as we get the super early heat waves in mid Spring. I am hoping the deep mulch I now have applied will turn that around since the soil will be 40F cooler. Know of some hear tolerant kale too??? I have just been growing a "dwarf' cultivar so far... that ends up being 3' wide x 5' tall before it bolts.
Thank you for sharing!
EDIT:
I saw your comment that is just prior to this one for the Broccoli type. I am gonna look it up online to see if I can find some seed!!!
We have been getting overrun with tomatoes. The entire row of Celebrity tomatoes and Cherokee purple are just starting to produce now. Making about 8 quarts of spaghetti sauce each weekend. Giving away lots of veggies (still acquiring preservation skills)
Just took out a chunk of the bell peppers today and put them in the freezer after cutting up and vacuum sealing.
Abundance!!!
Started planting transplants for Joi Choi, and a few other cabbages last weekend. Doing loads of Broccoli this weekend. Other things will be coming up.
Got some pics of my tomato harvest yesterday morning… and of the echinacea/blueberries patch. This flowers have an insane amount of butterflies and bees on them. Even with all of the other flowers around.
By looking at the pics… you can see the spots along the edges of the beds that will be receiving transplants of cabbage, broccoli, kale, and collards in a month or two.
It's very fun to see these things and the garden allows for many close encounters with nature.
First off... thank you! Yours looks incredible as well!
I agree entirely with everything you stated.
This is mostly a first-year garden here at the new place... and with the amount critters showing up it is amazing. I have seen several types of bees that I have never seen before already even. They seem to LOVE the flowers on the scarlet runner beans, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, purple cone flowers, and comfrey out there going at the moment. The real thing that set the bumble bees off early in the year was the 8 acres of white clover and red clover out in the pastures. I even caught two bee swarms in my single Layens bee trap! How awesome is that!
Even the Black Swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail, and a few Monarchs can be seen floating around out there.
I even found a patch of lizard or skink eggs out in the blueberry beds under the mulch yesterday.
I cannot wait to get large patches of wildflowers going out there... and tweak everything over the years for maximum effect.
Katie Nicholson wrote:Are they more tolerant of tough growing conditions than snap peas?
Follow the link I put in that prior post. The red ripper variant originated from Africa and supposed to be able to be used as a cover crop… or food plot for wildlife it is so tough.
I have some in a bag in the fridge. I have not planted them yet. They are at the ready if one of the other crops fails prematurely. lol
They do say the red rippers will do better with irrigation but that it is not required.
Be sure to especially pay attention to the independent reviews in that link. It has sold me on them... to where I am just going to plant some along my beds now. Pretty blue flowers that pollinators love, great tasting, still performs even in dry conditions when most others won't, and more.
First frost here is usually around November 1 so I definitely have time to grow something if we've got enough moisture in the ground for anything to grow. My potato patch is far from the spigot and I'm not planning to lug very many buckets of water! I may ask my husband to use the tractor to move the nice dirt to a spot where the hoses will reach.
Does anyone know what nutrients potatoes take from the soil? I'd love to plant a fall crop that restores what potatoes take, if possible!
In the case of needing Both something that does not take watering And replaces nutrients… that is gonna be hard to answer for most.
Sounds like you have now entered cover crop territory and left the realm of veggies. Unless some sort of field peas sound good to you. I hear red ripper cow peas taste yummy. However, they will need at least some water via rain.
Being able to stack plants into the same place that mature during different seasons!
This leads to much more production in the same amount of space. The trick is learning how to pull it off. Which of course comes in MANY flavors (styles).
This is how I am pulling it off in my new garden. Adaption will be implemented... so all is very much subject to change.
In one of my 3' wide by 16' long rows (oriented North/South) out in the garden this year I planted 1/2 of the bed with red Nordland potatoes (short season) and the other 1/2 with onion sets I had started in January.
