Spring Cleaning and Easter Preparing

Since I've been home from vacation the weather has been rainy and grey, but one day the sun came out, and so did the deer!

 I spent a lot of time inside last week, doing  Spring cleaning.

  

I had to recruit some help for the ceiling fans and lights!

I've also been preparing for Easter

My parents took a huge bag of eggs home and stuffed them.  I've still got a huge bag to go!

The weather was pretty nice over the weekend so I decided I best take advantage and do some Easter decoration planting for the tables.

 These little 'baskets' are from an egg coloring kit I bought at the dollar store!  Clever huh?  The spider plants are starts (babies), from a plant that my cousin, Gloria, gave me starts from a couple of years ago.   And her plant was in our Grandpa's room when he was alive...20something years ago.

 I also did a bit of evening crochet on this blanket, but I'll talk about that in another post.

 I decided since it was warm and sunny yesterday I would get into some beehives.  Good thing I did.  This one was building comb in extra space from an empty candy board.

This is the empty candy board, which is what gave them some extra space.  I've removed it and added a hive body and super, which is much better for the hive.  So far, I have six live hives out of eight.  WAY BETTER than last year.  I'll have to split some hives to give them room to grow this year.  Which means I'll have more hives/more bees! 

More back aches!!!

Speaking of aches. I'm going to go take a nap and an ibuprofen.  I have a toothache.  Unfortunately, its' that back tooth area.  I tried to wear a night guard last night.  I think I take back everything I said about wearing night guards.  It's not working for me.  I seem to clench more with it in my mouth.  I don't know what to do.  How does one stop the clenching?  I really don't live a stressful life.

Cindy

Five on Friday - My week in review!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK's DAY!

Are you celebrating?

hmmmm.....I'm having a few friends/neighbors over tonight,

and I just thought I should probably turn some wine or something green!

I'll think on it...

In the meantime I'm joining Amy at Love Made my Home for Five on Friday!  It's the last time Amy is hosting Five on Friday, but not to worry, Tricky Wolf from F.A.S.T. blog is taking over for her.  I think it's great that she had someone else take it over, rather than just dropping it.  Very responsible person!  Thank you Amy and thank you Tricky Wolf!

On with the five!

ONE

NATURE & WEATHER

The weather here is not going to be good for St. Patrick's day parades, or any other outdoor activities.  I believe you are supposed to be planting potatoes and snap peas in your gardens today, in these parts of America.  I don't think much of that is going to be happening either.  Back in February we had a lot of warm weather days.  In the 70's.  My bees were thriving.  Problem is, it's been in the 20's and 30's again and snowy, today freezing rain is predicted, so it's hard to tell if the bees will make it.  A fellow beekeeper sent me a picture

and he was "very worried' and wanted my advice.  He felt like this was a lot of bees dead in front of his hive and feared the worst.  I told him that is NOT a lot of bees for a hive.  That's just a sign of bees cleaning out the hive on a nice day.

However, I wanted to show you something with this picture that he sent me.  Look closely at the top of the wire entrance.  You will see "white" bees. 

Those bees are larvae (babies - sad face) that were almost ready to hatch out.  They probably froze to death.  So here is what happens with honeybees when the weather fluctuates so greatly.  

During the winter, the queen will only lay enough eggs that the bees can cover the brood (eggs/larvae) with their bodies and keep it warm.  Just enough to keep the hive alive through the winter.  When it warms up, the queen starts laying eggs like it's summer, 1200-1500 a day.  So, back in February when it was in the 60's and 70's for almost two weeks, that queen started laying like it was summer.  Then, it got cold again and the bees can't keep that many eggs/larvae warm.  So the bees either spread out and freeze to death trying to keep the brood warm, or the brood freezes to death because there aren't enough bees to cover the brood, or both.  I had four hives die last year when this happened.  They were alive one weekend, and the next weekend they froze to death.  So, if you look at this picture it's a good example of larvae freezing to death.  Then, there are times that the hive just doesn't have the energy to raise another generation of brood, so the hive dies off. 

A honey bee only lives around 45 days (in the summer).

The workers are female and they work themselves to death. 

True story.

Yesterday I kept trying to get a good picture of this eagle, flying across the road above our pond.  I took several before it landed in a tree.  I watched through a monocular until my arm got tired of holding it up!  Plus, I had somewhere to go, so I left and sure enough it flew.  This was the best picture I got of it. Not great, but the good news is it's back!  I haven't seen it in months.

