Bob and his “chief architect” pal put in three months working on converting an old computer service office to a spacious and well appointed children’s library. My cousin David’s daughter Megan (who lives in Lake Elmo) painted a tree on the wall. Bob cut down and split large free standing solid walnut library shelves to create child sized shelves against the wall and two free standing units on rollers. These shelves were originally from the Minneapolis Public Library. Celebration today.
Bob during demo
Steve can’t hold onto the ceiling apparatus that is in the process of tumbling down
lots of hauling and sawing and back and forth from Bob’s building
assembling the roller units
Megan
Megan’s tree
Children’s library
I do not have any pictures of the open house today, I was busy with refreshments and decorations. Many other people were involved, of course. Linda, our experienced librarian (who is leaving us, sadly) created the plan and chose furniture – it was her idea to have Bob make the shelves fit… easier said than done. They worked well together. She said that it is just as or more important to have places to sit and space — than the books! I would not have thought that, but it is certainly true — most of the room is open space with movable furniture. I was working when there were 60 adults and kids in the children’s room for a science program one afternoon.
A local professional painter stopped by when Bob and Steve’s morale was at a low ebb and offered to come back and paint walls, which he did — nice soft happy yellow color on the walls chosen by the ad hoc committee. Another talented volunteer fixed the electrical wiring. And of course all the daily staffing volunteers moved the books and set up the room.
I was going to try to be really creative and make an interesting and entertaining blog post, but if I don’t get to this it will be in the distant past…
So, I will post a selection of the nicest pictures of our “Grand Adventure” as my brother Jerry called it. Bob and I traveled with him and his wife Myrna. They are serious, experienced travelers and left us in the dust most of the time… they did the jet lag diet, while it took days for me to recover. Jerry handily drove in Germany with a GPS and also with the assistance of two experienced back seat drivers, “you’ve got your wife and your sister,” as Bob said. Jerry was unflappable. The were such good travel companions, they helped us a lot and reminded me I really like the people in my family.
So here it is — in order:
Jerry and Myrna were right next door.
Bob’s son-in-law, UPS pilot Joel, connected with us in Cologne. He somewhow wrangled an assignment that left him free to spend the day with us in Cologne, This is at the chocolate museum – in the conservatory where cocoa plants were growing.
the end result of the complicated demonstration of Lindt chocolate.. treat!
Bob and Judy in front of the Dom in Cologne – Joel took this photo practically standing on his head.
The Dom – castles and cathedrals were on the awesome list of sights.
I always like to light a candle whenever I can.
Dom door detail
An excavation in progress of the Jewish quarter in Cologne. “The cradle of Ashkenazic culture – with six superimposed building layers of various ages.” The site includes a Mikvah presently in use – the white tent-like structure.
Joel pointed out these “stumble blocks” replacing cobblestones in front of the houses where Jewish people once lived. It gives the names, the dates of their deportation and the results if known. We had a wonderful German guide in Heidelberg who spoke movingly of the issue. She said in Germany, the ones who were adults during the war are gone, and her generation remembers, but the young people might not. So there is an effort to create experiences to help them be aware so it never happens again. Joel said students did the research for the stumble blocks and an artist did the castings. Our guide said the murders are “our responsibility and our shame” and that something about it is on the news other places every day. A great effort to never forget.
Peace demonstration in Cologne “Make love not war” – Renae (whom we visited at the end of the trip) thought it might be about the Ukraine.
Castles on the Rhine — cruising — Masterpiece Theatre!
vineyards everywhere
Myrna on the bow deck — vineyards in the background
Bob on the castle excursion in Heidelberg. Notice the red “Viking River Cruise” lanyard. It was a class act, we had little ear buds that made it possible to hear the guide even when at a distance… we were usually lagging, so that was nice.