Down the middle of the row is a about 62"T worth of trellis that runs the whole 16' distance. This trellis lives there year-round and is not just for growing vertically on. It is also used for keeping plants from one side of the trellis from shading out plants on the other side... or plants in the middle in this case. As the potatoes were going gangbusters... I would simply pull their foliage back through the trellis to their side. Which kept the future trellised plants in the sun and thriving.
Down the entire middle of the 16' row... I planted a few types of Yellow Bell Peppers in this case. Now that the potatoes and onions are done... the Bell Peppers are probably 3' tall and starting to produce. They are being grown Espalier up the trellis and being weaved as they grow. They just got hit with a large bump of organic fertilizer along the entire area the potatoes and onions were growing AND deep mulched with wood chips. Just in time for the heat to start arriving.
[b]I did this same thing for nearly every row in my garden.[/b]
In the other rows I did things like broccoli, cabbage, kale (kale grows all Winter in my area), and lettuce out on the outside of the beds (Usually on the East side of the beds) and then a few rows of onions on the West sides of the beds. In the middle I had things like Emperor runner beans, cucumbers, watermelons (icebox types that can be hammocked vertically), cantaloups, and more just getting started. Onions on the West side allowed for good sunlight during the warmest part of the day in Springtime.
As the old plants got pulled... I simply dug a shallow trench in their spot and added fertilizer again for the plants in the middle. Then placed deep mulch on top.
You should see my insane garden this year!!! It is AWESOME!!!
[b]Benefit #2:[/b]
Drip irrigation. Now that I no longer have to till... I was able to finally add that dream drip irrigation system to the garden. Watering the plants slowly enables the soil to properly soak up the water for maximum absorption. As well as conserving the water.
I have been spending about 2hrs or more watering every time it is needed. Which is very often when it gets into the +95F range. I am now able to flip a lever and go do other things for a few hours while the garden is getting watered. Which is VERY IMPORTANT when falling behind like I have been here at the new place. I am trying to set up an 8AC homestead.
What are some benefits everyone else has been able to implement???
In one of my 3' wide by 16' long rows (oriented North/South) out in the garden this year I planted 1/2 of the bed with red Nordland potatoes (short season) and the other 1/2 with onion sets I had started in January.
Down the middle of the row is a about 62" worth of trellis that runs the whole distance. This trellis lives there year-round and is not just for growing vertically on. It is also used for keeping plants from one side of the trellis from shading out plants on the other side... or plants in the middle in this case. As the potatoes were going gang-busters... I would simply pull their foliage back through the trellis to their side. Which kept the future trellised plants in the sun and thriving.
Down the entire middle of the 16' row... I planted a few types of Yellow Bell Peppers in this case. Now that the potatoes and onions are done... the Bell Peppers are probably 3' tall and starting to produce. They are being grown Espalier up the trellis and being weaved as they grow. They just got hit with a large bump of organic fertilizer along the entire area the potatoes and onions were growing AND deep mulched with wood chips. Just in time for the heat to start arriving.
This year I will be planting the onions in the Fall actually!!! The onions grown from seed will grow all Winter and then get MASSIVE in the Spring allegedly. Right now all my onions are about the size of large ones from the store.
I did this same thing for nearly every row in my garden.
In the other rows I did things like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and lettuce out on the outside of the beds (Usually on the East side of the beds) and then a few rows of onions on the West sides of the beds. In the middle I had things like Emperor runner beans, cucumbers, watermelons (icebox types that can be hammocked vertically), cantaloups, and more just getting started. Onions on the West side allowed for good sunlight during the warmest part of the day in Springtime.
As the old plants got pulled... I simply dug a shallow trench in their spot and added fertilizer again for the plants in the middle.
You should see my insane garden this year!!! It is AWESOME!!!
Also, for your situation, if your grow season is long enough still... you should still have time left enough for sweet corn. In my area here in Chesapeake, VA our season is long enough to plant two crops of corn in the same spot. Just have to do it with early maturing varieties.
My grandfather had a row of apple trees along his wood line just for the deer.
