March 31, 2010
FINALLY - spring is here!
And the weather is beautiful. As it is I just can't seem to get enough time outside - bees to tend to, the yard needs work, the garden has to be planted and sunflowers . . . I have to plant sunflowers.
If you go by my house these days you'll notice several things. First of all the road is nice and new thanks to our tax dollars hard at work. The second thing is dirt . . . lots of dirt left piled up at the edge of the yard. I'm hoping we can get it moved or something soon as it would be nice to be able to mow everything here pretty soon.
The bees are taking to the weather change quite nicely. I checked all but five of them a few days ago and was very pleased at how they are doing. Two days later a great opportunity came up and we sent two hives up to a farm in a neighboring community for pollination. If there's one thing I learned working farmer's markets last year, bartering is the bomb, and we look forward to nice fresh berries and melons later this season.
Several other exciting things are happening. If you're in the Wiregrass you probably know who Ann Varnum is. If not, she's a beautiful, precious lady and respected talk show host and author in this area. She invited me back to her show and last week we taped a segment to be shown on her Sunday Morning program . We talked about Fire Ant First Aid and Beemu products. Mark your calendar! WTVY, Channel 4 on Sunday, April 11.
We'll see a long held dream come true soon too - a trailer! We've been thinking, planning, plotting and saving for a while now to obtain a trailer as a mobile hive stand. This will enable us to move the bees much easier than what we've done in the past. (Those of you who have done this with me KNOW what I'm talking about!) The plan is to pick it up this week and start the modifications needed to mount the bees. We've already been in contact with area farmers who are happy to let us park at the edge of their fields. Mmmmm . . . cotton honey - so excited.
And I finished my BeeVac this month. After thinking, planning, plotting and thinking, planning, and plotting some more, I designed and built a self contained vacuum specifically for collecting bees. It don't look like much, but it confronts and corrects every problem I've encountered or heard of with bee vacuums in the past . . . and because it's made of recycled materials, my total cost outlay was minimal. Soooo - if you've got bees in a wall or some other hard to reach place - I'm your lady. I'm not a carpenter so I can't put your garage wall or what have you back together, but I can sure as rip get the bees out for you.
Speaking of recycled materials - I joined a friend earlier this year for a unique get together. Several of us brought our "stuff" that we didn't want anymore, but wanted to see put to use and made a party of it. We potlucked, took what we wanted and carted the rest to a local charity. It was great. We shared ideas on creative recycling and did it again the following month with more people. We already have a host for the April meeting and are just waiting on a firm date while we continue to clean closets and declutter our lives. I got the last item needed to finish my beevac at our first meeting, some nice padding for the inside of the vacuum so the bees would have a soft landing. Contact me if you'd like to participate! roslyn@hortonsfarm.com
I guess that's it. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed Easter, a beautiful spring season and stay out of fire ants!
Ros Horton
Dale County, Alabama