Bees. And keeping them.

Last night, I went to my first ever bee keeping class. The guy I'll be getting my hive from was the speaker. I could have listened to him all night. But I had to leave at 8:30 because I still had a goat to milk.

So now, after hearing him, I think I am more nervous and anxious than ever. I don't really think I was nervous before. Just more excited. But now I am just plain ole scared! Not OF the bees themselves. I love bees. Always have. I can sit right in the middle of a corn field and pick beans and listen to them buzz around me all day. I love them! They are awesome amazing little creatures. And I learned a lot about them last night. But even Eddie, after years and years of keeping bees, doesn't know all there is to know about them. They are just plain awesome!

I am more afraid of KEEPING bees. The responsibility of having those beautiful bees here, on my property. And keeping them healthy and happy. I so hope they will be happy here. There is so much all around here for them to keep busy. 2 whole mountain ranges, woods, forests, fields, ponds... SO much for them in this valley. So not really worried about that too much.

I'm not even afraid of being stung. Because Eddie says we WILL be stung. But it is good for arthritis. Which a few of my fingers are starting to feel. So maybe I won't wear gloves.

So this is where I will keep the hives. Up at the top of the hill, in that corner. It's a North-West corner, so they will be protected from winds and have the afternoon shade from the west. There is a lot of wild mint over in the pasture to the left. I heard mint keeps mites away? I will probably put some pots of mint in the bee yard. Since my goats are in this pasture, I'll fence in this corner.

I have always wanted bees here. And especially now, since every year I have seen fewer and fewer bees here on my property. Since I am organic and don't use any chemicals, I think they'll do a great job pollinating all my apple and pear trees. And my gardens. I think I'll go up to an organic farm in Tn. and get some of their organic open-pollinated corn and plant that in the other garden area, just for them. I will also plant lots and lots of flowers for them to enjoy.

I was told that the first year, I won't get honey. But that's fine with me. I will let the bees have all they need. I am not really concerned with getting honey. I just want the bees here.

I would LOVE to hear from all you bee keepers out there. Anything about bees. Your first experience with bees.

Leibster Award!

Well, I feel honored to have been chosen for a Leibster Award by Sandra over at Clearwater Farm Journal. Thank you Sandra! I'll try to do this right but probably won't. Yours looked very professional.

So I have to nominate 5 other blogs with a following of less than 300. So these are the bloggers I am nominating:

Aubrey at: http://thisblessedlife-aubrey.blogspot.com
http://goodgoats.blogspot.com  She has helped me a lot with great advice on goats.
http://katiegirlkate.blogspot.com
http://mybarefootfarm.blogspot.com
http://hammockhavenfarm.blogspot.com

Here are 5 random things about me:

I love the color green.
I was born in California.
I hate winter.
I can be really lazy.
I am getting bees!

And here are 5 questions I have to answer for Sandra:

I am reading a Book of Bees.

My favorite thing to do on a weekend is going to market on Saturday and sitting out under my shade tree with a good book on Sunday, listening to the birds and my sheep munching.

If I could travel anywhere, I would go to Ireland. But I am waiting on a bridge! Because I ain't flying clear across the ocean to get there.

My favorite season is Spring because I can get back out in the dirt and get the gardens going again. And there are baby lambs and goats!

I think my hobby would have to be fermenting. Anything!

So for those who I have nominated, you'll have to do the same thing. And here are your questions to answer for me:

How long have you been farming? Or homesteading?
What got you started farming or homesteading?
What's your favorite part about farming or homesteading?
What's your most dreaded part of it?
What do you most LOVE about it?

I think that's all. Now I have to go tell all these wonderful bloggers that I have nominated them too.

Happy Spring, y'all!!! Go enjoy the day. I am going to a bee keeping class tonight!

Pigs. And fermenting grains.

 Last night, I got my daughter heather and grand daughter Kansas, to help me take 3 16' fence panels out back to make an outside yard for Bob and Joe, the new piggerators. It sure is good to have help. Because I have drug those panels all over this place and they are very awkward. So it made doing this so much easier on me. So got that little job done in half the time it would have taken to do it alone. Thanks girls!!!

So let the boys out this morning. They immediately went to doing what pigs do best. They rooted all over the place. This will be all mud in just a few days. I have 1 more panel that I can use to expand the yard some more later.

Of course, all the critters wanted to meet the new guys and welcome them to Outback Farm. I have an album on my Outbackfarm Face Book page if you'd like to see the sheep and goats meeting them too. It's so funny to see the sheep's reactions! The goats have seen them since Sat. since they've been in the barn with them. In this picture, you can see that first stall is where they've been. The goats have the rest.

Bubba ad Stella wanted to come say hello too. They are so funny, those dogs. In everybody's business all the time.

A few days ago I started some grains to fermenting after seeing a blog post over at www.tosingwithgoats.
I hope these are doing what they're supposed to be doing right about this time. It's been cold at night so maybe they're a bit slower going?  The bucket on the right I had just stirred. On the left I had not yet. I had started with the left bucket full. Then had to take out half of it because it had expanded that much. I hope it works because I really want to feed them this way since they are used to eating brewery grains. So if anyone else does this, does it look right to you so far? It was Monday when I started this. It's got cracked corn, wheat, whole oats and some rolled barley.