A Camp Out at Colonial Beach

Last weekend was our square dance camp out held at Harbor View Campground in Colonial Beach, VA. Last time we were in Colonial Beach the only thing we did was go to nearby Ingleside Vineyard. This time we went down a day early to see the sights. What a great place with so much to do. We only scratched the surface.

Our first stop was George Washington's birthplace which is right on the Potomac River.

This is NOT the original home which was destroyed in a fire. This was a more

 elaborate home built for the bicentennial of Washington's birth in 1932. At that time they

had very little information about the original house. During the excavation for the house, 

they found the foundation for the original a short distance away.

Most homes built on the river had the front door facing the river, 

but when the original foundation was found it showed 

that the sideof the house was toward the river.

Washington lived there until he was three and, later after his father died and his brother Augustine inherited the estate, he spent time there off and on. It's probably where he first learned the surveyer's trade. The Washingtons were not wealthy, but they were land rich. They farmed crops for their table and tobacco as a cash crop for the luxuries they wanted to purchase from England.

The farm reminds me of Jamestown. The grounds are beautiful and there's an informative short film and small museum. We spent several enjoyable hours taking the tour and walking the grounds.

I had to laugh when I saw this poor headless scarecrow dressed

in colonial garb. He reminded me of Ichabod Crane. If you've never read 

Washington Irving's story about the headless horseman, remedy the situation immediately!

 These two handsome creatures cooperated by coming close 

to the fence around their enclosures.

On the way to the burial grounds we passed a fence behind which were several beehives and two beekeepers at work. We stopped to say hello and ask how the bees are doing. It was a young man with his mentor and we chatted for several minutes in beekeepers' jargon. He said his bees were doing well and we shared that ours are also. It is always fun to find other beekeepers on our jaunts.

 They say "knee high by the 4th of July," but with all the rain 

the corn is growing super tall this year. this was next to the burial ground.

 Washington's brother Augustine and his wife are buried here. Also Washington's

 baby sister who only lived six months. So many children died young in those das.

This replica of the Washington Monument greets visitors at the front gate. 

If you get to Colonial Beach don't miss this great attraction. Best of all --- 

it's free. It's a hidden jewel. There were very few people visiting when we got there at 11:00.

June 18 - Bee status: All's Well!

Golden Rain Tree is good choice for attracting bees.

We had a revelation last week on what NOT to do with your bees. Putting a bee escape on Queen Bianca's hive before we were ready to harvest honey was REALLY DUMB. We ended up with the full box of capped being invaded by robber bees and ants who uncapped some of the honey and helped themselves. Can't really blame them, but, after wising up and removing the bee escape, the poor bees have lots of work to do to repair the damage. 

We checked them today and they are, in fact, busy refilling empty cells with nectar and recapping the honey. Hard lesson learned for these two beekeepers. We won't make that mistake again.

We only checked the top box in Queen Bianca's hive today because we put on a new box with new foundation last week. We did a more thorough examination in Queen Rachel and Queen Anya's hives. We only went as far as the second box from the bottom in Queen Rachel's hive where we found plenty of frames of capped and uncapped larvae. We didn't see the queen but, once we were sure things were A-okay, we stopped looking and put the hive back together. No sense disturbing the bees more than necessary. They are doing fine.

Queen Anya's hive still has room to work. We added a new box on June 6th, but the queen is so busy laying we need to prepare another super (bee box) so they don't run out of room. Go, bees, go! 

Another good week in the bee yard. 

We stopped down on Water Street because the trees there (Golden Rain Trees) are blooming. There were honeybees all over them. We plan to buy some next Spring and plant them. They are fast growing so we should see results within three years. I was reading comments on one nursery website and a customer said his tree grew six feet in one season. Wow! Sounds like it takes three years until they bloom. I think we'll plant a few in the Fall.

Why are you using toxic chemicals in your garden?

....I sprayed the weeds in my circle garden a few days ago....with vinegar.  Why would anyone use toxic chemicals when good, old, cheap, white vinegar does such an outstanding job? Actually I don't mind weeds in the lawn. Dandelions are a great nectar source for the bees and so is chickweed. But my gardens are another matter.I like to keep the paths clear of prickly things and I enjoy a little order in my otherwise chaotic life. Also, pulling weeds is good therapy and I don't like to spray anything in the garden beds themselves.

Now check out the results of vinegar as a weedkiller.

This is a broad-leafed weed common in the garden path and around the outside.

This is the same weed thirty minutes after spraying with 100% vinegar

Same weed three days later.

