I really don't like how the months keep flying by. Seems like it was just a week or two ago that I was sitting in the pool reading my book because it was simply too hot to do anything else.
That was in June. It rained too much in July to even think about getting into my swimsuit never mind the pool.
What have we been up to since I keep losing track of days? Lots of stuff.
Couple weeks ago I checked on my hive in Tilton. It didn't survive. I don't know if it was the rain or the location or the queen but I went in and there was nothing. No bees, no pollen or honey stores. I had a feeling they were going to be a challenge so I had taken a couple of frames of brood from my strong hives and started a nucleus colony.
If you're unfamiliar, a nucleus colony (or nuc) is basically a tiny hive. My nuc box is only 5 frames. They have their own queen, their own brood, and are how some people prefer to start their hives in the spring. You can kind of see the brood in the cell below - they chose this one to be their queen.
Friday night I popped into the hives to see how they were doing. Goodness were they crabby. What I hadn't realized from my last visit was just how much all the rain in July had upset their honey stores.
As in: they had none. So much so that my 2 very strong hives robbed out and killed my nucleus hive.
Crap.
Fortunately, it's not too late. I went home and made up a batch of 2:1 sugar syrup. (It's just as gross as it sounds.) Today I put a gallon of syrup on each hive.
I think they liked it.
Other than my cranky bees, the farm is doing great. The garden is starting to inundate us with beans, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and giant fennel. We've also got some pumpkins and squash starting to set. Plus this absolutely incredible little tomato plant:
The big pigs are happily sleeping down near the house in their expanded pen while the little ones have discovered the pile of wood chips in their pen is really fun to run up and down.
Hopefully I'll remember to do another post before then but if not - see you in September!