A Bee Swarm

The importance of bees
There can be no doubt that the honey bee, in its almost silent work, is one of the greatest of all contributors to life. It is said indeed that honey bees account for 80% of all pollination.
Without them, nothing – or certainly a lot less than we have. So, on the backs of these tiny creatures, we live or die. This is why the honey bee is so crucial to life on earth today.
Throughout history – from the most primitive of societies to the most complex – man has had an intimate relationship with the honey bee. Ancient art shows men climbing cliffs and trees for honey.
Mediaeval manuscripts highlight the sensitive use of skeps in the management of bee colonies – not just for food but for medicinal purposes too.
Throughout the centuries we have worked with the bees, developing sophisticated techniques to enable bee colonies to thrive while harvesting their rich bounty at the same time.

Gentle Honey Bees

It is unfortunate that many people have been taught to be afraid of honey bees. Many times people cannot even recognize the difference among honey bees, wasps, hornets, bumblebees or yellow jackets. They categorize all insects that buzz and sting into the same group. This is wrong.
Ironically, beekeepers are seldom stung. The late Dr. G.H. Cale, a leading authority on honey bees and a honey bee geneticist with Dadant and Sons was responsible for producing a hybrid line of honey bees bred for gentleness and high honey productivity called the “Midnite.” Truthfully, honey bees sting only when they feel they or their home is being threatened. The drone or male honey bee cannot sting at all and the queen bee rarely stings. However, on rare occasions the worker honey bee will sting if she feels the entrance to her hive is threatened. The only consolation for the person who has been stung is that after she stings, her stinger is pulled from her body and she soon dies.

The Honey Bee Colony

The story behind what appears to be the casual movement of honey bees from flower to flower is the discovery of an industrious and tireless society. Honey bees are social insects. They band together and divide labor. The honey bees’ society is made up of three types of individuals with sharply defined duties and functions. The population of the colony numbers from about 7,000 in mid winter to over 70,000 in late summer and consists of one queen, several hundred drones and thousands of workers.

The Worker Bee

The female worker honey bee is the laborer of the colony. Workers gather all the nectar and pollen, feed young larvae, warm and protect eggs, larvae and pupae, supply water, secrete beeswax, build comb and do many other tasks.
The worker starts as a fertilized egg, which hatches into a larva. The larva grows, matures and soon changes into the next form called a pupa. The pupa then matures into an adult worker honey bee. The entire metamorphosis takes only 21 days.
During the summer honey flow, June through August, worker honey bees travel about 55,000 miles to gather enough nectar to produce one pound of honey. Each individual worker will only produce about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey and about 1/80 of a teaspoon of beeswax. However, an entire colony will produce up to 200 pounds of honey annually!

The Queen Bee

Honey bee colony life revolves around the queen honey bee. Without the eggs that she lays the entire colony would die. She begins life as an ordinary female worker larvae, but by feeding on an extremely rich mixture of food, provided by young worker honey bees called royal jelly, becomes a queen. A new queen can be produced at any time, if the young workers choose, by feeding any female larvae less than 48 hours old with royal jelly.
The queen’s function is to lay eggs. Day after day the queen lays thousands of eggs which will develop into more honey bees. She is continually surrounded, protected and fed by young worker honey bees.

The Drone Bee

The drone is the male honey bee. He is larger than the worker and smaller than the queen.
Except for mating, the drone is an expendable member of the colony. Drones do not collect nectar or pollen nor do they make beeswax. In fact they are driven from the colony as winter approaches where they perish from cold and starvation.

In human society, the system also runs lean and clean at first, when government is small and the population is more self-reliant and sane. But as more and more demands are placed upon the government by an increasingly entitlement-minded population, bad government balloons in size, seizing more and more societal resources to feed its hungry entitlement masses who demand endless money in the same way a badly-behaved computer app devours RAM. Bloat expands out of control, and with it come all the errors and failures of bad government.

At some point, the government resorts to piling on endless debt, borrowing resources to pay off its demanding entitlement programs. Efficiency plummets and the system slows to a crawl. Programs begin to fail and freeze up. Insanity emerges as programs begin to break (Obamacare, anyone?), and before long the entire society experiences a catastrophic, systemic failure.