The wood line was lined up perfectly from his back deck. They would exit the woods and begin eating the apples in the Fall... and he would be hunting from his porch. Which was good because he would always fall asleep and start snoring. lol
This past week I spooked up a large doe in my pasture when was cutting it back after letting it go to seed. She came back when I was 1/2 way through cutting... did a lap around me on the mower slow bouncing as high as she could go (hoofs were probably 8' off of the ground) while staring at me before jumping the fence again and heading back into the woods. I assumed she had a fawn in the grass and was trying to get me to chase her. Never did see a fawn while cutting... but know that there was one out there last weekend. It probably ran into my tall goldenrod patch I left just inside the small wood patch in my pasture (when I wasn't looking).
Moral of the story? I am getting a small used tractor now with a bush hog! lol
My (almost) commercial grade zero turn was struggling out there... and drank 15 gallons of gas AND took 2 whole days to mow just 6AC worth of waist to shoulder high grasses/redclover. A tractor with bush hog would have eaten it up. A much rougher cut though (not fine ground like with the mower) but also a much TALLER cut. Which is important once I finally put animals in there. Cutting the grasses less than 6" is bad for stunting regrowth when its hot.
Good story... and thank you for bringing up memories of my old grandfather's place.
I never hunt anymore. So this place will be a sanctuary for them with my animals. So long as they stay in the pasture and out of my garden/off of my fruit trees. Then it is fair game if they get destructive. I aim to share the bounty with them otherwise.
It has been a long while since I started this thread. Still learning!
I believe I have moved 5 times since the thread was started. Many different ecosystems.
At the new place here in Chesapeake, VA I have some very large fields that have been absolutely covered in white and red(pink) clover for a very long time along with the native flowers.
Because of this the bumble bee population has absolutely exploded this year!!! Now that my garden is in bloom…. I have bumble and honey bees absolutely everywhere. Along with Pensilvania soldier beetles and many types of solitary bees.
There has to be many dozens of bumblebee nests within their flight range. They are all over my clover, wall of cucumbers, wall of melons, and wall of scarlet runner beans.
I even caught two honey bee swarms in my single swarm trap this year. Awesome!
Also, my field borders are surrounded by Sour wood trees. I was about to order a bunch online to plant for the honey… but mot now. They are about $15 each online.
1) New second swarm trap on the way in the mail soon. I am about to leave the most recent swarm in their trap for at least a month. They are a small swarm for sure now.
2) I made an entrance reducer for them. I witnessed a few of them tugging at intruders this weekend while I was standing there watching.
Those intruders were either robbing… or still smelling the old lemon oil left behind and just scout bees.
They needed a smaller entrance to defend.
Pic below…
3) I saw them bringing in loads of pollen. A good sign. Maybe in a month their population will take off!
Mike Barkley wrote:Sounds great Marty. You might be a natural born beekeeper. Seem to have the knack at least.
Thanks! I hope so!
Only time will tell...
I hope to get into the position to be able to keep bees treatment-free... and let the survivor stock swarm out into the world over and over again to their own desire.
Yes, I will indeed often have a swarm trap to the side as an offering. However, they can go where they please and do as they please.
2 swarms and still more time left to catch more, you hit the honey bee lottery!
I built several of these hives but instead the double walled with wool insulation which took a lot of time to do. Will look into building similar to yours next time around. Thank for sharing!
You are welcome!
It is as much for my own memory as it is for helping others.
Time for me to start building hive #2 now. I got the wood today. I actually found some 1" x 3" boards today... so I can actually use the proper dimension on the roof trim.
That being said... my other hive has been doing wonderfully. Not a lick of bearding... even on the last two 97F (and humid) days.
I will open her up for the first time again in a few days. Once the temps drop back down to something I can handle without having heat exhaustion. I suspect that the bees will have been building a crazy amount of comb and storing up honey. Which will be awesome for if I need to share with the other colony during the upcoming dearth.
This morning I got up under the hive to see if they had sealed up the two large vent holes on the bottom yet. Not a lick of propolis being applied to either screen. They must want the ventilation. However, I will say, that they sounded like a bunch of quiet little NASCAR race engines in there. Their population is starting to take off about now I bet.