This is a narrow-leafed weed that grows like ground cover.
Compare weeds onthe  path to the same  non-sprayed weeds in garden bed.

Yes, it's high time people stopped using toxic chemicals when good, old-fashioned home remedies work as well or better. Vinegar is one of my favorites. It's a great cleaning agent as well!

And here's a picture of my circle garden with the lavender in bloom and. attracting our honeybees. Not too much color at present but my daylilies are about to bloom and they will brighten things up considerably. And now....I need to refill my sprayer and finish the job of spraying all the weeds on the outer edge of the garden. Why is it that weeds always grow so much more easily than everything else?

Fun at the Pittsburgh Zoo!

We just returned from a short visit to Zelienople, PA where one of our daughters lives. (Don't you love that name? Zelienople is near Mars and Cranberry. And Mars actually has a flying saucer in the middle of town.

But I digress. The Pittsburgh zoo is wonderful. We spent the afternoon visiting most of the exhibits, riding the tram, playing (or sitting) at the playground, and enjoying all the antics of the animals. I describe some of them here.

But the best part of the day was the company. What a delightful group of little girls (and their mom).

June 12 -- All's Queen Right in the Bee Yard!

Blue hyssop is a great plan for attracting pollinators of all sorts.

Hot and sunny today, already in the upper 80s at 11:00 a.m. and calm -- a great day for busy, working bees.We only inspected the middle box.

Halleluia! And thanks to St. Ambrose and St. Valentine for their intercession. We had to go down to the bottom of the five boxes, but there she was -- a nice fat queen and brood. So she is mated and laying and all's right with her world. The bees were very calm and are working hard to draw the new foundation we put in the hive last week. Lots of honey in the top two boxes as well.

So it is time to name the new hive. We will call that pretty gal Queen Rachel Lauren. And may she be a great producer for her colony.

We took the entrance reducers out of all three hives so the bees have more room for going in and out. In hot weather they sometimes congregate at the door and fan the hive to cool it off so this will make their efforts more productive.

This afternoon we will add a working box to Queen Bianca's hive since they were so busy last week. We don't plan to inspect first. We presume all is right there and will wait until next week to inspect.

Last week we planted some bee attracting plants in our circle garden: a blue licorice hyssop and two blue mints (can't remember the variety). So far they seem to be attracting bumble bees as is the lavendar. The honeybees must be finding something they like better nearby. But we will continue to plant bee friendly flora to offer honey and nectar. The three plants we put in the circle garden bloom from now until the frost and are perennials. I hope they do well so we can spread them next year to other parts of the yard.

I plan to take a big jar of our honey to the Poor Clares in Alexandria in thanksgiving for their prayers. It is such a relief to finally be queen right in the bee yard!

After Three Days of Rain -- Bee Inspection

June 6, 2015

We checked out all three hives today starting with Queen Anya's kingdom. She is laying brood all over the frames. We decided to add a third super to give her and her subjects plenty of room to expand and make honey. With all the brood in there, they will be exploding with bees soon.There were a few empty queen cells which is a common practice of Russian bees. They sometimes build "practice" cells, but there was no sign they are getting ready to swarm.

We checked Queen Bianca's hive next and she is busy laying lots of brood as well. We saw the queen in the top box, a pretty little gal. The empty frames we put in last time are being drawn but there is still plenty of room for the workers to collect. We decided to move the bee escape and full box of honey from the big hive to Queen Bianca''s hive. That will make both the smaller hives three boxes and reduce the tall hive to five boxes. Next week we plan to add another working box to Queen Bianca's hive.

Last we went into the big hive. It still has lots and lots of bees and they are busy bringing in nectar and pollen, but there is no laying queen. We did not see a queen at all as we inspected but the four queen capped queen cells that were in there last time are gone so we suspect there is a queen who may not be mated yet or is mated, but not laying. We shifted a box that is mostly empty to a lower position in the hive and moved the box that is almost full of honey to the top box without a bee escape. They still have some capping to do in that box so we want them to keep working there. We hope to get at least three honey supers to harvest this year.

Next weekend we plan to inspect again and if there is still no sign of a laying queen in the large hive, we will move some eggs from one of the other hives into that one. Hopefully that won't be necessary and we'll have a laying queen in a week and can name that hive, but Russians are very slow to requeen.

Looking forward to the honey harvest because we are getting low on boxes! We need to empty those and reuse.

St.. Ambrose and St. Valentine, we ask your intercession to make the tall hive queen right!