That moment for America, it seems, may have just begun. The blue screen of death is now apparent in the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions of the week, where the court openly admitted that laws no longer mean what they say. Instead, the government has now established a precedent where it can say laws mean whatever we WISH for them to mean, even if that utterly contradictions what they say.

In other words, the Bill of Rights is now meaningless. Statutory law is null and void. All contracts with the government mean nothing. Words, like genders, are now said to mean only whatever the person uttering them wants them to mean. In the same way a white woman can claim she "self identifies as black," lawmakers can now claim the laws they wrote that say one thing actually mean something entirely different because that's what they wish for them to mean. (Political magical thinking.) God help this Nation!

 We had corn on the cob for lunch today and had some left over. Mutley and Ruth and her baby are enjoying the treat. There isn't anything better than a fresh ear of corn both for animal and human.

Of all oddities in the animal kingdom, egg defects are among the most intriguing. Perhaps it's because the chicken egg is so ubiquitous that these eccentricities strike us not only as different, but strange and frightening. Which is why the shell-less chicken egg , is so interesting.
"My chicken laid an egg without a shell."It only got weirder from there..."
It's unclear exactly what's going on in the Reddit user's picture, but according to poultry resource The Poultry Site, eggs with very thin shells or no shells at all occur between .5 to 6 percent of the time. They're often produced by young domestic hens, particular ones that have matured early.
Previously, we've gawked over double-yoked eggs, oversized eggs and eggs inside other eggs. We have a feeling other weird eggs are out there.

Grit Ever heard the saying "scarce as a hen's teeth"? That's right, chickens don't have them! Instead they eat tiny pebbles and store them in their "crop". When the food enters their crop, the pebbles grind it up to make digestion easier. For baby chicks, sand, parakeet gravel or canary gravel, available at your local pet store or grocery store pet aisle, will suffice. You can either sprinkle this in their feed or provide it in a small cup or bowl.
Netting for the top
Although most grown chickens are pretty pathetic flyers, young chicks are much more capable. If your brooder is only 12 inches high, don't be surprised if you find your week-old chicks perching on top of it! To prevent this, cut a section of deer netting or chicken wire just big enough to drape over your brooder, or use a 2-foot-high brooder box to increase the length of time before they're able to "fly the coop".

 

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

Often in marriage — especially if there are children in the picture — we spend so much time just getting life done. Keeping up the house. Making appointments. Tending to the yard work. Shuttling children. Paying bills. And we stop noticing the little things about our spouses — the stuff we used to notice all the time when we were dating.

Back then it seemed easy to put him first, to always be on the lookout for his interests and likes. Selfishness on my part didn’t really exist in our relationship. I was head-over-heels in love with this guy and intent on noticing his preferences and pleasing him.

Sadly, as the days and months of marriage turn into years and decades, it’s easy for noticing to decrease and selfishness to creep in. Instead of longing to please our spouses, even in the little things, we often look to get our own way. Now that there are just the two of us at home, I am trying to put David first after God of course.

In a culture of selfies and selfishness, let’s purpose to take notice of our spouse’s interests and show them love in even the smallest of ways.

http://www.naturalnews.com/Podcasts/Wide-Awake-192.mp3

Isn't It A Beauty!

Chicken Coop Fly Repellent Recipe

• 2 cups vinegar (how to make your own vinegar)
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons real vanilla extract (how to make vanilla extract)
• 40 drops of essential oil (can be a single oil, or a combination of any of the oils listed above)

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake well, and spritz generously in the coop wherever flies congregate. (For me, that’s around the main door. It has a window in it and always has the most flies around it– unless I keep it sprayed down, that is.)

Don't hesitate to plant seeds for cucumbers, beans, edamame, summer and winter squashes, pumpkins, melons, beets, carrots, chard and scallions. Start a crop of "cut and come again" salad mix, braising mix, mild mustards, and any of  mesclun blends in a spot with bright light but out of the full, hot sun. Plant heat and sun-loving herbs like basil, marjoram, chives, oregano, thyme and sage with abandon, keeping the seed beds well moistened. Don't neglect to plant some fragrant scented basils in containers to heighten summer afternoon gardening pleasure.

