Random Thoughts: Feeling creative

Disclaimer: This post doesn't really have a point. I'm just going to ramble.

Lately, I have been feeling creative. I really would like to do something like paint or draw or photograph stuff. It was triggered by a recent trip to a Fine Arts museum. It's a tough thing for me to visit a Fine Arts museum. I walk from room to room, seeing great master works of art and think, "I wish I could make something like that." Then I go to the commercial/pop art and think, "I really don't like this crap hanging next to those masterpieces." The problem for me is I have no skills.

I have watched Bob Ross paint a landscape on PBS probably hundreds of times. I have even seen a few other painting shows now and then. I have even gone as far as buying canvas boards and actual canvases with the idea that I might try painting. That said, other than finger paints and paint by numbers painting when I was a kid, I've only painted houses, decks a shed and a chicken coop.

I don't know why I haven't ever sat down and tried it. I think it's because I know that my skill will not produce a painting that comes even remotely close to what my eyes (and brain) see. I know I could try it, learn techniques and build a set of skills that will produce a reasonable facsimile. That said, it would take patience, dedication and time... lots of time.

That's one of the benefits I really enjoy about photography. Photography allows you to capture a real instant of time. With proper development, it produces an almost exact duplicate of what you see. To toot my own horn for a second, I have always been good at seeing something that would make a good photo, framing it and capturing the exact moment just as I intend it. Of course, all of my photos are opportunistic. I am in a place. I see something. I take a photo of it. I don't wait for a day of perfect light and scene, set up with $2000 worth of equipment and snap 600 shots of something and then select the best one. I just have a camera and take a photo that I think will look nice. Lately, the problem is that I haven't gone anyplace or done anything that allows me to take photos other than candid shots of my kids.

OK, my ramble is over. As I said, there isn't really a point. If I had to make a conclusion, this would be it: I really want to try painting, but I think I might take the wife and kids out to the beach today or something, so I can go take some candid shots of my kids with nice backgrounds.

Garden: Fall Planting

This year, like every year, I have been planning to put in bulbs. Last year, I followed through on my plan. This year, I am doing the same. Last year, I planted something like 240ish bulbs, of varying kinds. The end result was well worth the cost and effort. If anything, I wished I planted more. So, this year, I'm going to do just that. I have purchased another 320 bulbs, which I will be planting over the next week or two.

I also picked up some tiny chrysanthemums for $.49 each. They probably won't come back next year, but if they do, it's far cheaper than paying $10 for mums which won't come back. I also theoretically have some garlic that I ordered which will need to be planted. After I write this, though, I'm going to go send an e-mail because it is supposed to ship in Sept., which is flying by. I had a bunch of perennial seeds which I was also planning on planting, but I don't know if I can get the bulbs in and seed beds prepared before it's too late. Theoretically, I should have planted them back in late August. Right now is about the latest I could expect them to survive. I suppose I could always save them to plant in Spring.

Finally, I planted some carrots, broccoli, kale, collards, lettuce and spinach. All are quite a bit behind where I would like them to be, except the carrots. We'll see how they turn out.

Bees: Inspection 05 September 2011

It's been a few weeks since I last inspected the bees. On the previous inspection, I had robbed a single frame of honey. I had a slight concern because it seemed like they were almost out of space. They had a few empty frames plus the outsides of the last frames. At the very least, I was concerned about how large (or small) the brood area was. That said, they seemed to be foraging like crazy.

In an ideal world, I would have put drawn foundation into another box so they could fill it with the fall flow. Sadly, being a first-year beekeeper, I don't have any drawn foundation. They are in really good shape, honey-wise, to go into winter but there is still another month and a half before first frost. At this point, it is really unreasonable to expect that they will draw out another box and fill it before winter sets in. I had considered robbing another frame or two, but they all had uncapped areas in the bottom, middle of the frame and I don't have a hydrometer to test for moisture content. So, I guess 1 frame is all I get this year. Oh well, they will hopefully be better off this winter because of it.

One neat thing to mention... When I robbed the frame of honey last time, I added a foundationless frame. I used a wedge frame and nailed and glued the wedge to the top bar. I was happy and surprised to see that the frame was mostly drawn out and being used for brood raising. It was neat to see a frame of totally fresh, clean comb created entirely from nothing. The only little issue is that it was slightly crooked. I suspect that my intricately leveled hive has settled, making it slightly out of level. Oh well, it will work perfectly fine. I'm planning of using only foundationless frames from now on though, so I will have to recheck for level in the Spring.

