Perfect Weather for feeding honeybees!

 We have had the most glorious weather lately, I can't believe it's November.  The temps have been in the 70's!  

 And the trees are really showing off this year.

 It's been warm enough out that I've been feeding my bees.

  I know what you're thinking.  Why, how, and what do I feed my bees?  

Well, I feed them two parts sugar to one part water...a simple sugar syrup.  

The reason I do it is because there aren't enough flowers blooming this time of year for them to get enough nectar and pollen.  And I don't want them to eat everything NOW that they saved for winter.  So, as long as they can get outside their hives, I'm feeding them.  I put the simple syrup mix in a quart sized canning jar with a lid like this....

  I put this cover on it.  Then when I turn it over

it stands up and the bees can get underneath it and get sugar water.    If you look at this picture (below) you can see a yellow jacket on the to right corner of the plastic part of the feeder. I tried to edit the picture and make it bigger for you, but no could do.   It's perfect for seeing the difference between the two insects.  People confuse them all the time.

And that's the bad thing about feeding the bees this way.  Yellow jackets and wasps can also feed.  But the bees find it pretty quickly, and dig in right away!  Then they go back to the hive and tell the other bees, and before you know it there are bees flying around everywhere!

Ideally, you would want to put this inside their hives, on the top of the inner cover. But, I know myself. If it isn't convenient, I won't do it.  I will not feed all five hives if I have to pop open their lids every day to feed them.  The way I look at it is this is better than nothing!

In other news...
*I had a tooth capped today.  First time I ever had a tooth capped.  I put it off a YEAR!  It has been no big deal so far.  I go back in a couple of weeks for the permanent cap.

*I am trying to get pictures that I have taken of all of the events as far back as the wedding last June off of my phone, so I am going to try to blog a little bit every day that I am home!   Maybe I'll get in the habit of blogging again on a regular basis.  I hope.

*This little guy popped his head out at me last night!   I was preparing for a couple of neighbors to come over and sit by the fire for wine, chips and salsa.  I'm getting to know my neighbors out here, and BONUS, they like wine! 
So, he said to me as I was trying to get a fire going, "I know you're a little annoyed at us for pooping on your siding all summer long, but I just want to say.....

that I could live with this weather all year long. It's Perfect!"  I replied, "yes Mr. tree frog, this one time we are in agreement!"

Cindy Bee

PS.  One evening my neighbor and I counted 13 tree frogs on our siding!  And they kept getting inside our room constantly!