Even if you already have beans, squash, chard, carrots and basil in the ground, and your plants are growing well, June is a fine time to start a second crop to have ready for another bounteous late summer harvest when the first crops of these staples have finished up. I usually start seeds every month, finishing sowing summer-producing vegetables in late June. In July and August, I plant seeds for fall crops like all kinds of lettuces and mesclun blends, spinach, radishes, kale, leeks, peas, booccoli raab, braising mix, carrots, and asian delicacies like mild mustards, stirfry mix and pak choi.

You can still plant flowers, too!
Planting later crops in June also applies to flowers! Plant more marigolds,  sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, four o'clocks, nasturtiums, etc. --all of the annuals that usually burn out by late summer. This way, you'll have a marvelous second flush of bloom and can cut armfuls for Labor Day! June and July are also good times to start seeds for perennials and biennials to bloom next spring. I sow seeds in a protected seed bed and then transplant seedlings in fall to overwinter, then bloom, ensuring me a wonderful spring greeting in the garden next year.

The Bees
July
The population of the hive should start to peak near the end of the month provided they are a strong hive. Some colonies this year have struggled to boost numbers and this may be due to the late packages and the bad weather in California. Some queens may not have been mated well and it is best to combine weak colonies to ensure winter survival.

All hives should be taking advantage of the nectar flows happening this month (and going forward) and nectar flows are indicated by the following: fresh white wax on comb and top bars, bees are easy to work, foundation is drawn out quickly, bees fanning at the entrance, large amounts of nectar ripening in the cells of honey supers.  With luck, you may be able to harvest an early crop!

The Beekeeper

Continue to watch your hives for late swarms; although most swarming behavior stops in late June, some hives may swarm late. Swarms that appear in July are, as the adage goes, "not worth a fly" as they may not have the time to build up enough strength and stores to survive the winter.

Keep an open eye for robbing wasps, hornets and other honey bees. During the summer there may be dearths periods of no nectar flow) that cause other honey bees to look for week hives to rob. A strong colony can usuallyContinue to watch your hives for late swarms; although most swarming behavior stops in late June, some hives may swarm late. Swarms that appear in July are, as the adage goes, "not worth a fly" as they may not have the time to build up enough strength and stores to survive the winter.

Make sure your hives have some shade or access to easy water so that they can cool the hive effectively. Too much heat can cause the bees to spend more time cooling the hive than gathering nectar to make honey. Add supers as needed to alleviate crowding and to encourage the bees to store more honey than they need.repel invasion by wasps and hornets but watch for signs of struggle, locate the offending nest and destroy it.

We say, "Time is money," but the truth is, time is worth more than money. It can’t be bought, sold or bargained with. Each minute ticks by, never to be seen again. If we can spend 10 minutes each morning bathing in a hot shower, we can spend at least 10 minutes being cleansed by His Word. "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12, NIV).

Maybe that’s the problem. His Word is so convenient, it’s conveniently forgotten. I’ll read it later. I’ll start tomorrow.

Or we wait until we’re desperate for answers, then don’t know where to find them. We aimlessly flip from one chapter of the Bible to another, looking for a verse that will magically solve everything.

Open God’s Word. Find wisdom there today.

1. 

The Vatican will be releasing a much-anticipated document this week that many expect will call for massive human depopulation and the recognition of "crimes against nature."

With the California Governor recently saying that too many people exist in the state, there's a new push on for global depopulation in order to "save the planet."

But how, exactly, do world leaders plan to eliminate six billion people in the first place?

SLOW DEPOPULATION: This method focuses on covert sterilization via vaccines, free birth control pills, and "social services" education efforts that try to convince women to have fewer children. The idea is to slowly let the current population of 7 billion die off while the birth rate plummets, causing the total population to shrink over time. You might call this the "non-violent" way to gradually reduce the population over time. Nobody has to prematurely die for this to be pulled off, in other words.