TWO

CHAIRS

My Shug sent me a message from work and said on his way in he saw three chairs that he thought were in someone's trash!   They live around the corner from us so he stopped and asked the lady if they were throwing them out.  She said, "yes, and she knew if she put them on the curb someone would get them." 

Look at these chairs...

 

Look at our chairs!

Can you find the difference? 

He got three.  The fourth one was broken.  We are always scrambling around when family is over, trying to find enough chairs for everyone.  So I was very happy about this!  One man's trash is another man's treasure. 

THREE

CURTAINS

Remember the curtains I was making last week?  They were drapes I bought at a rummage sale somewhere over the years.  Stashed away and forgotten about.  They were long and pleated, and needed those hook type things to hang.  I cut off the pleats and measured, more than once!

 I made one panel first to see how they were going to look.  I'm making these for the basement room that we lived in while we were building.  I think they are going to look great!

So I made the rest of them.  I washed them but was afraid to put them in the drier.  I'll iron them and hang them this weekend.  Hopefully! 

FOUR

CROCHET GROUP

So last week when I posted a picture of my blanket squares, Tricky Wolf commented that I had a snazzy crochet hook!  WHAT!

And it hit me....like a brick.

 After I finished the square (above-with the snazzy hook) I noticed it was a tiny bit bigger than the other squares I made.  I even told the girls I think the white yarn is a bit thicker.

After I read that comment about the snazzy hook,  I started digging through older photos on my phone.

Do you see it?

I was using a 4.5 hook and the "snazzy hook" is a 5!

AUURRRGGHHHH!  (I think that AUGH in Irish!  In honor of St. Patrick.  Or maybe it's pirate speak.  Either way, the mystery is solved!

My advise is to take ONE picture of your project when you first start it, with the crochet hook you are using IN THE PICTURE!  Then, you'll know. 

I have no idea how the snazzy crochet hook got in the bag, but it did.  I have some ripping out to do.

So, I decided to work on my beach bag this week.  Do you know how many bags I have that need lined?  I don't even know!

Debbie is a crocheting machine!!!

K is making the same blanket as Debbie.

I told Cheryl to smile and she assured me she is!

FIVE

OUR HOUSE

We are working on the house again!  Click here to check it out.

Also don't forget to Check out other bloggers who joined Five on Friday and

see what they're up to!  Click here to pay them a visit!

Cindy

PS.  I've been wanting to share a couple of things with you.  First of all, apparently I'm a 'NO REPLY' blogger to some of you.  But, I have gone into my settings and it shows that I am NOT a no reply blogger.  I even unchecked and rechecked the box that I'm supposed to check or uncheck.  Also, I am not able to leave comments on some of your blogs, and I've heard of other bloggers not able to leave comments as well.  I think it has something to do with blogger and google plus.  Not sure how to fix this stuff but I've tried.  Just wanted you to know.

Swarm days are almost here!

 Five ways to tell the difference between honey bees and other stinging insects!

I get phone calls every year from people claiming they have a swarm of honeybees that they want me to come and get.  I'd guess 90% of those calls are not honeybees. I've already received a call this year...it was not honey bees.  But in the next few weeks, it's possible you will see a swarm of honeybees.  They have a swarming season, and it's usually the end of April, or the month of May, in our area, depending on the weather.  I would like to show you some ways to identify honey bees.

 Last year I got a call from a friend who thought she had honey bees in her house.  She had something in her house, but these are NOT honeybees.

  They are yellow jackets or wasps and they made a mess in her house. 

1) Honeybees do not make this kind of a mess in a home.  If they get into a house, it's usually in the walls or the attic space and they will build wax comb, not this papery mess you see here.

  I suggested she call an exterminator.  Wasps and yellow jackets are not friendly.

(Look at the wasp on the screen.  The body is more jointed than a bee, and skinnier)

2) This (below) is what we used to call paper wasps.  I'm not sure if that is the official name, because I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to yellow jackets or wasps.  I am not a keeper of yellow jackets or wasps! 

Honeybees do not live here!

3) If you see something like this hanging on a tree, get the H out of there QUICK!  This is probably a hornets nest.  I did not get close enough to find out if it had a live nest in it!

Honeybees do not live here! 

4) Honeybees do NOT live in the ground.  I've had several people swear they have honey bees coming out of the ground, but they don't.

If you look at this picture I got off of the internet, you can see honey bees are a little more muted in color than wasps and yellow jackets and they are a little more fuzzy looking.  I know you are thinking you won't get close enough to tell, right!
 

