EGGS!!

On Wednesday of this week Chris discovered the first 2 eggs in the cabinet coop! How eggciting!!! :) It was 5 months and 1 day since they were born.

So far we have gotten 1 or two every morning after that.

Here are some pictures.

Also to compared the storebought ones - they are smaller with darker yolks. The farm grown is the one on the left, the storebought is the one on the right.

SnowStorm at the farm - Jan 30th 2010!

Blizzard 2010...

Woke up this morning to white powdery snow. Here are a few of the shots I took this

morning when i went out to feed the animals.

My favorite shot is of the chicken coop in the snow!

The swamp

They werent quite sure what to do with this snow, they cant scratch in the snow!

Kitty loves to follow anyone walking around the farm. After a few yards he started meowing! I think his paws weren't used to it.

The garden, greenhouse and pin oak tree

Snow covered garden










The front entrance.

In the chicken stall. Window stays open for the girls to let some sunlight in.

Goat up to her knees in snow for once she was quiet, guess she wasnt sure what was going on!

The girls were given the option to go outside for awhile today, They decided they would rather stay in the stall

Found some cute bird tracks, looks like a "hopper"

The hens red combs look pretty against the wintery background.

It was so quiet standing here taking a picture of this birdhouse, all i could hear was the snow falling and woodpeckers in the woods, tapping on the trees. Glad I got to take some photos, supposed to keep snowing here until tonight, expecting a total of 8".

Beekeeping Class 101

Dumpling and I spent the weekend with the Tidewaters Beekeepers Association. They are a friendly bunch of local experts that host an annual short course class every Jan just for bee-ginners.

At $20 per ticket it was really a great value, we even got a $10 book, beginners workbook, and lunch with the experts! There were about 75-100 people there, and the experienced members set up booths to discuss certain topics like, bee-hive supplies, honey extraction, pests and diseases of the hive, and introducing your bees into the hive.

There are alot of things to know about beekeeping!! We ordered 2 batches of bees which we will get in March/April.

At first glance you would think that you just get a hive, throw in some bees and come out a few months later to a hive full of honey....ohh noo. It is quite a hobby to have and you really must know what you are doing. Really everyone starting out should have a mentor. This is someone who has been keeping bees for along time and is willing to let you come out to their bee-yard and help them when they are out checking on the hive.

Why is it so important to know what you are doing?

There is only 1 queen bee in each hive and If you dont keep the hive a hospitable place for her, then she will seek a better place to live...and the entire colony will follow her . The bees will swarm right out of the hive and search out a new home - never to be seen again. And with a 3-lb colony of bees costing about $80-$100, that would suck!

I would like to do some bee-ginners videos that we can post on here/you tube to give people an idea of what it takes to manage a hive as we learn about the hobby ourselves!

According to the guys at TBA - we should expect about 8 gallons of honey from our 2 hives, if we give them everything they need to set up a colony and supplement a good nectar flow. Chris and I surprized each other and purchased the same hives for each other this christmas (creepy!). They are english hives with a copper top, very decorative for the B&B. Chris wants to eventually build a top bar hive which alot of people in the group prefer. Apparently the top bars (as opposed to the classic langstrom-style hive) is easier to manage. One thing is for sure - there are alot of opinions in the group about the right way to do things, or preferred methods.

Check us here soon for more details! If you are interested about beekeeping you would be wise to take a trip to the local library and gather a few books on the subject. Also check out your local beekeeping assocation that hosts monthly meetings - there is alot to know and a whole new language / terminology you will have to learn and it is better to have a grasp on so you can understand the concepts and know what tools are required for the hobby. These books have been our favorite so far....