FAST DEPOPULATION: This method involves fast-kill strategies to essentially murder billions of people while blaming it on something else. The most likely candidates include the release of an aerosolized bioweapon (Ebola 2.0?), the insertion of aggressive cancer viruses in vaccines (see the confession of former Merck vaccine scientist Maurice Hilleman for background), global nuclear war, the intentional release of EMP weapons that destroy the power grid, and so on. These are obviously the more nefarious, dastardly depopulation pursuits, and they would obviously consist of global murder on a massive scale.

"Slow depopulation" methods have been tried since the 1970's. They haven't worked. As world population continues to rise, the global power brokers now seem to be experimenting with "fast depopulation" approaches to achieve their goal of eliminating six billion people from the planet.

For thousands of years, honey has been used across the globe not only as a sweet treat and natural sweetener in recipes, but as a healing substance used for numerous ailments. Modern science is beginning to recognize the many good uses for honey as well. Some of the ways in which the use of honey as shown benefit include: antibacterial/antifungal properties, athletic performance enhancer, source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, soothing of coughs, wound management, and skin care, just to name a few.

Let's examine a few of the claims about the potential benefits of honey.

Honey is a great source of vitamins and minerals

Honey is a rich source of vitamins and minerals. The vitamins in honey include:

• B6
• thiamin
• niacin
• riboflavin
• pantothenic acid
• amino acids

The minerals in honey include:

• calcium
• copper
• iron
• magnesium
• manganese
• phosphorus
• potassium
• sodium
• zinc

Honey is a potent healer for wounds

For thousands of years, honey has been used to treat all kinds of wounds, including burns, ulcers and skin infections. In modern medicine honey is recognized as having antimicrobial properties. It also helps the body's immune response in fighting infection.

In a study published in the British Journal of Surgery, "Clinical observations on the wound healing properties of honey," great success was discovered with the use of honey in wound treatment. As noted in the study: "fifty-nine patients with wounds and ulcers most of which (80 percent) had failed to heal with conventional treatment were treated with unprocessed honey. Fifty-eight cases showed remarkable improvement following topical application of honey."

Honey is a natural and superior skin care treatment

Like its many other uses, honey has also been used for eons as a beautification agent, and rightly so. Its ability to improve skin tone and promote a soft, radiant complexion are well documented.

The antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of honey make it an ideal way to protect the skin from harmful UV rays, while also supporting skin cells' ability to rejuvenate.

It is a prized ingredient in many commercial skin care products because of its hygroscopic nature, which means it is a natural moisturizer.

So instead of spending a ton of money on expensive skin care regimens, which in fact may contain honey anyway, why not make your own skin care treatments for a fraction of the cost?

Growing Tomatoes

A lot of vegetable gardening is at the mercy of the weather, but sometimes we can help things along. There are two types of tomato plants. Determinate tomatoes reach a certain height and then set and ripen their fruit all at one time, making a large quantity available when you’re ready to make sauce. These tend to start flowering fairly early in the season and shouldn't be a problem getting them to set fruit, unless weather conditions are unfavorable and cause a condition aptly named "blossom drop".
Those big, juicy beefsteak tomatoes we all crave grow on indeterminate plants. By indeterminate, they mean the plants just keep growing. Tomatoes are vines, after all, and indeterminate tomatoes reach for the sun. They like to grow tall before they start setting fruits. If you're impatient, pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer will encourage them to start putting their energy into flowering. This is also a handy trick toward the end of the summer, when you want the last tomatoes to hurry up and ripen.                            

You need to listen to this. This song was out when I was a kid. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9C9ohRlSywQ

 

Along with long days, swimming, walks on the beach and watching the fireflies at night, one of the great joys of summer is when the cucumbers come in. These classic warm weather vegetables are deliciously cooling, versatile – and great for people who are trying to slim down for the start of bathing suit season!

And apart from being delicious no matter which way they are prepared, cucumbers are also incredibly healthy.  

Cucumbers do not only help to improve the body's health – they can beautify as well. For centuries, women all over the world have used cucumber slices topically on their eyes to reduce signs of puffiness and dark shadows. It is also good for the skin in a toner, as it can soothe down irritation, redness and inflammation associated with summertime woes like sun burns and insect bites! Its high mineral content will also strengthen and beautify nails and hair if it is consumed on a regular basis. In short, it is one of the best natural beauty treatments around.

