We Are Beekeepers

Finally, after a few weeks of delay, our honeybees have arrived.  We ordered two "nucs" (nucleus) which means they come packaged with a queen bee, some brood (baby bees), honey stores and about 30,000 other bees (workers and drones).  This is a small colony which should double in size over the next few weeks. And we have two colonies! Amy suited up and came with me to the county Agriculture Center, which is conveniently located 1 mile from our home.  We collected our nucs - packaged in these sturdy cardboard boxes and secured with duct tape.

Notice my cute little helpers.  Pictured below is Emily - all suited up behind me.  She comes with me to my monthly beekeeping classes at the Ag Center and even takes notes.  We have a fabulous friend at the club (who is also our neighbor) who's kids have outgrown their bee suit, so she has graciously loaned it to us so our kids can be involved too.  Em was great at spraying sugar water on the honeycomb and helping me look for the queen bee. 

Here is a photo of one of the nuc frames installed into the hive:

The comb has been 'drawn out' or built out for space for the brood and/or honey.  These boxes will primarily be used for brood.  Later in the summer I will put on the honey supers and be able to harvest the excess.

The smoker is a pretty fun tool -  great for directing traffic in the hive.  I wish I had a similar tool that worked for children in the home! 

Amy was my helper on the second nuc installation.  She is very fond of the bees and loves them as if they were a cuddly pet.  She is very patient and helpful during the inspection process and is a useful source of factual knowledge. 

We've got the bees situated in a nice corner of our lot, facing southeast towards the farmer's field next door so they will have plenty of early morning sunlight and ample space for foraging.  We hope they'll have fun visiting our own garden and berry patches (posts to come)!

New Hobby Desk

Grandma gave me $50 for Christmas.  I used it to buy this desk I found at a local thrift store:

A nice, solid desk (very heavy) with great drawers all in working order.  But not very pretty.  So I sanded it all down and gave it a makeover.

Voila - my hew hobby desk:

I spent about $50 in paint, polycrylic finish and new hardware.  Grandma said a person should have a little bit of red in every room, so here's my bit of red for our upstairs living area.  It's a great desk with pull-out work tops, nice deep drawers and very sturdy - which is nice for when I'm using the sewing machine and serger.

The table I used to have for my sewing/quilting has now moved behind the sofa and works as a nice cutting table and worktop for paper crafts.  (I like that I can work at the table while Matt watches sports and still feel like we are together and each doing something fun)

And then there's the wall-mounted cabinets that I salvaged from the garage when we moved in. 

I'm really enjoying the storage space as well as the worktop areas.  I'm working on some ribbon holders/shelves that will mount onto the wall above my thread organizer and that should free up some more cupboard space for my floral supplies.  (I know, I have too many hobbies)

Just moving closer to my goal of being a gardener/beekeeper by summer and seamstress/quilter by winter.  :-)