Fraulein in a pub in Heidelberg. That sheen on my face and the ultra curly hair is indicative of the heat and humidity! That beer was very nice….
view of our longboat
Strasbourg, France
wine and pomes frittes in Strausborg, France
excursion to the Black Forest (reminded me of the Black Hills in South Dakota)
a few views of the ship
The coffee was always available at this coffee bar. I couldn’t stomach our coffee when I get back — I have been making the little espresso pot on the stove.
spent a few hours here 🙂
swans begging
my birthday on the ship — I turned 70….
my birthday coincided with the Captain’s dinner — I received a singing recognition from the wait staff
back at the room, balloons, chocolate and champagne and a nice card
love this photo of Bob – lolling in our motel bar in Stuttgart
Jerry in heaven — the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart — we happened to visit while the 24 hour Le Mans race was running! Lots of excitement — outdoor beer garden with large screen of the race. Such fun.
the “double helix” Mercedes Museum — very confusing. It took a little time for the four of us to meet up…. Bob was sure we would not leave without him, but just to be sure, he checked where the car was parked.
Renae, our host in Esslingen, a sweet quiet city outside Stuttgart. This is where Jerry and Myrna made the Judy and Bob transfer.
great picture of Jerry in the beer garden in Esslingen at the end of our travels with them. When they left us with Renae in this quiet little city, they drove on to Austria, Italy and the Swiss Alps. Whew! We stayed with Renae and napped and ate.
Renae and Bob in Esslingen
Esslingen, Germany
Bob at Daniel and Renae’s lovely penthouse apartment (never mind the fourth floor walk-up — we took it slow — and the views were worth it)
Bacchi, one of two resident dogs, she helped us with missing our George.
Esslingen
Renae with our waiter at “Einhorn” restaurant. It was Chanterelle season — einhorn means unicorn I think — at least that was the carved sign ….
Daniel and Renae’s
Final night we were invited to Wolfgang and Elke’s stylish and beautiful home for dinner. Another penthouse (elevator) and Elke’s exquisite taste in decorating and skill in cooking.
And DANIEL!! unexpectedly traveled back to Stuttgart for his work with the State Department and we were able to spend a few hours with him. This dinner and the good company was a wonderful end to our trip.
entertaining WOlfgang
What did I say about Elke’s cooking? Carpaccio.
Elke and Wolfgang, living in beauty – their little back yard slopes up — lots of up hill and down dale in this part of Germany.
Elke, master chef, serves food with grace and laughter.
So, we took the train from Stuttgart to Cologne, then on to Amsterdam where there was a “beach soccer” tournament in front of the palace! Lots of sand trucked in for the occassion. They know how to have fun in Amsterdam. Then home to MSP the next day. Whew!
So if you have any attention left after all that, here is a little essay about my internal experience on the trip…
Traveling and reading
When I travel I look forward, anticipate, and try to find novels or travel books to read before I go or while I am in the midst of the journey.
This time I made a mistake. I downloaded a number of books onto my Nook to avoid carrying heavy books and one of them was Good Lord Bird the new book by James McBride, author of the bestselling “The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother”. The book had good reviews and I knew it was a story of African American history, but little else.
I became immersed in this book as I traveled, on the plane over, in Amsterdam and then cruising up the Rhine with stops along the way – a jarring juxtaposition of my reading life – I was immersed in the story — while taking in German history, beautiful castles and culture and green landscapes. It was too severe a contrast.
Part of me was with John Brown’s group of rag tag anti-slavery followers and I was horrified when I found myself describing the book as “seen through the eyes of a mulatto child” – a term used in the book along with many other non-PC words which I will not list here. I WAS the child, trying to make sense of his experience, assessing white and black alike and trying to survive in a confusing and dangerous world.
This is the mark of a master storyteller, to be pulled in so completely. Of course no one can ever accurately know another’s life, but this comes close.
I would have been much better off starting out with “Under the Wide and Starry Sky” which I turned to after the McBride book. It is described as the improbable love story of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his tempestuous American wife, Fanny.
A “Bohemian” group of artists, writers and various others in Belgium, England, Paris, live their lives on the edge, defying tradition and convention to enjoy life while also facing hardship and loss – the artist’s life.
My friend Michèle Cassavante is retiring after teaching French for 40 years. We were new teachers back in 1974/5, the first few years after the merger of the boys school (Blake) and the girl’s school (Northrop). Here are some shots from her retirement party that also included three other long time teachers who are retiring: Bob Teslow, Bruce Archibald and Randy Roberts. Bob and I were there and it was a class act in a beautiful backyard in St Paul (Karen Phillips). I felt a little like Rip Van Winkle — it has been 30+ years since I taught at Blake. Still, I recall the commitment to excellence and the determination to enjoy life, all at the same time, at a great school.