Almost completely capped frame. Probably OK, but why chance it.

A closer look at the uncapped section of comb

This comb is totally the work of the bees, done in about 2 weeks.

A close-up of the comb. A little more work and it will be done.

Bees: Honey! (Inspection - 12 August 2011)

I have been impatiently waiting to harvest honey. I have been uncertain how to go about it because I don't have an extractor. I used foundation, so cut comb or chunk honey are both out of the question as well. Three options were available to me. I could make, rent or borrow an extractor. I could do the crush and strain method or I could see what gravity could accomplish for extraction.

I don't know anyone who owns an extractor, so that option didn't work. I could rent an extractor from the RI Beekeepers Society, but I would have to join before I could rent, thereby doubling the cost. I could (and still might) make an extractor. I've seen a few plans and have some ideas of my own, but with all tinkering projects, time is a factor and I want honey now, damn it!

Crush and strain is exactly what it sounds like. You cut out all the comb, crush it in a pan or bowl and then put it all in a filtering bucket. It totally destroys all the hard work the bees have done making the comb, although the beekeeper (me) gets to keep the wax for other purposes. It seems a waste to go that route though.

Option three was the hands down winner... or so I thought. I figured that, although thick, you can still pour honey. The comb is angled down slightly to keep the thin nectar from spilling out. I figured it would be slow, but it should eventually drain, right? Well, no, not really. It may have worked better if I put it in the sun, but I didn't want the bees to rob the honey I had stolen from them. It was pretty warm in my house, though.

I grabbed a large bowl and mesh strainer for the cappings. I got a foil covered cookie sheet which fit the frame nicely. I grabbed my newly purchased uncapping knife and my scratching fork (which I didn't end up needing). I sliced the cappings off over the bowl. They came away from the rest of the comb nice and clean. Immediately, my kids wanted a taste of honey. A huge quantity of honey came away into the bowl, because the bees had drawn out the comb well past the stopping point. Apparently, the bees didn't read the same beekeeping books I read. I put the frame upside down for about half an hour.

Half an hour later, there was no real change. I thought, "Hmm. Maybe it would drain better with the frame on its side." Nope. After a while, I realized that the fruit flies would get the honey long before i did. I decided that I needed to do something. I couldn't very well leave an open dripping frame of honey somewhere, hoping that thieves with wings (or wingless with two legs) would steal it. Looking at the frame and my knife, I decided that the offset nature of the blade meant that I could successfully cut the comb off of the foundation, thereby leaving at least that intact for the bees next time.

I very carefully slid the knife into the comb down to the foundation. A slow sawing motion and a steady hand allowed me to keep from making any holes through to the other side. After straining through a mesh strainer, I poured the honey into a quart sized mason jar. I did the same to the other side. After the honey was extracted, I put the frame out for the bees to clean up. They seemed happy to oblige.

I collected a full quart plus an extra half pint mason jar from one medium frame.  The honey was extremely light in color. It's even lighter than the bottle of clover honey in the cabinet. Based on the time this comb was filled and the directions the bees were flying and the things that were blooming, I would make a SWAG* that this honey is a mix of Northern Catalpa, white clover, and chicory with some various wildflower nectar thrown in for fun. Of course, without a centrifuge, a microscope and a library of pollen samples, I can't be sure.

Anyway, here are a few photos. I don't have any of the actual extraction because I really don't particularly like the idea of a glazed camera.

Bees on top of the top box as I remove the inner cover.

A look down inside the hive at all that sweet honeycomb.

One sting (on the face) seems like a fair price for this beautiful comb.

Obviously, I left a lot of honey on this frame. I need an extractor.

* SWAG - Acronym meaning Stupid Wild-Ass Guess

Summer Fun

This is a mixed bag post. I did a little of everything today and just wanted to share. I inspected the bees today. It was my first inspection in two weeks. I had hope that I would be able to harvest some honey, but it was not to be. I'm guessing the bees are short on young wax-producing bees due to the supersedure of the queen. It also looks like they could use another box shortly, but I'm going to wait until there are new bees emerging. The new queen has been laying for a couple weeks, so that should be any day now.

After the hive inspection, I went to the beach with the family. I had a fun time. Both kids were enjoying the water thoroughly which is a special treat. Usually, one is being difficult and the other one wants to walk away and not listen. Occasionally, they mix it up and change roles. Today, however, both kids seemed more interested in just having fun. After a lunch of cold fried food and soggy pizza, we headed home for nap time.

