Bee Keeping Part Two

Bees are a society within themselves, there are are the workers, drones, and the queen.

The workers are actually sterile females, they do exactly as their name implies, which is work. They work from the moment they hatch out of their hive cell and until the day they die. The worker bee has three jobs to carry out during their life. Their first job is hive maintenance, along with receiving nectar and pollen from incoming bees. This consists of repairing wax cells, and feeding larvae. The second job they are assigned is temperature regulation within the hive. They accomplish this by going outside the hive and gathering water to cool the hive during the summer months. In winter months they beat their wings to create heat to warm the hive. Their final job is to leave the hive to gather pollen and nectar from surrounding vegetation. The worker bees live for around two months, throughout their entire lives they do not rest or sleep, they literally work themselves to death.

The drones are the males, they ironically do nothing to contribute to the hive other than breed with the queen, that is their sole purpose. They do not even feed themselves, the workers feed them. Each hive has a 'drone spot' it is simply a corner of the hive where the drones gather together. The drones live for one season until autumn, when the workers cast them out of the hive to starve or freeze to death.

The queen plays a vital role in the hive, not only does she keep the population at a healthy level, but she also governs and runs the hive. She decides when to start more brood (baby bees) and when to leave a hive and start another. She is constantly guarded by an entourage of worker bees making sure when she lays eggs they are cared for and that she is given food at all times. Queens can live for about three years

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Bee Keeping Part One

Apiculture the act of keeping bees for honey, wax, royal jelly, and pollen. Bees hives are called apiaries and those who harvest and maintain them are called apiarists. Beekeeping has been practiced for centuries. The Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and the Romans all participated in apiculture. Honey was once seen as a cure all by the Mesopotamians and an antibiotic by the Egyptians; of course these claims are debatable. Thankfully with modern inventions such as the smoker, it is easier to control the bees and keep them sedated when carrying out hive maintenance. Also, with removable frames we no longer need to 'crush' the entire hive in a 'press' as people did long ago, therefore, we can keep an entire colony alive and produce even more honey in an active season. Throughout the ages beekeeping has changed, however; one thing did not though, which is the bees themselves. They have managed their own lives longer than mankind has managed them. With that being said, it is imperative we keep that in mind.

When most people mention bees they immediately think of little stinging minions buzzing around awaiting their next victim, nothing could be further from the truth. Bees are actually docile and when handled

properly there is no need for a bee veil. They will sting to protect their home and queen, but they would rather keep their life and their schedules than bother with humankind. 

There are three main races of bees which are: the Italians, Carnolians and Caucasians. The Italian bees are known to be the most irritable of bees, they are less likely to swarm, and they are slow builders, which means less honey than other types of bees. Carnolians are gentlest of honey bees and are also quick builders. The only draw back is that they are prone to swarming. The Caucasians are slow builders, and do not do well in the heat, but they are very gentle and are one of the most productive as far as honey goes. As an aspiring apiarist do your research which bee variety best fits your climate, location and expectation of honey and wax harvests.

Yesterday I finally got my permanent aviary set up, although I'll need another one for my ducks, so craigslist it is. I think I finally found the solution to my problem with the predators. All we need now is a secure house for the rabbit and like I said the ducks. The golden pheasant, Toby decided to test his boundries by hoping over the temporary fence and taking off for the boxed garden. Needless to say we lost a few broccoli plants.

Keeping Mandarin Ducks

Well since nothing is really going on over here today I figure I'll do a little preaching,

The mandarin duck one of the most beautiful ducks in my opinion, I'm so glad to have them here. I love the maroon color and the little sails that stick out of their back. They almost look like some kind of paper duck that some oriental store would sell. Since they are tree ducks there is no need to have a huge pond like you have to have for mallards and teals. They are actually closely related to the american wood duck, another one of my favorites. So anyways with that being said they are pretty clean and easy to care for. I feed mine game bird feed of the highest quality. Many people who have these wonderful little birds say they are not rare, true they are not. But neither was the passenger pigeon, or the health hen, I bet those hungry colonists though the happy little health hen which is a grouse by the way would never be extinct, well guess what?! sadly for them it did, needless to say no more health hens. I think it is important to keep and breed the mandarin duck since, like the wood duck are going extinct in the wild. That means it's only a matter of time before restrictions are put to prevent the export of birds, and that mean that our captive stock is all we'll have left. The numbers in captivity are healthy but there is a lot of inbreeding going on with this species. Now don't get me started with this whole inbreeding thing! I'll write about that another day, but for now it is important that we practice responsible breeding and keeping. I strongly encourage anyone who likes little water birds to keep the species, they are such a joy to have. They have two qualities I like in a bird, they are inexpensive and beautiful. They are also great for urban dwellers as they can really add color to any fish pond. So be sure to get some.