Michèle
Michèle, right, and her French colleague and great friend Mary Ellen and Michèle’s daughter Celestine.
Thanks, Bruce (Michèle’s husband) for this photo of Bob and me at the party.
Justin and his Prairie Restoration Crew burned our 1/4 acre of prairie today. Exciting!
little drips of fire from a canister and the hose used to wet down the perimeter
fire gets going along the perimeter
lots of smoke now. Hive #1 is near the burn – not a problem. When there is smoke, bees think there is fire and dive deep in the hive to load up on honey in case they need to fly
fire moves over the prairie as it would in nature, preparing for a new growing season, rejuvenated
smoke clears quickly when there is no more fuel
they are careful about things that should not burn like the pine trees and Bob’s little chotchka windmill
The ash will sink into the earth providing fertilizer and optimal soil conditions
Bob and I drove out to Jordan Minnesota to see daylilies in bloom in Karol Emmerich’s Springwood Gardens greenhouse. I am far from a hybridizer– kind of like sitting in on a brain surgeon’s convention when I am taking high school biology. They were gracious and welcoming. I am a newcomer to raising daylilies and had a wonderful start when I bought my first little “Mini-Pearl” last summer — I fell in love with it.
I called on my Mexico vacation/daylily friend in Sag Harbor, Pat Neumann, for advice and encouragement and she sent me a big bunch of her plants including one named after her “Pat Neumann.” I planted them last fall and YAY they are coming up.
inside the greenhouse
daylily splendor
Karol is working on hybridizing these lilies, it takes about 5 years to have one to introduce as a new variety
This is Karol and her husband’s home in Jordan – gorgeous views and historical home.
My “Pat Neumann” coming up in the garden today.
angel with broken wing and no arms… irises coming and my first daylily, “Mini Pearl” growing in the front.
Prairie before the scheduled burn this week.
new hive in the woods – we are planning to move the other one here too (a little more discreet)
bees with pollen sacs — not sure where they are getting the pollen, probably the trees
Congratulations! Because your entry was one of the most voted on, you are a winner of the Knopf “Poetry Month Portray Your Love of Poetry” contest. Please reply to this email with your confirmed mailing address, and you’ll receive your prize of new poetry books from Knopf in the next week. Thanks so much for participating! We hope you enjoyed Poetry Month, and we look forward to April 2015
I have entered another contest — you can vote for me on the Knopf Facebook page in the link below 🙂
PORTRAY YOUR LOVE OF POETRY CONTEST
This April, we invite poetry fans to submit a photo, drawing, or other visual representation of poems that inspire them. The contest will be held on the Knopf Facebook page. The five people whose submissions get the most votes at the end of April will each receive a package of new poetry books from Knopf. Feel free to choose more than one poem and submit up to one entry per day!
Here is my entry:
I painted this water color miniature in Florence Italy in 2003, framed with Italian art paper. It illustrates the poem, “Florence, Italy” by Watie W. Swanzy that describes the love and obsession of travelers to that beautiful place. I most certainly was one who experienced the “Stendahl or Florence Syndrome,”describedas a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art.
Florence, Italy
Watie W. Swanzy
Oh, well I love thee, Florence! All thy towers
As seen from Colli’s height are nought to me
But bright minarets of enchanted bowers,
Truly love and beauty reign over thee.
Thy gentle people, whose mild, dark eyes beam
Every kindly on the stranger within
Thy gates, are lovers of beauty, and such
Sweet, child-like ways possess, fear not the truth
To speak. Thy love of innocent sport well
We know. Have we not seen thy flow’ry day
Of carnival, when the perfumed missiles fly,
Until, from St. Mineato’s height, sounds
The curfew that warns of approaching night.