I really needed to get my fall veggies planted. In order to do that, I need to clear out the spring veggie patch of the old plants plus all the giant weeds. Seriously, I almost have a hay crop growing in my raised beds. The nice thing about this is it makes weeding easy. You just grab everything and pull. I managed to get the purple peacock broccoli-kale bed ripped out. I'm thinking I'm going to try a fall crop of carrots with a row cover so that I can pick into December. I need to get some collard greens and broccoli in the ground too, so I have a bunch more work to do but given that I was soaked in sweat in a matter of seconds, I decided to leave that for tomorrow. My fall garden plans include carrots, broccoli, collards, spinach, lettuces, and peas, plus some beets for the chickens. I might throw in some turnips and swiss chard, if I have any seeds left from the spring.

Later, we're going to have a cookout with family friends. Tomorrow, we're going out on the water. After that, I will probably get my gardening tasks done. If I have any spare time, I might try to get my new hive boxes assembled and painted. I have so much stuff going on this weekend and all of it is fun!

Making Jam with the Fam

Today, we made raspberry jam. OK, technically, there were some blackberries and a few blueberries thrown in for filler. The blackberries made a nice addition of tartness. This should replenish our stock of raspberry jam. We still have about two dozen jars of jam, jelly, and preserves from last year, not to mention pickles, pizza sauce and applesauce. This year, we should get a boatload of tomatoes. In fact, we might even have enough to supply our year's worth of tomatoes if they start ripening soon. Now all I need to do is find something to do with cucumbers other than making pickles. Anyway, enjoy the photos.

Today's berries

Kids impatiently waiting to help make jam

Waiting with temptation

Mommy stirring jam; Kid trying to sneak some sugar

"I swear, I didn't eat any"

The end result; 5 jars of jam for about half an hour and a few cents for pectin and li

Bees: Inspection - 16 July 2011

This was a quick inspection. I opened the hive. One problem I continuously have with the simple act of opening the hive is that I have a pitched roof garden hive. I love the look, and I'm sure the copper cladding (which already looks nice) will look fantastic as it weathers to a nice green patina. That said, the standard practice is to flip the lid and put the cover and hive boxes on top, so any bees which fall off, land in the cover(s). With a pitched roof, it is a little challenging to balance things on top. To make matters worse, my hive is sitting on pitched ground. I manage, but it's a little concerning to be leaning over the bottom boxes while 2 boxes of honey and bees are teetering precariously right next to your foot. I'll have to do something about that. I'm thinking I might just make a flat, level platform and put the inner cover on it.We'll see.

Given that I had seen almost no brood and absolutely no eggs or larvae, I figured that I would pop in, see nothing and then get out and order a new queen. there were a good number of bees in the hive, so that's a plus. I haven't reached the tipping point of certain hive death. The top box is almost completely full of nectar/honey. It's probably about half capped. I think, when it is fully capped, I will harvest it. From what I understand, there is a really great fall flow of nectar around here of goldenrod and aster. I should be able to steal a box and they should still be able to build up for winter.

The second box was more of the same. There were some frames of totally new wax which were drawn out but empty because I checker-boarded the frames from the new fourth box into the rest of the boxes. Running out of time, I moved on to the next box. The second frame was all uncapped nectar. The the third frame, however, had a nice sampling of eggs. At the bottom of the cells were single eggs which were just starting to lay down. I had been concerned about the possibility of a laying worker or a failed mating so this was a welcome sign.

I'm a little concerned that they don't have enough space for eggs. When the old queen died, the workers back-filled most of the bottom two boxes with nectar. I may have to find an extractor to borrow so I can spin out some frames, leaving the comb intact. And speaking of an extractor, I have been considering my options. It is way too expensive to buy one. They start around $300, although you can get really cheap plastic 2-frame models for $200 if you want to throw your money away. You can rent them for $20 or $30 per day, but I don't know if I want to go that route. Although I really can't think why I wouldn't want to go that route. I had actually decided that I would either build my own extractor or just crush and strain, but my foundation is a mix of wired wax and coated plastic. The next box I put on will be foundationless so a lot of these concerns will go away. For now, though, I will have to consider my options.

Because of the rushed inspection, I didn't get any inside photos again. I really need to have a beekeeper's assistant to take photos. Until then, here are some bee's eye view shots.