As of Wednesday (May 18th 2022) I now have my second swarm captured... in the same... one and only... Layens swarm trap!
How awesome is that?!?!?
Today I aim to inventory what I have/need to build the next hive. Then purchase the supplies at Home Depot. Should just be two boards and some hinges/latches if I remember correctly.
This one is almost... but not quite as busy as the last one. The last one had all 6 frames 3/4 of the way filled out after 10 days. It is warmer now though... so they will likely be working harder.
So I will try to have it done by next Weekend at the latest. Preferably sooner.
I WISH I HAD A SECOND SWARM TRAP!!!
Every time I pull this one down and set it to the side for a week... that is a week that I could have a new one hanging up. Pretty sure I missed a mega swarm after I caught the first one. I could hear one flying through the woods nearby. It was HUGE.
So glad I decided to give catching bees a try!!! That expensive trap has already paid for itself twice in just one season.
(Bonus) I walked a portion of the edge of the property yesterday and verified... there are indeed many Sourwood trees on the edges of the property... and thus... likely many thousands of them within the 6 mile radius around the property. Awesome!
However, I made some modifications/alterations to the directions for his 14 Frame plans.
1) I expanded it to a 20 frame hive. He provides the math for it in his free plans. Said that it can be expanded out to 30 frames if desired.
2) All of the lumber he calls for is untreated pine and formaldehyde free plywood (interior construction grade).
With the 2”x10” boards for the walls… I wound up actually doing a ring of 2”x12” boards around the bottom half. Why? So that there is an extra two inches at the base of every frame… for better airflow on my hot Summer days.
For the next one I build… I plan to use 1” cedar boards instead of pine like I did on this one. They are for the bottom of the hive. I suspect cedar will hold up much better down there.
Also, I do not have a table saw. In his directions he has you rip long skinny slices of plywood to make the frame around the top of the hive and around the top of the box. I cheated and bought some 1”x2” cedar strips. He even has you put a drip edge on them for longevity.
I learned a lot from the build… even made my first joint work (which was very sloppy in places).
For the trap… he has free plans for them as well!
However, I just bought one of his HD traps he has for sale. I figured it would last much longer and could pull double duty as a NUC. I will say… that it was preserved heavily both inside and out… plus the metal edging/roof is heavy gauge. It has already paid for itself by catching a single swarm. Everything else from here on out is just icing on the cake.
The bees seem to be rocking again in their new hive. Put them in there on Monday night.
They had already built all 6 of the extra large Layens frames out 3/4 of the way. A big circle of brood surrounded by pollen and capped honey/and soon to be honey on all frames.
The trap was back up the night before last. The scout bees keep throwing out the Q-tip soaked in lemon grass oil.
Michael Cox wrote:A swarm also carries as much honey as they bees can when they depart the hive. So they will have been burning through those stores to make wax rapidly. 5 acres of clover sounds amazing. My bees have to travel a bit to reach nectar at the moment.
True.
I would not call it an actual 5 acres of clover just yet. It just has many 5 to 30 wide patches of solid clover in bloom.
However, I planted all 8 of my acres this past Winter with a pasture seed mix that has both red and white clovers of several varieties within the mix. I see it germinating everywhere. Only a matter of time!
Now I just need to finish getting my apiary up and going. Those hives will be in a little bee heaven.
The wild bees are rocking and having a ball out there as well. The dandelion patch was a good 1/2 acre this past Spring. My kids were out there with sticks knocking all of the puff balls of seed. Sometimes the wind was blowing and sometimes not. It should be everywhere next year. lol
Subscribed because I am a newb and still learning.
I just recently caught my first swarm a few weeks ago now. I moved them from the 6 frame Layens trap to the hive about 10 days after they moved into the trap.
All 6 of those massive Layens frames were already 3/4 of the way drawn out. Lots of brood rings and bands of capped honey at the top already. Awesome for just 10 days on a few pounds worth of bees!