Whatever of evil thy dukes have wrought
Is mended somewhat by their love of art;
For where they saw true genius struggling forth
They gave a helping hand, and so have left
Within thy walls treasures of ancient lore;
Along thy streets, on pedestal, in niche,
Or beneath the fountain’s fast-falling spray,
Monuments sublime. But the most I prize
Thy long-arched corridors, where Angelo
And Raphael do speak to us by saints
And angels, and Mary, mother of God,
Upon whose brow purity sits enthroned
So did those delineators old seek
True inspiration from the Holy Book.
This is the log so far this year, I will add to it as we go along, but it will not come up as a new post. Look for updates in the Bees and Prairie category on the right.
October 7, 2014 50 degrees, 2:30 pm sunny
Opened both hives to check for winter stores and apply the mite control. Three deep supers going into the winter for both of these.
Hive #3 (that was the divide – no honey from this one) had plenty of stored honey and bees – supposed to have at least 8 frames of honey and 8 frames of bees to get through the winter. Hive had a full deep of honey at least 7 frames, and lots of bees in the two bottom deeps. Deeps are very heavy.
Hive #2 (new package this year) was loaded with bees and also had plenty of honey. Bob can barely lift the deep supers. We put the mite control stuff in the hives in each super. Closed them back up and that should do it. Bob still needs to go out and put in the entrance reducer with mesh to keep mice out.
The only next thing we need to do is put the winter insulated covers on – around Thanksgiving.
September 15, 2014
It was a bad year for our hives. We had so little to harvest that we did not extract it, but just made three little bottles of comb honey — and that was it.
The problem 1) we lost one hive over last winter so that hive was a new package this year. New packages do not usually produce much leftover honey to harvest.
2) We were away for three crucial weeks in June. When we were to leave (the two hives we had were doing great) I was worried the overpopulated one, that made it through the winter, would swarm while we were away. SO.. we attempted a “walk away split” that created two hives from the one. We did not know which part of the hive had the queen, but the best case scenario is the part of the hive with no queen would make a queen. That did not happen for one reason or another (always a mystery with the bees) neither of these hives produced any extra honey for harvesting.
BUT now we have learned a whole lot more about it all and we have two healthy looking hives going into winter with heavy stores in three deep supers. They are in the new relocated bee yard in the woods. We will add a new package in the spring to the hive that did not have a queen and would not make it. Bob disassembled that hive — if there were good workers still functioning, they might find a new home in one of the other hives. But it was probably full of drones from some “laying workers,” females who lay unfertilized eggs that only hatch into drones.
Bob says, farmers have to put up with crop failure sometimes… or something like that
August 7, 2014 We both went out to check all three hives. Started with the one we were most worried about – #1. Unfortunately – not planning ahead AGAIN! I did not have my glasses on, or a magnifying glass, or a camera. We took the whole hive apart – it did not really look good – seemed like not so many bees going in and out, but there were lots of bees in the hive – did see some obvious drones…. But could not make out if there were more than one egg in the cells – saw some drone brood and some other stuff too – also some frames of black capped honey – I scrapped it and it is just honey – looked it up and it said it reflects the color of the honey, so not a problem. It is in the deep supers anyway and not honey that will be harvested, but part of the winter store. So we are still flummoxed – will go and check again with the right vision equipment.
Hive #2 (our new package from this year) is going strong – it has 4 honey supers on but there is still room in the top one, so we are leaving that one alone and not taking it apart. Appears to be doing fine.
Hive #3 (the one from the divide that probably had the original queen) This has three deeps and a couple of honey supers. Took it apart and removed only one frame from the top super and it looked perfect. Good brood field surrounded by pollen and honey. Ok on that count.
July 22, 2014 Bob checked all three hives. He saw a few eggs and lots of capped brood in hive #1, although not much activity in the honey supers. Yay! This means they made their own queen. Hive #2 (the split with the queen we think) nothing in the honey supers and not much in the third deep we added three weeks ago. He did not check the middle deep. He removed the third deep, but we are going to put it back and take off the honey supers and just have that hive try to build up three deeps for the winter. Hive #2 (the new package) lots of honey in the two honey supers and he added two more honey supers – we should have a nice harvest from this hive, but not sure about the other ones.
July 4, 2014 visited the bee yard. Added a deep super to the single super in hive #3 (made from taking one box from Hive #2) looked at the frames in there – lots of bees, but did not see the queen (this one is marked) but they look good, and my guess is this hive has the queen.