Bessie's daughters new baby chick

Yesterday Bessie's daughter hatched a new addition to the flock. I have stopped counting how many hens I have. I just love the new ones.. The mother is so dedicated to raising these chicks. It is 91 today. A hot day when you are one day old. How precious!

Living fully in the knowledge that we are one of God’s wondrous works is our greatest praise to Him! It’s in becoming our truest, God-created selves, reflecting His image in the gifts and wiring He’s given us, that we’ll connect most deeply with our Creator and with others.

Lord, I’m worn out from trying to be perfect. I long to walk in freedom and to become the woman you intended me to be when You wove me together. Help me be authentic, instead of shape-shifting to please others or to attain an impossible image. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Nine frames to work my magic on. 

Trickling honey

I have honey!
Over the winter, there really isn’t much you can do with honeybees.  Except for poking your head in during very warm days to make sure they have enough honey stored to get them through the season.  I tried to stay out as much as possible, realizing that they know a lot more than I do about keeping themselves alive.

The honey has a very interesting taste this year, with a little bit of a kick to it, because all (actual) honey is flavored by the pollen and nectar that the bees gather from.  For a while I tried to analyze it to figure out what plant I wasn't tasting, but then I realized I was basically not seeing the forest from the trees.  Honey!  I have honey from my back yard!  I’ll figure out plant-flavors later!

Food is expensive. If you do the grocery shopping for your household, you know that this is one of the highest costs related to your home and family. While it may be unlikely that you can completely eliminate your grocery bill, you can grow certain foods yourself. And, you can grow them from scraps that you would normally throw away.
Composting requires warm temperatures at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 C.), moderate moisture, and space to turn the pile. You can really make kitchen waste composting as simple or as complex as you want. The end results are finer with multiple bins or a rotating tumbler, whereas piles on the ground or mixing into garden beds yields more robust and chunkier compost.

 Onions are one of the easiest vegetables to propagate. Just cut off the root end of your onion, leaving a ½ inch of onion on the roots. Place it in a sunny position in your garden and cover the top with soil. Ensure the soil is kept moist. Onions prefer a warm sunny environment, so if you live in a colder climate, keep them in pots and move them indoors during frostier months.

As you use your home-grown onions, keep re-planting the root ends you cut off, and you’ll never need to buy onions again.
Peppers
You can grow a number of hot peppers from the seeds that are leftover. Just collect the seeds from your habaneros, jalapenos or any other peppers that you have on hand. Plant them in potting soil and keep in direct sunlight unless it is warm outside and then you can just plant them in your garden area. Peppers grow relatively fast and don’t require a lot of care. Once you get a new crop, just save some of the seeds for replanting again.
Garlic
You can re-grow a plant from just a single clove – just plant it, root-end down, in a warm position with plenty of direct sunlight. The garlic will root itself and produce new shoots. Once established, cut back the shoots and the plant will put all its energy into producing a tasty big garlic bulb. And like ginger, you can repeat the process with your new bulb.
Lemongrass
Lemongrass grows just like any other grass. To propagate it, place the root end (after you’ve cut the rest off) in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny position.
Within a week or so, new growth will start to appear. Transplant your lemongrass into a pot and leave it in a sunny outdoor position. You can harvest your lemongrass when the stalks reach around a foot tall – just cut off what you need and leave the plant to keep growing.
Mushrooms
You can grow mushrooms from cuttings, although they are a bit more difficult than many other vegetables. You will need a warm area with a lot of humidity and soil that is rich in nutrients. It is much better to grow your mushrooms in a pot as opposed to in the ground because you have a better shot at controlling the temperature and the humidity. You just have to cut away the head of the mushroom and plant the stalk or stem in the soil. Leave the very top exposed and this base will begin to grow a new head.
Potatoes
Potatoes from produce back to growing is a great way to keep more waste out of the garbage. You can grow any variety of potato you like, it should just make sure the scrap has ‘eyes’ growing on it. With a potato that has a strong presence of eyes you can chop it up into 2 inch square pieces. Make sure each piece has 1 – 2 eyes. After you’ve cut your potato into pieces leave them out in room temperature for a couple of days. Leaving the pieces out allow the cut surface area to dry out and become callous which will prevent the pieces from rotting in the ground.
Leeks, Spring Onions, Scallions ,and Fennel
You could go out and buy some vegetable specifically for growing but I like to wait till I actually have a call for them in my cooking. With all 5 of these examples you will use the end of the vegetable with the white roots.Take the left over white roots and place them in a container with a small amount of water in it. You want the roots to be wet but you don’t want the entire thing submerged. Take your container and place it in a sunny window sill. I’ve actually grown green onion scraps in a fairly shady window on the north side of our house, your success may vary.
I like keeping some in a window in the kitchen for my morning eggs, and in my office for snacking on (the wife loves kissing me after that). Within 3-5 days you will begin to see new growth come up. Remove the produce as you need and just leave the roots in the water to continually harvest your kitchen scrap crops. You should refresh the water weekly to keep the plant healthy.