Today it rained, and rained and rained some more. The ground is wet but not enough to give the plants a drink so it looks like i'll be watering the yard in the cold later today. I also decided to move over all of my gamebirds and put them in more secure housing. I was thinking dog kennels instead of chicken coop like aviaries, that way it would look a little more appealing to a nosy city inspector. It's a little depressing outside too, not much in the vegetable garden is growing and all the trees are leafless and the grass brown, at least up north the ugliness is covered in snow. Then again I wouldn't want to shovel it just to walk out the door. Through this winter none of our birds have been laying, not even the quail which are supposed to be laying year around, or so I was told. I think it may have to do with the sun or the polar axis changing as it is mid December. Not even our hens are laying right now which is quiet unfortunate. That's winter for you!

The Angora Story

Today we received a new member for our farm, an angora rabbit. Yes an angora, supposedly this little thing is going to make my mom her angora sweater that she's been wanting for years. With this rabbit, as with all of our animals comes a story, so here it goes. We went to our local fruit market where I know there is a 'animal dealer' there who has just about everything out of the ordinary for sale. This character pulls his trailer made-shift animal carrier with just about everything you can think of. It's always a surprise to see what he brings as he never has the same stuff twice. I've seen goats, guineas, peafowl and everything in between. I often just make up the excuse to support our local economy but truly i just want to see what's new. So anyways as Florida is, this is no ordinary animal 'merchant' if you will, I never have seen someone with so much character before. One instance was where I was interested in some quail for sale, he said, "Do you know how to clean them"? I said , "Sorry?" He said, "You got's to clean them before you eat em," I said, "No I won't be eating these quail," he said, "Well what in god's green earth do you want them for then"? I said, "I want them as a pet". He shook his head and muttered, "City folk". I was not offended at all but I rather found the situation humorous. I saw a pet, he saw food, so strange right? Well anyways so I went up to see what they had this time and to my surprise they had a white angora rabbit! And it just so happens that I've been looking for one. He explained that it was 12pm and it was time for him to go since he came at 5am (I never could go downtown so early) and that he needed to sell the rabbit or else he'll have it for dinner, yes I said dinner, a fifty dollar rabbit as a meal. To my luck he sold it to me for a measly eight dollars, not bad considering what it's worth, and that's how I got my rabbit. Now the little muskrat of a thing is happily chewing on it's hay. I awoke this morning realizing that the reason I don't like rabbits is because of the MESS they make, I never seen such destruction in my life! There was mess in the bowl, the paper was torn to shreds, and there was urine EVERYWHERE. I'll post pictures as soon as possible. So yes this is the very same thing that will make that sweater.

Well it finally has come... the hard freeze we've all been dreading. For our Florida climate freezes are not unusual at all, but we are expecting a hard freeze for the next five nights. I can hear my tomatoes crying already, and I have to say in my defense I was told by some joker at a certain plant store that I still had time to harvest a few tomatoes, poor things they never stood a chance.I suppose it was delusional of me to think you can harvest a few extra tomatoes and eggplants in fall. Oh well, they were nice while they lasted.

I figured I should take this as an opportunity to remind those how properly cover your cold sensitive plants. Some people just cover the plant, that's it, well I have news for all of you, you have to cover the plant to the ground! The ground is the only source of heat so it would only make sense to take advantage of that. I have seen some folks put Christmas lights to keep the plants warm but I have always felt dubious about the idea of putting light bulbs under sheets. The best way to keep plants safe from the cold is by covering them with a thick blanket, better yet a tarp in a tepee like formation, creating a small greenhouse environment. With that being said, I have to say, use caution not to flatten the plants, the last thing you want to do is crush them. It has just occurred to me that most of you, if anyone cares to read this, that most of the country has experienced freezes already. Well I hope maybe you can put some of this information to use next year.