Hive #2 added another super – now has three deep boxes (supers) we like to go into the winter with three deep supers – this is where they make honey for their winter stores. This hive already has two shallow supers above a queen extruder, those frames are used only for honey, not eggs. Hive looked good.
Hive #1 – no activity at all in the top two honey supers. Took the hive apart and looked at the frames, lots of nectar but no eggs. I had a feeling this was the hive without a queen. Looked in the middle box and saw evidence of queen cells – obviously making a queen, as they should be – the only down side it that it takes a bit of time to make a queen, then she flies around on her single mating trip, and comes back and starts laying eggs. There were lots of bees in this hive, and I could just sense the emptiness of being queenless. Maybe it is my imagination, but it felt sad. I look forward to going and checking and seeing eggs again – probably not for several weeks, though.
So we are done with all three hives for a while…. Bob could harvest some honey from hive #2 if he wants to – we are thinking we may not get much honey this year. You never know.
June 27, 2014 Back from two weeks away, Bob looked a the hives and said there are a lot of bees and hive #2 is very heavy. Worried about swarming so we did a walk away split on hive #1 – for hive #2 we did not have another deep super, so we moved the extruder up to between the honey supers – at least that may give that hive a little breathing room, although it reduces the honey harvest – better than swarming. Here are the split directions we followed:
The easiest type of split is made by using a populous hive where the brood nest spans two brood boxes. The beekeeper simply takes off the top box and puts it on its own bottom board, adds a lid, and walks away.
But even that simple form of split requires some attention for success, especially if you don’t know where the queen is:
If you don’t know where the queen is, make sure both boxes have ample supplies of fresh eggs or newly hatched larvae.
Make sure both boxes have honey, pollen, and lots of nurse bees.
Make sure the entrances are reduced.
SO – we took the top deep super off hive #1 – both that and the one below had brood frames… we put it on a bottom that was in my little garden wagon (flat bottom) put the lid on. Then we put a new deep super on the top, added the queen extruder and put the two honey supers back on top. Closed that one up.
Took new hive #3 to the woods. Placed it on the bottom – put in a small entrance reducer and that’s it.
We do not know which one the queen was in – so we will check in a few days – lots of storms predicted, so we will wait – see what happens… the hive without a queen should be making queen cells quickly and they can make their own queen – the only problem with that is it takes about 7 weeks to start to get honey – if one hive seems very weak maybe we can get a new queen…. But hopefully they will just do their job.
The walk away split depends on the facts that the foraging girls will go back to the old hive – the nurse bees who take care of the brood will stay with the brood. And those that are born in the new hive will then see that hive as home.
June 2, 2014 Trip to both hives to add honey supers to both hives to give them more room and to check hive #1 to see if the queen has been released and if it seems OK – or eggs, brood, etc. looks good. Hive#2 – lots of bees- added the two supers over a queen extruder and a pollen patty since apparently there is a dearth of pollen and nectar over the next few days or week – Hive #1 – the queen is out of her little cage – was released by the workers chewing through the peg. Hive looked fine – and DID remember to bring the camera this time. Here are those odd things I saw last time:
odd capped cells
pretty sure they are drone cells – they are on the top of the frame. Gave these girls a pollen patty too.
Here is a nice picture of a frame in hive #2 – nice brood pattern – few holes and surrounded by honey and a little pollen (the light or yellow colored cells)
good frame
May 25, 2014 visited hive #1 to replace queen. COULD NOT FIND HER. And more distressing was evidence of odd looking things in the hive – lots of bees though. I think some of the odd looking things were drone cells Dang! Forgot the camera again – should have known there would be good photos that we could use to consult experts – memo to self: add camera to every trip to the hives.
Some of the odd things looked like this and I think are drone cells
drone cells
Photo from the web – but our looked like this “Drone cells are larger in diameter, the cappings more rounded or bullet-shaped.” Drones are from unfertilized eggs and it figures you might see more of them if the queen is getting low on sperm —- ??
Then there were some odd cup looking things that I wondered if they were empty queen cells – but maybe queen cups waiting eggs – or eggs in them??