I blame the great/accelerated progress on the 5 acres that immediately surrounds the hive that is currently covered in large swaths of white clover in bloom. The bees only need travel 50’ each way… and they are.
So a the moment… feeding would probably not be required if I had bought packaged bees. (Though I still would for the first week to give them a jump start).
Mike Barkley wrote:Those are some nifty entrance reducers. Consider adding some sort of landing pad directly below them. Later in the summer when it gets hotter they like to "beard" there.
Oh I like that idea! I can burn them black and preserve with linseed oil. Slop then at a 15% angle too. Which will warm it for Winter to help them do those cleansing flights.
Due to orientation… the landing board will be in the shade after noon or so during the Summer.
Thanks!
Here is a pic of my first up close encounter with the bees/any honey bees ever!
Looks like they have my trap packed already after only a week. I saw comb on the last fram up to the edge already.
This was a sloppy/first time build to say the least. However, it is still very tank-like and should last a long time and work very well.
I did a LOT of learning what not to do on this one.
Also, I made several modification from the directions. Biggest one being… I used a 12” board for the bottom layer… to add a large gap along the bottom to increase airflow when the bees need it/start fanning their wings.
May the next be twice as nice and much faster…
Today was a very warm day for this time of year. Those bees really came to life out in the trap. I am going to pop the hood after sunset and peek in from the side to see if they have filled it completely with wax already. If so… I will be moving them over ASAP instead of letting the daughter do some artwork on the front of the hive.
Mike Barkley wrote:It does look like sourwood. In TN sourwood blooms later in the season than peaches. I suggest harvesting honey twice so the flavors don't mix. Not that it would be bad but I think each of those trees make very unique tasting honey. Some beekeepers who move hives into the mountains where the sourwood grows after their spring harvest. A lot of extra work for them but it's that good.
A reminder that the first year's honey is almost entirely for the bees.
Awesome! I really hope it is sourwood.
I don’t have any hope of harvesting honey until the Fall after next. Any extra honey at the end of this season will be a blessing for emergency during the Winter.
Late next Spring, if I have an entire frame of honey I may take it.
That is one of the things that really drew me in about the Layens hive frames. It will have four to six inches of honey at the top of each brood frame too. Ensuring the bees get lots of honey.
The excess honey gets thrown off to the end of the hive out of the way. Past the brood chambers.
Here is a pic of a brood frame. There is a circle of brood in the middle. Then pollen stores off to the sides and bottom… and honey at the top. This circle of brood gets smaller as you travel toward the ends of the brood area. Like a football shape. Making even more stores for honey and pollen the further you go… eventually turning into 100% honey.
Main hive box has been completed. I adjusted the 14 frame design larger to make it a 20 frame. Looks good… but I was certainly using the router to make joints for the first time. Some of them are very sloppy!
No worries!!! Caulking up and staining the outside this weekend. The inside has no gaps and will be good.
The first hive wound up costing me several hundred dollars due to having to buy initial supplies and tools. However for the next several hives… all I will need to buy is the wood. Minus the plywood since one sheet is enough for several hives.
Obviously, I decided to go with the Layens system instead. The single swarm trap I setup caught a swarm pretty fast this first year. Awesome!
Now, my bee yard has been completed…
Last night we moved the trap to the new location! The kids were SO CUTE in their little bee suits.
It got down to 43F last night; so the bees are taking their time waking up this morning.
There are two ground anchors for the future hives here… even put in two rows of Elderberries. The cultivars “Ranch” and “Wyldewood”.
I am now building my first hive!
The property (about 7 acres worth) got heavily planted in a few types of clover last Fall and this Spring. Saw some sour wood trees even. Just in front of the hives.
The bee yard is now complete. Bringing over the trap this evening after they go to bed.
Main lumber is 4"x6"x8'L
I installed two ground anchors to hold them down. My area has high winds any day of the year plus an occasional hurricane..
Just South if the barn and oriented SE.
Two hedgerows of Elderberries East and West.
Forest to the South for more wind protection.
