Something is up in the Hives

Whoa - lesson from the hive. If the house is rocking don't bother knocking. I was on the way back from the sugar bush yesterday and I stopped to take a look at the hives. There were a couple of bees that were binging in pollen. This was an excellent sign. The problem was that there was a tremendous amount of activity around the one hive. It almost looked like a robbing situation. As I peered at the hive, a bee landed on my ear. Not unusual. I left it there. Then I heard the distinctive high pitched buzz. That is a sign that it is a little pissed at something. Next thing I knew Bamm. Stung. Hmm that's weird - whoa there is another, and another. Next thing I knew there were about 10 in my hair and around my head. You can really hear the anger in their buzzing. I had to get out of there and suffered about 3 stings.

Something is up. They do not usually act that way unless something is disturbing them.

I wonder if something is up in the Ukraine? Russia does not needlessly go around stirring up trouble unless something is up.  Just a thought. I wonder what is going on behind the scenes?

New Use for Bees!

I was working on my car and I had several bolts stuck. I tried many off the shelf products and then I tried something that I thought of while pondering the first wrench busting nut. Wax!  I read a post from long ago when I was trying to un-stick my truck winter rims to switch to summer rims. Heat the offensive bolt and then tough wax to it. As it cools it will draw the wax into the threads and hopefully allow you to break free. Guess what?.. It worked every time. It is now a new tool in my arsenal.

I visited the bees tonight on the way back from my sap buckets and they were starting to bring in pollen.  This is great news. It was 17 degrees today and there is a threat of a thunderstorm so the bees were a little tense. I got stung several times just watching the bees come and go.  They really do not like the weather. I also hope I have not got an aggressive queen in the hive.

Bye for now and remember to Bee Stoic.

What a Winter

Well I think I want to shoot the groundhog that predicted the long winter.  It has been brutal.  Maple syrup has finally started to flow. We are pulling off sap the next few days and the heat is building. Perfect day yesterday - Sunny and 10+ and last night was -2  and today is going to be sunny and +10 again. Looks like we are in for it this week. After this week we will be pretty much done. The only way to prolong it is to have a vacuum system set up.  That is for the future.

The snow is so deep I had to purchase an old snowmobile to get around. I must admit I really like the convenience of moving around the farm quickly and easily. It sure is handy in this weather. I hate the smoke smell and noise. I can't get over that.

I will update on the bees later. Poor results again - lost 2 already and a 3rd is on death's door.

Honey Galore!

Pulled off 24 lbs of honey the other day.  Still more in the capped stage to remove.  It was August 8.  Bottled up and ready to go. I had to buy two hives from Peter Mewitt and they are doing well. I had a setback with one and forgot to get a top inner cover on the hive and they built all sorts of comb on the bottom of the feeder. I had to pull it all out.

I need a new jacket and I want to build some storage for the empty supers and frames to keep the wax moths away.

Spring update

It is a beautiful day here in Trent Hills. The Bees have been out flying and the weather is going to be about 20 degrees Celsius. I lost 3 hives last winter. I think they were honey bound.

I planted several weeping willows from last year's cuttings today on Simon's birthday.

I have also planted clover in the horse fields, and around some of the other trees . I do hope it takes and starts to fix nitrogen in the soil.

I am also going to add lupins, clover, and comfrey around some of the maple tree seedlings and catalpa tree seedlings that I planted last fall. So far, they look good and the buds are beginning to open.

Too nice of a day to sit around making posts, I'm off to town and then plant in the afternoon away.

Progress and Some Setbacks

Well I am down to only 2 bee colonies.  That means I have lost 60%.  I have to really analyze what is going on.  Colonies too small? Queen swarms?  Too congested in hive?  Queen Excluder in incorrect position? Disease?  It is tough to make sense.  I will split the hives and try to rebuild this year and see.

Sawmill is here, but there is no time to work on the wood. I'm too busy with maple syrup - looks like this first week of April may be the last run.  Weather is really cold today -7 degrees and snow!.  It is supposed to warm up over the week. I hope to get out and do some milling some day soon. It will probably have to wait until the summer at this rate!

I have set up my sharpening business.  I purchased most equipment from Larry Davis of Davis Forestry Products.  He had the band saw sharpening business and the chain saw sharpening business and I added tool sharpening. Check out my new site:  www.seymoursharpening.com.  I am using a Tormek t7 professional wet sharpener for my tool sharpener.  It provides a fantastic, consistent edge to all tools with the assortment of jigs.  Lee Valley has an awesome selection of the jigs I need.  The system is fantastic at reproducing the angles required for each tool.

The Oregon Chain saw sharpener works better than expected. I sharpened my own and noticed how far off the regular angle I was.  It whipped through a log in no time after sharpening.

And lastly the Wood Mizer sharpener works very well.  I ran through a couple of bands yesterday and go everything all set to go.

Time will tell how this goes!!

Sawmill is On the Way

Well, there is an old saying: "You can't keep a good man down." I don't think I was down, but I was sort of casting about. Because the kids were away with the cousins and Rachel was at work, I took it upon myself to get a lot of stuff done around town as the sap was not flowing. A chance meeting seemed to cause a chain reaction that has reinvigorated my interest in getting back into business.  I bought a sawmill!.

I went to Davis Forestry Ltd. to purchase a cant hook.

source: http://www.state.sc.us/forest/edutools.htm

He did not have one available but he told me that for ground work a peavey is a a better tool.  Here is a peavey:

 source: http://www.firstgeartrucks.com/store/Peavy_Log_Roller_48.html

So, one thing led to another and what do you know? I bought the last Davis Sawmill available to the world!  It is pretty cool with a soft start design that reduces the workload for the saw and makes it easier to finish the lumber afterwards.  My mind is awash with the ideas I have for the farm based on the wood I have available.

I bought the ST22/10HP
 source: http://www.davisforestry.ca/new-equipment/sawmills/

It can handle logs up to 24", but Larry said the sweet spot is between 18 - 21"


At any rate I will be adding this service to the items I have for sale.  Stay tuned as I think the company will be called Seymour Sawmill Products or Seymour Forestry Products.