Nov 25 2009
Beehavin’
You can see that the bear-proof fence is almost in place. The posts are sunk deep into concrete, and the wire was a huge score Rob made at the dump. The wire is expensive new, and someone had discarded it, so once again, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. All that’s left is to attach the gate and electrify the fence, so if a bear does try to raid the hive, he won’t try it again.
I hope we chose the right site for the hive. It’s supposed to have both sun and shade, and you can see that it does, but we’re a little concerned that the sun might not be sunny enough. So far, they seem to be pretty happy, though.
Since winter is approaching (and some mornings, it feels like it’s already here), the bees need some extra food to keep them happy and healthy. So every other day, I make them bee food: two cups of sugar, one cup water. It’s kind of zen, stirring it and watching to see when the granulation vanishes. Then I let cool it out on the porch while I do other things.
When it’s ready, I bring it over to the hive and pour it carefully into the modified Mason jar which is now the feeder:
It usually takes a daring bee explorer to be the first one to venture in and have a snack. Once he reports back to the hive with his tales of free sweetness, others follow. This is big news for bees, because they die when their beautiful gossamer wings wear out. The less they fly, the longer they live. Bees can range up to six miles in seeking food. That’s a lot of wing beats.
It’s almost impossible to see from this picture, but the two bees returning to their hive are loaded down with pollen, so they’re still finding non-Suzy sources of food, even this late in the year.
Other than the bees, the big project of the moment is digging a well. The boys have been spending every day this week on it, and they’ve dug down 23 feet so far!