I picked up my two bee hives this morning in Oliver Springs and brought them back to the farm. I have them setup near the edge of our front north pasture where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade.
Each hive has a young mated queen that is laying and young worker bees. At the moment each hive has a screened bottom board, one deep langstroth hive body, an inner cover, and a top cover. Each hive box has 10 frames of foundation, presently the colony is using about 5 frames.
In a week I'll open the hives and check on their progress. I plan to add a second deep hive body to each hive later this year. I may need honey supers also if the hives do really well.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Chicks
Debby picked up 25 Rhode Island Red chicks earlier this week, they are about 6 weeks old. We'll raise them up and add them to our flock.
Tornados, storms
Severe weather hit East Tennessee on April 27 as part of a huge weather event that caused much death and destruction across several states. Fortunately the Tennessee Piller's are all fine.
On Wednesday afternoon I was at work in Oak Ridge and the lab issued a "shelter in place" warning just before 4 pm which lasted about 45 minutes. Shelter in place means to proceed to the basement of a substantial building and stay away from doors and windows.
I arrived home at about 6pm and our emergency weather radio kept going off with tornado and severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for our area. All of the tornado warnings were to the south and east of us. Just before 10pm however during an impressive thunderstorm the radio went off and issued a tornado warning for where we live. We were prepared, our suburban was parked right outside the house. We jumped in the suburban, along with Pup-pup and Kitness, and drove down to the bottom of our driveway.
Our home is a double wide trailer and it is exposed in the middle of a field so it's not a safe place to be during a tornado. The best place to be during a tornado is underground, or in a ditch or low lying area. The bottom of our driveway is about 150 feet lower in elevation that the house and is protected by sloping terrain.
This is our safe spot, at least until we get our cheese cave going :)
We waited in the suburban and listened to the radio. It was quiet and calm outside and everything was just fine. After about 45 minutes the tornado warning was lifted and we drove back to the house. Everything was just fine at our place, nobody was hurt, no damage, all of the animals were OK. There was no tornado in our immediate area.
Update: The man who is keeping cows in our upper pasture stopped by this evening. He said that while checking on his cattle he found a metal cover for an HVAC system in the middle of the pasture. I looked at the panel, it's an Intertherm panel used inside mobile homes, we have one just like it in our double wide. Apparently one of the tornadoes on Wednesday hit a mobile home somewhere and this metal panel traveled countless miles only to end up in our pasture.
On Wednesday afternoon I was at work in Oak Ridge and the lab issued a "shelter in place" warning just before 4 pm which lasted about 45 minutes. Shelter in place means to proceed to the basement of a substantial building and stay away from doors and windows.
I arrived home at about 6pm and our emergency weather radio kept going off with tornado and severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for our area. All of the tornado warnings were to the south and east of us. Just before 10pm however during an impressive thunderstorm the radio went off and issued a tornado warning for where we live. We were prepared, our suburban was parked right outside the house. We jumped in the suburban, along with Pup-pup and Kitness, and drove down to the bottom of our driveway.
Our home is a double wide trailer and it is exposed in the middle of a field so it's not a safe place to be during a tornado. The best place to be during a tornado is underground, or in a ditch or low lying area. The bottom of our driveway is about 150 feet lower in elevation that the house and is protected by sloping terrain.
This is our safe spot, at least until we get our cheese cave going :)
We waited in the suburban and listened to the radio. It was quiet and calm outside and everything was just fine. After about 45 minutes the tornado warning was lifted and we drove back to the house. Everything was just fine at our place, nobody was hurt, no damage, all of the animals were OK. There was no tornado in our immediate area.
Update: The man who is keeping cows in our upper pasture stopped by this evening. He said that while checking on his cattle he found a metal cover for an HVAC system in the middle of the pasture. I looked at the panel, it's an Intertherm panel used inside mobile homes, we have one just like it in our double wide. Apparently one of the tornadoes on Wednesday hit a mobile home somewhere and this metal panel traveled countless miles only to end up in our pasture.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Invaders!
Help we are under attack! OK, not quite, this is just a picture of Chip modeling his new beekeeping suit. Chip and John attended a beekeeping class recently and are planning to get two hives next week. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Dogwoods!
The dogwoods are really beautiful right now. It rained overnight and is drizzling this morning, so it's a little dark and overcast. This makes the bright white dogwood flowers really pop out in contrast to the rest of the forest. From the house we can look around 360 degrees and see many dogwoods at the edge of the pasture/forest and into the forest.
More birds, plus some bees
Birds: Yesterday Debby saw three wild turkeys out at the edge of the pasture.
Bees: Knoxville was recently rated the worst US city for allergies, there is just a ton of pollen in the area. Right now we have all sorts of things blooming, the air smells very sweet. We have some bushes that are blooming and sweet smelling and just full of loudly buzzing bumble bees.