From the web: Supersedure cells are generally built on the face of the comb while swarm cells are usually placed along the bottom edge of the comb. (our odd cups were on the face of the comb – or towards the bottom, but not shaped like a peanut) Additional info from web: A cell hanging off the middle of the frame somewhere is usually a supersedure or “emergency” queen cell. A cell hanging off the bottom of a frame is usually a swarm cell.
Long story short – we put the queen we purchased in there anyway with a long release plug in her little cage. Bob says in four days we will go out and see if the queen is released and maybe find her – we did get a marked queen. If there is more than one queen in the hive they will fight to the death – or maybe the workers will kill the one they think is an intruder – WE DON”T KNOW….Sometimes I think this is too hard, but the bees always seem to keep trucking along. They have done fine for hundreds of years without the humans continually tampering with them….
May 24, 2014 Bob made a trip up to Jim at Nature’s Nectar to get a queen. Tomorrow we will open hive #1 find the queen and assassinate her.. Poor dear, she has been working hard for nearly two years, but is at the end of her life of eggs and sperm stored in her body from her one mating flight.
May 20, 2014 Brian and Jody across the street reported signs of a bear in their yard this week!!! Yikes. But no sign of him/her near the hives, so one wonders. But I panicked the local bee community by posting it on the forum and when we went to the Bee Club meeting last night, right away they wanted a report. I said, “Well, we did not actually see the bear, but my neighbor swears there was one in his yard – took down two large bird feeders, bent them over.” So, now, who knows, hopefully it can be downgraded to a “rumor” rather than a “sighting.”
Today Bob and I visited both hives.
Lots of bees in Hive #2 in the woods – the new package – they did not need syrup, and to give them more room we added another deep super on top. We put one of the frames from the hive — swapping it out with one in the new 2nd box and then installed the second deep super on top of the original hive. Added a grease patty for tracheal mites. They did not need a pollen patty either – lots of bees going into the hive with big packets of bright yellow pollen on their legs – probably dandelion. They were docile – buzzed around but did not sound angry – it is funny that you can really tell if they are upset.
Hive #1 – we took supplies in the wheel barrow for both of these visits – think ahead!! We did a full reversal switching the bottom with the top and leaving the middle one where it was. We were prepared to put on the Queen extruder and a honey super (smaller super) in case the hive was too crowded, but when we opened it up it seemed like they had quite a bit of space and did not need more at this point. Added syrup but did not need a pollen patty. Added a grease patty (Crisco and sugar) that treats tracheal mites.
We are somewhat worried about swarming (with our experience last year) – but with the late spring, I think they are fine for some time – may not even need to do a split for that hive.
Beekeepers like to split their overpopulated hives to make more hives and to prevent swarming – other beekeepers I am reading think that swarming is the natural thing for bees to do – we are planning to do a split that just takes one deep from the hive and sets it on a new bottom board – whichever hive has the old queen will be good and the new hive will make their own queen. Learning curve is growing with us – and we find there is no dearth of advice and most of it conflicts… so we just need to find our own way – which will be the absolute laziest (and maybe most natural) way to raise bees for honey. It seems there are some beekeepers that like to be fiddling around with them all the time and lots of admonitions to do this or that… but the bees seem to be fine most of the time on their own. We do not know why our hive #2 died over the winter – but our teacher says if there were lots of dead bees in the hive, they likely starved – there was honey in that hive, but maybe with the deep freeze, they could not get to it. If there were no bees in the hive – then you might suspect colony collapse disorder or something else – when they just leave and don’t come back.
May ?? Not sure of the date, but Bob went out and checked the hives. Added syrup to hive #2, but did not have any with him so he closed it up and came back later then got stung when he went back and opened a hive again. Once they will tolerate, but not twice in one day!
May 2, 2014 Bob checked the hives and added syrup to both. Hive number 1 was completely out. Both still had pollen patties. Weather has been very rainy and chilly in the 40s and 50s. We need to arrange better water sources for both hives- maybe the little pools like Home Depot has. I would like to make a pond with lilies and fish.
