Today is Saturday, April 7 and it has been cool and rainy today. I did make a gallon and half of 1x1 sugar water to promote brood.  At least that is what I have been told.
Since it was raining and I had to get more done about moving back in from the garage, I did not attempt to refill their feeders.
Last week when I tried to put in a feeder I was attacked by a swarm of angry bees. The weather was cloudy and a storm front was moving in, I found out later. This hive is usually the nicest disposition hive so I never expected to be swarmed. Also, there was some doubt as to their survival.
Man, if that feeding episode is any indication, they are going to survive. But now i am just waiting on the sun to shine for a while so I can feed all three hives.
I truly hope the 1x1 feed really does promote brood growth.
Also, I need to get into the north hive as I think they may need a super and i do not have any supers ready.
Yep, this moving furniture to get new carpet has caused major delays in the bee business.
However, I have managed to read several books so that hasn't been a loss.

I have -0- idea how the "and furthermore" got on bees and books. It was not supposed to, but since it is here, and I have yet to be able to remove it, I hope someone enjoys it.
I have lost a hive of bees. A hive I thought was doing well. They had plenty of food, etc stored and they just crashed. There was a yard service that sprayed but assured me that the spray would not hurt the bees. They were using 2-4-D which, as I understand it, is a poison. Think about it. If it will kill weeds and grass, why would it not kill bees. A company man came out to do a follow up and I wouldn't let him until I talked to some bee people. Some people who know about things like that.
I did talk to an experienced bee person and she told me how to handle it. I had to sit through and take a grilling about killing weeds and letting dandelions grow and "stuff" like that. Finally I made her listen and after about 1900 times of telling her I was going to kill weeds, she told me what to do.
She could not or would not understand that I live in neighborhood with rules. She told me that was why she didn't live in town. Dumbass broad! I do live in town so, since you butted in to the conversation, what do I do?
She finally got through telling me about all her stuff and told me to close up the bees for the day of spraying and all that night. Let the bees go in the morning and they should be O K.  So far Pinkstons has not called back nor made an effort of communicating. The lawn looks good so I may just leave it that way.
I do believe that the spray guy got too close to this hive and that put them over the top. Up until that point they were my most active and largest hive. So, now I may take two hives to the cabin and have two here as I have ordered another nuc.
We'll see when I return from Oz.

1. National Bunny Cake Day
2. Do not groan
3. Reader's Comments
4. Yes, you can
5. unsubscribe
************************************************************
Reader's Forum
************************************************************
Maybe someone will go sailing and report back to us.
************************************************************

     National Bunny Cake Day, which started about 20 years ago, was celebrated this year at Sandbur Acres.  At that time we had a German exchange student living with us and she was not as attuned to the Easter Bunny as American kids. She showed me a picture of a round cake decorated as a bunny face and wanted to know about it. So, “Judy,” plus the world’s first cutest grandkid and I built that first Bunny Cake following the directions from the magazine. It turned out so well that Granddaughter One and Two built one the next year. This went on for a number of years, adding people as people came along and it became a tradition. 

      It seemed a natural progression to have the Bunny Cake Day celebration at the cabin this year as there is lots of outdoors where kids can run, yell, whoop and holler and acres of room to hide eggs. I had gathered up four kites, one pair of stilts and a croquet set for games to play/use after the cake building. Now, keep all these things in mind as this unfolds.

      The first major “decision” revolved around whether the bunny should be a boy or girl. One year grandkid      2 decided enough was enough. The cake had always been boy so...  She even showed us how to “just do this and change that” and -voila-we went from Peter Rabbit to Patsy Rabbit.  This year, since the boys outnumbered the girls, after a discussion “we” decided we would have a girl rabbit. Imagine that.

      You may guess that my culinary forte is not cake baking. Even with, at times, 10 or 12 helpful hands it took a while to get the cake mixed up. Yes, you are giggling that taking a mix from a box to a bowl is child’s play. That was one of the problems; the children wanted to play. There were the little fingers that kept attempting to sample the mix after the beaters were turned off. 

      The mixed batter was carefully placed in the pre-heated oven and because of my past life as a band director, I was able to get it in the oven with no injuries to any helpful participant. Band director (?), you may ask. During marching season I had to give instructions at times further than half a football field distance away, That skill came in handy last Sunday.

      When the cake was in the oven the kids disappeared to do kid things, none of which had anything to do with my planned activities. I wanted them outside but, this being the 21st Century, they were inside playing electronic games. So I started cleaning the kitchen. As I turned around to place some items in the sink, I discovered a container of eggs on the counter. Nice, fat, clean and very fresh eggs for the cake which was merrily baking away in the oven. Yes, the words “UH OH” did go through my mind. But sometimes silence is golden so I decided I would be gold. However, it is hard to hide a wire egg basket.

      OK, the cake finished baking and the decoration started. The term Chinese Fire Drill comes to mind. I do not know who all those alien children were who invaded my cabin but they definitely could not have been mine. They all had ideas of their own and their suggestions were couched in a manner expecting immediate results.  First off, the licorice rope candy used to make various parts, was being consumed by copious amounts none of which were going toward the bunny.