5) A honey bee will not sting you unless she has to defend herself or her hive, and once she stings you, she will die.  Not so with a wasp or a yellow jacket.  They can sting over and over again and they don't die from stinging you.
 Most of the time honey bees will be on flowers, they only want nectar and pollen from plants.  Yellow jackets and wasps are carnivores (and junkavores).  They will eat your steak, your ice cream (they are the "crazy bees" that won't leave you alone in the fall) and they will even eat a honey bee!

SWARMS

Most honey bees are not found in the wild anymore.  However......

 If you see something like this (picture below) hanging on a tree, call a beekeeper or your local extension office.   They are honey bees and even though this is what a swarm usually looks like, it is not actually a swarm.  This happened to be a bunch of honey bees that built a hive on the outside of a tree.  They would never have lasted the winter. 

This is a swarm and it's probably the biggest swarm I ever retrieved. Usually they are football in size or bigger, if they are worth getting.

Here I am holding it.  Swarms are not mean.  I did not get one sting getting this swarm.  These honeybees are protecting their queen and looking for a new home.  Look closely and you can see bees flying around all over the place.  I was waiting for them to calm down, then I was going to put them in the cardboard nuc box until I got them safely home and into a hive that I had waiting for them.

This is another swarm.  Sometimes they aren't that easy to see, but you might hear them.  Or, if you're lucky, you'll see a "cloud" flying quickly across the sky and landing in a tree.  

 This is a horrible picture of me!  I think I was painting when this guy called me to come and get this swarm.   If you see a swarm, you have anywhere from three hours to three days to get a beekeeper to come and get the swarm.   SO CALL SOMEONE IMMEDIATELY!

We were standing under she swarm.  Which shows how docile they are when they are in swarm mode.

Here they are, hidden in the tree being all nice and quiet like.

 
If you are ever in a situation where you aren't sure, it's always best to call a beekeeper or your local extension office.  It's a special day when you see a swarm because it doesn't happen often, and it's very special to watch a beekeeper capture one.

I am connecting with Amy at  Five on Friday!  Click here to see what other bloggers are up to.

Cindy Bee

More June happenings....

In June....
The Granny Bees met at Patti Beck's garden.

to take a garden stroll

and buy some garden pottery (not the stuff in the pics - I took pics of this because I love that she put this big bird in a nest)

We met in memory of Beth.  And the entire evening a monarch butterfly kept flitting and fluttering about our group.  It was the first one Patti had seen this summer.

 I had asked Patti to make us Granny Bees something in Beth's memory and she made this bell....but she also made

this. 

 I L.O.V.E. them.

And I've missed Beth a lot lately.  

Tomorrow night will be the first, "First Friday" that I've attended that I did not spend it in her studio.

We went to my Sister's house for Father's Day (but we had to meet the week before Father's Day because we were going to be in St. Thomas at a wedding on Father's Day weekend) 

and I hardly took any pics! (I've been slacking)

I did get one of My Shug putting a cig behind my Mom's ear.

Silly....neither of them smoke.

And of these two playing in the decorative pond!

What is it with kids and water?

We were actually supposed to go to a Polka Boys concert that evening, but all the way there it stormed. 

Who woulda thought the weather would have turned out perfect!

This is my brother and his son acting goofy.

The next weekend,

Mom and Dad and Theresa and I went to Clowes Hall.

Only it's pronounced Klews Hall.

And I know that.

But when we stopped to ask for directions I asked for Clothes Hall.

Why?

Who knows why in thee hell I say/do what I say/do.

I do know I love the little sippy cups they gave us for our wine!

How cute!

So, can you guess by the picture below (that I wasn't supposed to take) what musical we went to see?

More june stuff.....

Cute lil' peaches on our tree!

My hives are doing well!

We all went for pedi's for Ashley's wedding.

only I didn't get a pedi.

I do not like my feet touched.

And....

I've had one pedi in my life and I ended up with a toenail fungus that lasted for years.

I got rid of it on my own by applying tea tree essential oil to the top and underneath of the nail every morning and every night.....for like two years.

It's like the one time in my life I was in a tanning bed.  I ended up with red and white stripes on my bottocks.  Don't ask.  Who in thee hell knows anyway? Not me.

Pedis are kind of gross anyway.  They took a cheese grater and shaved the dead skin off of my sister's feet.  ewww....the pile....of dead skin.....just ewwww.....

But I did get my toenails painted!

Do you like the plhower?

Okay, so, Then we all went out for Mexican food and margaritas afterwards!

And Theresa and I probably should have been home packing because we were leaving the next day for St. Thomas!

Coming up.....wedding pics and St. Thomas!

But before I go

TODAY is my Sister's Birthday!

Happy Birthday SISTER!

Cindy Bee