April 18, 2014 a little warmer — looked at both hives. lifted the cover of hive #2 (the new one) it does have live bees and they are almost out of syrup. Did not open hive #1, I was not suited up and they were buzzing around — need to check both for syrup and pollen patties this weekend. But both came through the cold spell — the new ones I was most worried about.
April 14, 2014 very cold. I visited both hives no activity observed – could not hear any buzzing. I hope they are OK — it is supposed to be cold for the next few days and then warming up to the 50s.
April 12, 2014 Installed a hive of carniolan – new – in the woods, now the new Hive #2. Used the old hive frames including a few frames that had honey. It makes me a little sad that there was actually a lot of honey in that hive, but they died anyway – not close to the cluster, I guess. But that was the hive that swarmed and never really came back up to speed, even though we got a bit of honey out of them. All went well. Put the package in a large super and then put about a half pail of 1:1 syrup and a pollen patty. Will move the whole bee yard into the woods in deference to our neighbors who were a little worried, but did not object to our getting a permit so we now have a permit. Can’t move the other hive until next winter.
hive #1 – still by the prairie – overwintered OK – did a partial reversal – changed the top two supers, took off the tar paper cover and took off the moisture board and the bottom board. A good bunch of bees there but not an extreme amount. Put a feeder pail on with a shallow super for feeding.
Put out the bird bath in the ornamental garden that the bees seemed to like – I will go out and put in some vanilla – to attract the bees. We need to put in a better little pond.
April 6, 2014 Bob took hive #2 apart full of dead bees – he will clean up to receive the new package coming sometime next week. Opened Hive #1 – peaceful Carniolans – good girls – they ate nearly the whole pollen patty, but had plenty of honey in the top box near the cluster. YAY. Put another patty in and closed it up Did not take off the tar paper insulation nor the moisture board nor the bottom board. Lots flying around, but we minimized the time the hive was opened – had full frames of honey available from the other hive to put in place if needed. Now question is – what next for Hive #1 with all the honey – do a reversal??? Or what – need to figure it out.
March 7, 2014 Back from a winter away – hive #2, the MN hygenics that swarmed last summer and were requeened – did not make it. Bob went out today and put a pollen patty on Hive #1 that seems fine. Ordered a package of Carniolans like hive #1 to replace the Mn Hygenics. Gentle, hardy, and did not swarm.
It’s Peeps time again. I got the urge when I saw the Peeps in Target. Before I show you this year’s Judy Peeps Diorama, here is a cartoon Cully sent me a few years ago.
The last time I did a Peeps Diorama was in 2007, but I think about it every year.
from Cully
My Peeps Diorama from 2007 (it’s been too long!)
featuring the woods in the Dells and Oliver (at 3 or 4 years old!)
And Now for the 2014 Judy Peeps Diorama
The new limited edition Vanilla Creme Peep creates havoc in the Peeps world, causing the regular Peeps to quarantine the new one in the hospital – obviously some kind of rash or measles.
I did just send this in to the Pioneer Press Contest. To see other entries, and to submit one of your own click on this Peeps contest and entries so far
Bob is spending lots of time at the library these days as walls come down for an expansion into a part of the building that used to be rented to a computer business. The new area will serve the children — they need more space. Meanwhile our little rebellion continues to gain attention — this time the “Watchdog” site.
I just watched Hunger Games Catching Fire (I seem to be on a movie kick following the Oscars). I ponied up for the DVD so I did an afternoon matinee at home, cozied up with a pan of brownies…. I was unprepared for the appearance of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the new Gamemaker… a shock given his death by accidental overdose recently — he was there on the screen but no more in this world. He was so good in this movie — I will not do a spoiler for those who haven’t seen it or read the books.
From Entertainment Weekly: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee)The role: The new Head Gamemaker made for perhaps Catching Fire’s most surprising addition to the Hunger Games universe, and Katniss will find herself closely aligned with the man she initially believed to be planning her demise.
Apparently there are two more Hunger Games movies after this — Mockingjay I and II. One website said he had finished filming part I and nearly wrapped his role in part II — I look forward to seeing these final roles by this talented man.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee
So, now the DVD goes to the Lake Elmo Public Library as a donation for the next Hunger Games fan to see 😎
This is Karol and her husband’s home in Jordan – gorgeous views and historical home.