      The cake was a sodden mess and it was almost impossible to cut the pieces. One tall boy person kept wanting to eat the frosting rather than spreading. The littlest one got to place the nose. Others all got to do some major thing and finally, we had a Bunny Cake. Probably the worst looking one I have ever done. We did get to take pictures before it disappeared into mouths. They even got to decide which part of the cake they wanted to have as their piece. 

      Then we had egg hunts, confetti eggs, and general hilarity and good feelings because we are young, the sun is out, we can holler and run and we got to eat lots of sugar. The cake didn’t work as I wanted, my schedule was backwards and I was dead tired, the wind prevented kites from being flown, no other game got played and yes, it sounds like a really bad day. 

     We loved it. I can hardly wait until next year.

************************************************************
2. Do Not Groan
Q. What do Easter Bunny (cake) helpers get for making a basket?
A. Two points, just like anyone else on the team.
************************************************************
3. Reader's Comments
    Questions? Ask them, Ill try to answer.
     Comments? State them, it is your turn to speak.
     Click here:  andfurthermore@cox.net and please put COMMENTS in the subject line

************************************************************
4. Yes, you can
    Send this on to others and see what they think -- and yes, I'd like to know.
************************************************************

Today is just the opposite of the last post. I think one or more of the hives is dead and I had a nice day today, sunny but very cool, and did nothing. I am not sure the temp got above 50F so I didn't open anything. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

OK, the Blogspot page has changed and it has taken me a long while to get this far. IF you are reading this then I did something correct  --  which may be the only time so far today. I needed to check my bee hives as I have been gone so much lately. I had previously checked the Redbud hive and all is not well. Today I had hoped to check two more.
Wrong!
I started on the east hive because I just felt "something" about that hive. Man was I ever surprised. They came out in droves and attacked and attacked and kept on for a very long while. Instead of calming them, as I have been told, have read, and was taught, the smoke seemed to excite them to a frantic level.
Being attacked by thousands of angry females slowed down the whole process. Also the frames are not drawn out and I saw no larvae nor eggs in the top body. I did see five or six hive beetles which probably means I have an infestation.
The beetles were in a frame of just wax with some cells. They ran quickly and I couldn't get them without destroying the frame. I probably should have done that.
Finally I got down into the lower hive body which, I believe, is called the brood chamber.  I saw one larvae and no eggs and no honey. Oh, there was a tiny amount of honey in the upper body. So, I suppose i should start feeding again as it looks as though they are not bring in food. I did see bees with pollen.
When I finally got through with my amateurish inspection, I put everything back together and they still attacked me. More than a dozen stayed with me for a very long time. I even went as far as the shed and they came in there. That is when I started killing the little ... bugs. When I got them dow to two or three i went back over and sat on the patio.
Another group came and joined the two that had followed me that far. I started killing again and now there are many dead bee bodies on the patio rug.
I finally got inside and had lunch. Wow, what a morning.
Later I went back out to put on my boots again so I could continue work on setting new fence posts. That immediately drew a crowd of bees who immediately began trying to attack me. I walked off and they only followed about half way to the fence.
I got one post set with concrete and the other is 85% ready. I can take the post hole diggers home tomorrow. I am not sure this will completely fix the problem but I cannot afford a new fence.
No, I did not check any other hive. I hope to do that on Sunday.
Maybe I could take up mall walking again.

Back to "The Army" working again

Returning from Australia was an easy trip but not so easy in the way of adjusting from the extreme temperature difference. Then our old friend jet lag played a part in not sleeping for a few nights.
I finally went over to "The Army" to find that almost all of the hundreds of books I left had been "sold." The shelves in the back room were almost empty of all paperbacks and most hard backs. I find it amazing that the store could sell more books in a month than the entire year previous to that. But it is not mine to question why, just mine to look and cry.
So I was in good shape to start rearranging. I am now on my third/fourth day of working and have made great strides. I may have made a big mistake in trying to switch the paperback shelves in back for the hard back place. So far it is working but today we got in a large box of papers. They were almost all just what we needed; thrillers of various genres. Wish I read faster as all the major authors had some new books in the mix.
I started a new shelf of over sized adventure/thrillers. I think I shall call all spy, conspiracy, murder, and any other of that type a thriller. Doesn't quite get what I want to say but it will be easier to type one word rather than an explanation each time.  Now I finally am getting the shelves the way I want them and the way I had them before i went to Oz a year ago. This time i knew what to do so I just did it. I took out shelves of books and replaced them with my choice. We are leaving again next week for eight days so things will be in a mess again.
That is O K as now I know what I need to do and I know I can do it.
Yep, it is good to be home with my books and my bees again. Just think, not another major trip in sight until January.
Oh well......................

Bee spotting

I was told there were no bee keepers in Broken Hill, NSW, Australia. BUT!! whilst walking home this evening from town I spotted a honey bee on the sidewalk. It looked all tuckered out and appeared as tho it couldn't fly --  but it was a honey bee.
It is possible the man at the Chamber of Commerce didn't know what the hell he was talking about and I have wasted three weeks without making contact.
YAAAEEEIIII
C  of  C's should be banned.