Pea gravel should get nice and hot in the Summer Sun…. Which should help with small hive beetle larvae… but I will be doing screened bottom as well.
EDIT:
After holding a conversation with someone... they stated that I should turn the concrete bricks over to the normal position for strength long term.
So I shall do that!
I will just add solid piece to the base and one to the top... and remove one of the hollows. That way it stays the same size and also has the same firm footing on the pea gravel. And it will keep larger critters from moving in.
Carla Burke wrote:Very clever, Marty! And, good info - thank you! I'll have to be equally as clever, though. I'm 58, disabled, the kids are grown and all live in a couple different states, and (as yet) we're probably the only farmers in the USA without a truck or any kind of utv, lol. But, we do have a small tractor...
Thinking about it… I have seen folks set their actual hives up to catch swarms… and be very successful when doing so.
I also saw several pics of peoples swarm traps only 2 or 3 off of the ground.
Saw one old dude that set his on top of a brush pile… and caught a swarm. Lol
Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Marty! Yup! I'm in the Missouri Ozarks, right on the very wiggly 6a/b line. My peach blossoms just died off, this past week, and I'm gearing up for the annual battle with the squirrels! I'm determined that this will be the year we finally taste our peaches! But the redbud is HUGE, and still going strong.
How are you liking the Layens trap, for weight, manageability, etc? I bought my Layens (14bar) hive, in January, and a trap from them just isn't in the budget, for this year, so I'm going to try the heavy duty cardboard box trick, first. If I miss it, I'm not going to be a happy camper - but I'll be saving up for a proper trap, for next year, either way.
Luckily I don't have a large squirrel population here at the moment... and they have to travel a very long distance in hostile territory to get to my trees. lol
I always saw those things strip my fathers-in-law trees bare each season. They would just pluck them and drop them everywhere because they could. Waaay before they had any size to them.
I weighed my trap just before hanging. My HD version weighs a lofty 26.4 pounds. I backed the UTV up to the tree and set the back end on that block on the tree when hanging. It was at waist level. Held the other 1/2 of the weight with my left hand while the kids and I fiddled with the ratchet strap. They ran it around the tree for me.
In about 2 more days.... she is coming down and getting weighed again... then taken to the bee yard. So long as it stays below 45lbs it should be easy enough for me. The entrance is only about 6' off of the ground.
If weight is an issue... I would use thin/cheap plywood to make them in bulk for cheap. I just wanted something that would last when being used as a Nucleus hive in the future. After my main hives are filled... I aim to trap one last swarm (if I am that lucky)... then leave that swarm trap out in the yard. Letting is swarm to it's heart content until I need it. I would be adding insulation for Winter.
Mike Barkley wrote:You have a peach tree? You're in for a treat next year. Peach honey is amazing!
Yes and no. It is a little baby that I just put into the ground. So are the plums I just put in. I will look it up though! I didn't realize they made good honey.
I do plan to get just one more peach tree at some point. The one I just got is an "Indian Blood - Cling". I hear the Free stone version tastes much better but not as "no spray" as the one I got.
Yup! I'm still looking, waiting, watching... Yesterday, as I was taking Charlie out for her 'morning constitutional', I heard some serious buzzing, around my peach & redbud trees (they're side by side - barely as far apart as they should be) and hopefully followed it, just to get a peek. Nope. Wasps. I should have known. Finding my first swarm right next to my house, and only a few yards from all my equipment, and about 30 yards from my planned hive location, would have been a miracle, lol.
Thank you Carla!
Sounds like your climate is a solid two weeks to a month behind mine. Our redbud trees and my peach tree finished blooming a while ago.
I bet swarms will be flying well into May in your area. Our local swarms didn't seem to pick up until we started having those mid 70s to 80s days. It seemed to trigger them. The halted entirely during the cold spell we got right after that and temps went back down to a low of 30F I recorded in the yard. I had almost caught a swarm the day before that and got disappointed for about 3 days as bee traffic at the trap went from bonkers to zero. However, by the end of the next hot day, we went from zero traffic that morning to having a swarm move in.