 

David killed a snapping turtle in the back yard. It took 5 shots. 

 We put a trellis up yesterday. I planted some pole Blue Lake Beans. Anxious to see how they do.

 

David is weeding the garden for me. Our tiller is on its last leg. Thirty five years of service though.  

Vertical Gardening

There are many good reasons to grow your own food. You'll save money while eating healthier, and you'll have the unmatched pleasure of eating flavorful ripe vegetables, fruits and herbs that taste much better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.

You'll also have control over the process, which means you can grow and eat organic food that is free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, plus you'll have the sense of accomplishment that comes from successfully harvesting food you grew yourself.

But for many people who live in apartments or in homes with limited space indoors and out, this may sound like an impossible dream. That's not the case, however, if you employ one or more of the methods known as "vertical gardening."

Vertical gardening is a way to make the most of a limited space and can be a very effective approach for those who have small balconies or patios. The concept isn't new -- humans have employed vertical gardening techniques since the dawn of agriculture.

For example, the early ancient Mayan culture developed a vertical gardening method that is simplicity itself -- they discovered that planting beans next to cornstalks (which, of course, grow vertically anyway) provide a trellis system in which the bean plants could climb the cornstalks while receiving shade from the corn plant's leaves. An ingenious system, and one which some scholars believe helped facilitate the rise of the grand Mayan civilization that came later.

A trellis is one of the simplest examples, and the term vertical gardening simply refers to any planting system that encourages plants to grow vertically, instead of along the ground. Other types of vertical gardening include shelves, hanging baskets, pockets and pallets.

Shelves and hanging baskets are well-known methods, but you may be unfamiliar with the terms pocket and pallet. These too are basic and easy methods -- pockets simply being bags made of burlap or other materials containing plants and which are attached to available walls.
There's nothing complex or expensive about vertical farming, and there are several advantages over traditional gardening techniques as well. Vertical gardens have less insect and weed problems, and what weeds and insects may appear are more easily dealt with.

It's also easier to harvest from a vertical garden -- very little stooping or bending over is required. Vertical gardens are also a great way to brighten up your balcony or patio, or to block a boring or ugly view.

Most vertical gardens, such as shelves and pallets, are also portable, which can be an advantage if you have to move or if the plants need protection from severe weather.

There are just too many good reasons to begin planting your own vertical garden, so why not get started now?

Victory! My garden is nearly all planted; a little later than I would have liked.
But not much you can do when the month of May was pretty much a solid rainstorm... June is turning out to be the same. My tomatoes and potatoes will turn out to be a success, but with no sunshine my beans and peas are dormant. My corn and purple hulls didn't even get to see the light of day. I am planning to replant mid June, weather permitting. Will let you know how that goes.  Oh the woes of a gardener! 

June In The Hive



Unswarmed colonies will be boiling with bees. The queen's rate of egg laying may drop a bit this month. The main honey flow should happen this month. Add honey supers as needed.
'A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower."

 Nasturtium Salad. We had company Friday for dinner, so I decided to make a salad. Did you know that Nasturtiums are edible? The flowers have a sweet taste. While the leaves are somewhat peppery. You can also eat the seeds. Used as capers. It was a hit!  

 These are the Nasturtiums on the porch that I used for our salad

 Nasturtiums come in yellow and orange.

Saturday I killed a rooster. I have another one to kill this weekend along with two hens.