Big Chick Energy
You are capable of achieving your dreams. Keep striving, keep scheming, keep believing in yourself. Nothing is out of reach. — Heebeejeebees, who dreams of being a full-time lap chicken, and plans to keep pecking you until it happens. Seriously, lady, stop taking pics and PICK ME UP! Don’t make me choose violence.
Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm
I had the best of intentions to get ahead of the bees swarming this spring by pre-emptively splitting hives before new queens could hatch. But the hive boxes are so heavy, I kept not being able to lift them alone (I’ve lost quite a bit of strength postpartum, as breastfeeding slowly zaps all of my body’s resources), so I’ve needed Todd’s help to go box-by-box looking for queen cells.
If both of us need to be suited up, that really limits how much time we can spend in the bee yard. Last Saturday, we put Farm Baby down for a nap, shimmied into our suits, lit the smoker, and were halfway into inspecting our first hive when we heard crying on the monitor. It’s awfully hard to accomplish much in a 32 minute nap!
So: While we successfully split three of our hives before they swarmed, this week, our luck ran out. So far, we’ve had a swarm every day.
(This is what a swarm looks like as it’s leaving. I do my day job next to a window watching the hives, so I can finish up whatever Zoom call I’m on and run out as soon as I start seeing the funnel cloud of bees forming.)
Luck has been on my side, in that the bees have so far chosen to swarm to easy-to-reach locations.
Remember last year when they kept swarming to the apple trees and Todd had to wear our bee vacuum like a backpack and climb up into the branches to get to them?
Beyond feeling lucky that the bees are choosing easy to reach spots, I’m grateful for hives that are healthy enough to split, and that our operation continues to grow. Yesterday, I had to run out and buy more hive boxes, as I’ve filled every empty box I had. Last year, we set up a second bee yard, in anticipation of needing more space. Then we struggled to catch and keep our swarms (once you put them in a new hive, it’s kind of a 50/50 chance on whether they decide to stay there or move on). So, until last week, it only had two small hives in it. Now, it’s starting to look like a proper bee yard!
These next few weeks will continue to be all about bees. I suspect we’ll see more swarms, and all the new hives will need some TLC to get off to a strong start. Making honeycomb is resource-intensive, so they’ll need to be fed jars of sugar water for at least the next month.
That’s going to mean some late nights for us, rushing out after Farm Baby is down for the night, baby monitor in hand, to try and get all the bee chores—and other chores— done before dark.
Sometimes, when it’s 8:30 p.m., and I am still unloading new bee boxes from the car, or refilling water tanks for the flerd, I start to wonder if this is all becoming just a bit much for two people with full time jobs and a baby. And then I see some bug or bird or rat snake enjoying the landscape I’ve spent the last six years creating, and think: Not yet.
Here’s What I Loved This Week
Y’all, look what I found on Facebook Marketplace.
The best part is that, although it’s hard to see from this angle, somehow this rocking sheep is just as rotund as Juliet. (Both Todd and I remarked: “It’s as fat as Lambie” as soon as we saw it!) A perfect facsimile!
With tariffs set to make new stuff more expensive, I want to hear all your best second-hand shopping stories. What’s the best used treasure you’ve ever purchased, and where did you find it?
I've gotten a lot of furniture from the old art of trash picking, which I know is harder in rural areas. But in my dense, inner-ring suburb, I have scored storage racks for my basement, a corner table for my dining room, the thingie that holds all my dog's stuff (that's the technical term - thingie) and a painting (yes a PAINTING) that hangs on my living room wall. I also got a sun dress and a ski jacket at my library's clothing swap, which was 100% free.
As for BUYING second hand, the best clothing finds I've scored are often at church thrifts - the ones that are only open like two Saturdays a month for 3 hours.
What a great FM score!! And here's to the bees continuing to cut you a break while you've got your arms full with the Farm Baby!
My no. 1 used treasure is a hot pink Christmas tree that I found on the curb down the street from me many years ago, still with some silver bulbs on it! I neither like the color pink, nor do I go for fake trees, but for some reason I L-O-V-E that tree with all my heart.