Thom Bri

Looking forward to seeing your results.

I prune only the overgrowth. My 3 vines produce more grapes than we can eat or process, so I have no interest in max production, so I don't prune much at all. They have been growing wild for 20 years and appear healthy. That's enough for me.

As for cleaning the hives, it is not that important. Brush off the dead bees and scape off the wood. If you put new bees in the same hive they will clean off all the mold from the frames and wood.

With temperatures not getting much below 0C you really don't need to add any insulation. This winter my bees survived temps -25C with only insulation on top, none on the sides.
It's possible your bees needed more air circulation.
It's also possible varroa mites weakened them so much that they died.

I doubt it matters, rows or hills either one will work. I like my glass gem.

When you open to post or reply, scroll down. At the bottom left of the text box you see two items, 'options', and 'attachments'.
Click on 'attachments', and follow the directions.

Around here I see sweet corn, pumpkins, eggs, meat. On the edges of town all kinds of things.
You have small town restaurants or grocery stores in range?

Ryan Burkitt wrote:

Really cool thanks for sharing did you have to build mounds for the corn?

I built the mounds several years ago and reuse them year after year. They run 4 to 6 feet center to center, leaving plenty of space between hills for other crops. Usually beans, squash, cantaloupe, potatoes, tomatoes etc.

Peas and beans get planted on the same hill as the corn. The other stuff is in the gaps between the hills. I have several long threads here on permies you can look at. Lots of pics and details about how I do it.

https://permies.com/t/279261/Sisters-Garden-year

By the way I am not stuck on linseed oil, it's just what I first learned to use years ago. I have heard that tung oil actually makes a stronger bond with the wood so is 'better' in some ways.

I use linseed oil. I sand off ALL the commercial finish and rub the oil in. It's tacky for a few days. Usually treat any handles several times. Rub oil in then remove the excess with a cloth, then do it again a day later.

I am guessing maybe you didn't get all the original finish off when you sanded. Or, just used too much tung oil and didn't wipe it down afterwards.