Last night I picked up some beekeeping equipment from a local beekeeper, along with some local honey (mmm good!). We plan to have two bee hives this year. This beekeeper has about 80 hives in his bee yard. One of his hives swarmed yesterday and landed in a bush next to his shop. He placed an empty hive with a single deep chamber under the swarm and he shook the bush and the swarm fell down on the hive and went in. He was waiting until it was dark to move the hive. The beekeeper also showed me some of his apple trees and how he is grafting apple limbs onto crab apple root stock that he buys.
Bees: Knoxville was recently rated the worst US city for allergies, there is just a ton of pollen in the area. Right now we have all sorts of things blooming, the air smells very sweet. We have some bushes that are blooming and sweet smelling and just full of loudly buzzing bumble bees.
Last night I picked up some beekeeping equipment from a local beekeeper, along with some local honey (mmm good!). We plan to have two bee hives this year. This beekeeper has about 80 hives in his bee yard. One of his hives swarmed yesterday and landed in a bush next to his shop. He placed an empty hive with a single deep chamber under the swarm and he shook the bush and the swarm fell down on the hive and went in. He was waiting until it was dark to move the hive. The beekeeper also showed me some of his apple trees and how he is grafting apple limbs onto crab apple root stock that he buys.
Goodbye Old Taurus
We gave our 1995 Taurus to some friends last weekend. I bought that car new in the spring of 1995 when I was working at Antenna Research in MD and living in an apartment in Falls Church. That Taurus had been a good car. We now drive a 2006 Taurus and a 1998 Suburban.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Birds
About a month ago I was outside doing chores in the morning and I saw a large bird flying over the field headed towards me. I watched as it approached, it was very big. The bird was just gliding, flying calmly, straight towards our house. The bird was black and had "finger" feathers spread out at the end of it's wings. As the bird got closer I could see that it was all black except that it's head was white. It was a bald eagle. I don't remember ever seeing one, and this one flew right over me.
At the pond in our upper field we have a nesting pair of geese, a nesting pair of mallard ducks, and some wood ducks. A couple of weeks ago the new NRCS agent came by for a visit and he took a few pictures and notes and said it was unusual to have those three species all at the same place.
A couple of days ago I saw two large birds flying over the farm near dusk, it was a pair of blue herons. I usually only see one blue heron at a time, it was nice to see a pair.
At the pond in our upper field we have a nesting pair of geese, a nesting pair of mallard ducks, and some wood ducks. A couple of weeks ago the new NRCS agent came by for a visit and he took a few pictures and notes and said it was unusual to have those three species all at the same place.
A couple of days ago I saw two large birds flying over the farm near dusk, it was a pair of blue herons. I usually only see one blue heron at a time, it was nice to see a pair.
New, new alarm clock
OK, long time since posting on the blog. We lost several chickens and our rooster over the winter months due to hawk attacks. Hawks also killed and ate a bunch of our pigeons. Last month Debby and the kids bought a new rooster, he's a Rhode Island Red name Opie One Kenobi. So far so good.
I had a TWRA officer visit a couple of months ago to ask if we could take an injured pigeon, which we did. I told him about the hawk problems and he said that we could kill them if they were killing our chickens and pigeons. I was surprised to hear that, but it's good news. Some of the hawks are just crazy, Debby was outside and watched a hawk swoop down and kill a chicken not far from where she was standing. Another time a hawk got into a pigeon loft and Debby was getting it out and the hawk managed to sink all of the talons from one of it's legs into Debby's hand. Debby went to the doctor and got a tetanus shot and all of her lymph nodes swelled up.
I had a TWRA officer visit a couple of months ago to ask if we could take an injured pigeon, which we did. I told him about the hawk problems and he said that we could kill them if they were killing our chickens and pigeons. I was surprised to hear that, but it's good news. Some of the hawks are just crazy, Debby was outside and watched a hawk swoop down and kill a chicken not far from where she was standing. Another time a hawk got into a pigeon loft and Debby was getting it out and the hawk managed to sink all of the talons from one of it's legs into Debby's hand. Debby went to the doctor and got a tetanus shot and all of her lymph nodes swelled up.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
New Alarm Clock
Debby got us a new alarm clock today. His name is Fred. Fred is a Rhode Island Red Rooster. Thanks Honey.
Frosty Morning
34 degrees and frost this morning, I had to scrape ice off my car's windshield. Another frost advisory tonight.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Cool weather already
It was 37 degrees at the house this morning, we have a frost advisory for tonight.
Yesterday it snowed 3" on Mt. LeConte which is in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in East TN.
Yesterday it snowed 3" on Mt. LeConte which is in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in East TN.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Deer spotters
I just looked outside and saw Morgan and Spirit in the pasture, they were both looking intently at something across the pasture. I looked and saw two bucks and a doe. The bucks were gorgeous, with large racks in velvet. Frequently we will hear a "huff" sound if we come up on a deer accidentally at night or we notice the horses at attention as they always locate deer first.