They must have been clustered up on a tree somewhere that whole time.
I now wish I had another trap hanging right now! It will be weeks before I get them out of the current trap. I figure about 3 weeks will be enough time to fill all 6 of those Layens frames with comb, brood, and some honey. It is about the same as a 8 frame Langstroth deep box I think.
I went out to watch them yesterday... and there was so much activity... that they were clogging up that entire entrance at times and having a traffic jam. This is my first time getting to watch the action. Looks really cool. My kids are loving it as well.
Done with the morning coffee now. It is 6:42AM here... time to get out there and start building that bee-yard gravel base area. I want to use black pea gravel so it will get hot and Hopefully kill off some of the SH beetle larvae when they go to pupate. I will have a screened bottom as well for under the brood area of the hive.
Mike Barkley wrote:Very cool. Congratulations. Several other permies are trying to catch a swarm this year. As far as I know you got the first one. Good luck with your new venture. Winner winner chicken dinner!
Thanks!
I am probably one of the permies that is in a warmer climate is all.
I did manage to find/create a perfect spot for a trap though. Besides the large tree it is strapped to… The trap is both at the corner edge of where two wood lines meet AND at the corner of two fence lines coming from the mirror 180deg direction. Surrounded by a field of dandelions (almost done now) and now the white clover is in full bloom.
Which brought in bees all day from every direction.
From what I understand… the trap has as much space as a 10 frame Langstroth Deep almost… and a wild swarm should have it filled with new comb, brood, and honey within 21 days. By then they may be trying to swarm again without enough room.
I aim to get them moved over asap… and hopefully still have the time to catch another swarm. Perhaps I should build another trap first since I can knock one out in a single day.
The picture is of them partially moved in yesterday. They fit in the box fully by the end.
Michael Fundaro wrote:There is a ranch near me that has the Belted Galloways, or as we reter to them, the Oreo Cows.
I have seen some of those on my way into work every day. They do look like healthy cows. Thank you for the link!
I read up on them and they sound like they would work well for my area. That double layer of fur thing sounds interesting. The panda/pinguin/Oreo coloration looks pretty cool as well. lol
They are small too at the cow/heifer grow out weight of 1000 to 1100 lbs. Not as small as the Dexter @ 600 to 700 lbs though (but Dexters are the smallest of the breeds).
Based on what I've read, highlands are an extremely hardy cattle breed and hold up to cold temps better than most, however the fluffy coat poses a bit of a challenge in areas with hot humid summers, they struggle a little more than a more smooth-coated breed. Additionally one of the big challenges with them (as well as any other horned breed, but these have longhorn-type horns - big and wide) is if you want to use a more standard working equipment or bale feeder, you may have to account for their horns, as they can't get their heads through a headgate or loop type bale feeder the way a breed with more compact horns might.
I love the look of them, but we are in Kentucky, where everyone raises standard cattle, and equipment can be had secondhand for much less than new if you're not particular about specifics, and we have hot moist summers. Because of that, and my weird obsession with at least being able to milk my cattle (even if I never do) and the struggle of getting their head through a milking stanchion gate, I'm likely to opt for dexters of some sort.
That is a very good point about the larger horns. I have seen some highland cattle in person... and their horns were huge indeed. I would imagine having to just spread the hay out directly on the ground instead in one of the rings. Head gates and shoots would be of major issue. So would trailering...
The fluffy coat was honestly the main reason why I didn't even bother reading up on the highland cattle yet. I live in coastal Virginia on the border of frost zone 7b and 8a. Super hot and humid here. Also, cattle without that slick fur during the Summer times... will have issued here with flies and humidity both. My wife/daughter want at least one or two horse as well. Which means I will be dealing with grooming those already AND my two labradoodles. Having a herd of cattle that need brushing/maintenance does not appeal to me one bit.
The prepared mind I have also VERY much appreciates the ability to milk. When purchasing Dexters... sellers almost always label what kind of proteins that particular cow has. Which is a very good thing!
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