7 egg day
Today was a 7 egg day, got an egg from each of our 7 golden comet hens. Even better, 6 of the eggs were laid in two nests in the chicken coop, one egg laid in the barn. Yesterday I rearranged perches and nests in the coop and added fresh hay.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Optical Refractometer, pasture brix levels
Yes, it's official, I've gone off the deep end now. Some people who are close to me, names with held to protect the innocent, have been aware of this situation for quite some time.
If you remember I am interested in mob grazing and was recently reading some articles which mentioned pasture forage brix levels. Huh??
Well, apparently brix is the sugar content, and a handheld device called an optical refractometer can measure the sugar content, or brix, of things like honey, grapes, corn, garden produce, and even grass. For example, vinyards will measure brix levels of grapes to determine the proper harvest time.
So, some grass farmers have started to measure the brix levels in their pastures and are reporting very interesting findings. If a pasture is well managed one can achieve brix levels above 10%, even above 20%. Animals perform very well on high brix forage, and a high brix pasture is very healthy. Interestingly, destructive insects such as grass hoppers will leave high brix pastures alone.
I went to Amazon.com and ordered myself a 0-32% optical refractometer so I too could measure brix levels. I paid about $60. An optical refractometer is an interesting device. One collects a few drops of liquid from a sample and puts the liquid on the surface of a prism and then closes a transparent plate which spreads the liquid out in an even film across the surface of the prism. One then holds the device up so that sunlight passes through the sample and looks into an eyepiece and reads the brix level of the sample directly on a scale.
How it works: sunlight passes through the liquid sample and bends, or refracts, just like light bends when it enters a pool of water. If the sugar content of the sample is low then the light is not bent very much. A high sugar content causes the light to bend more. The bent light is collected in the prism and directed to a scale where one can directly read the brix level.
There are a few gotcha's. The readings are temperature sensitive, so the reading must stabilize or one must use a temperature corrected refractometer. Brix levels in grass change during the day, they are lowest early in the morning and highest later in the afternoon on a sunny day. Sunshine, and photosynthesis, cause sugar levels to increase in the plant. So, if you are making hay you might want to cut your hay crop later in the day.
The device measures refraction, but refraction is influenced by minerals and other solids in the sample besides sugar. Many pastures and fields today have been mined of essential minerals so it is good to have brix readings, as well as soil samples.
I measured brix levels in my pasture and had readings in the 3% - 5% range (in doing so I destroyed our flimsy garlic press, which I employed to squeeze juice out of balls of pasture grass, I now need to find a sturdy unit). These are fairly low brix levels. Mob grazing and certain other management practices (such as raw milk applications) are said to be able to increase pasture brix levels above 10% and even above 20%. To be continued.
If you remember I am interested in mob grazing and was recently reading some articles which mentioned pasture forage brix levels. Huh??
Well, apparently brix is the sugar content, and a handheld device called an optical refractometer can measure the sugar content, or brix, of things like honey, grapes, corn, garden produce, and even grass. For example, vinyards will measure brix levels of grapes to determine the proper harvest time.
So, some grass farmers have started to measure the brix levels in their pastures and are reporting very interesting findings. If a pasture is well managed one can achieve brix levels above 10%, even above 20%. Animals perform very well on high brix forage, and a high brix pasture is very healthy. Interestingly, destructive insects such as grass hoppers will leave high brix pastures alone.
I went to Amazon.com and ordered myself a 0-32% optical refractometer so I too could measure brix levels. I paid about $60. An optical refractometer is an interesting device. One collects a few drops of liquid from a sample and puts the liquid on the surface of a prism and then closes a transparent plate which spreads the liquid out in an even film across the surface of the prism. One then holds the device up so that sunlight passes through the sample and looks into an eyepiece and reads the brix level of the sample directly on a scale.
How it works: sunlight passes through the liquid sample and bends, or refracts, just like light bends when it enters a pool of water. If the sugar content of the sample is low then the light is not bent very much. A high sugar content causes the light to bend more. The bent light is collected in the prism and directed to a scale where one can directly read the brix level.
There are a few gotcha's. The readings are temperature sensitive, so the reading must stabilize or one must use a temperature corrected refractometer. Brix levels in grass change during the day, they are lowest early in the morning and highest later in the afternoon on a sunny day. Sunshine, and photosynthesis, cause sugar levels to increase in the plant. So, if you are making hay you might want to cut your hay crop later in the day.
The device measures refraction, but refraction is influenced by minerals and other solids in the sample besides sugar. Many pastures and fields today have been mined of essential minerals so it is good to have brix readings, as well as soil samples.
I measured brix levels in my pasture and had readings in the 3% - 5% range (in doing so I destroyed our flimsy garlic press, which I employed to squeeze juice out of balls of pasture grass, I now need to find a sturdy unit). These are fairly low brix levels. Mob grazing and certain other management practices (such as raw milk applications) are said to be able to increase pasture brix levels above 10% and even above 20%. To be continued.
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