Steven and the Feral Beehive

Videos from Steven's feral beehive cut out.   He found a hive in a bucket near his office and transferred it to a hive for a coworker to put on his property.

Honey Harvest with Videos, November 2011

(Videos at the bottom)
This weekend was time to harvest the honey! On Friday we moved the hive to our friends' house down the street.  The guys have had so much fun working on this hive over the past months.  Finally, it was time to see the fruit of their labors!

 Moving the hive in the back of the truck

Thomas enjoying their backyard toys while the daddies were working

The hive's new home

The next morning, it was time for the harvest!  The guys got some "real" bee suits this time!  Aren't they cute?

Again, kids playing while the daddies are working, at least until we got sent inside when the bees started swarming!

Checking out the frames full of honey!

Scraping off the capped honey

Then using the extractor machine to spin it off the comb

Time for a break playing in the backyard, he requested his photo taken!

Look at all that honey!  Much more than they expected!

Pouring the honey into a pitcher

and then into baby food jars

Our friends even made cute labels to put on the jars!

This has been a great learning experience for everyone!  We look forward to continuing our bee adventures, whether long-distance or close to home.  We'll see how things go.  We're also looking forward to joining the 4H group that our new homeschool group participates in.  Should be fun!

And here are the videos...

Bee Video from October 1st

It's been a few months...finally time for another bee video!  Narrated by our neighbor and friend Aaron, and hive-action by my beekeeping husband, Steven.  This weekend they also built a small fence for the hive when it moves to Aaron's yard once we move away.  We will miss our honeybees, but our sweet neighbors most of all.  It's been a neat project for all of us.

Bees--Week 3 Hive Inspection

Honeybee Video 2-week Hive Check

7 Quick Takes Friday

~~1~~
Mary Clare got glasses! Did I ever share that? The prescription is so mild that I'm not sure they do much good. They're just for reading, but sometimes she just likes to wear them for fun.

Are you wondering what she's holding here????

~~2~~
Meet our new family member, Kirby the vacuum! We are so funny about big purchases like this. We research and scour the online classifieds for days. Finally we opted to buy a used Kirby, heeding the advice of Lillian, who knows well what kind of heavy-duty cleaning machinery we need over here! Looking at the above bag of junk that came out of our carpet, I think it's working pretty well. We just need to work on keeping our floors picked up of big toys and such, so we can actually use Kirby!


~~3~~
Here's Thomas, Thomas, and Thomas! Steven's Dad is Thomas Richard, Sr. His brother is Thomas Richard, Jr. And then there's our little Tommy, Thomas William! He is named after some wonderful men!


~~4~~
Last weekend was another First Holy Communion Mass and celebration for our niece Paris. Doesn't she look like a little princess? The girls were thrilled to share in her special day!


As were some of the boy cousins (our boys were asleep during this photo)!

and hopefully none of those smiles were JUST based on the fact that we were at a dessert place and they were all about to pick a special cupcake!

~~5~~
The bees.
They seem to be doing well. They mind their own business. If you go near them you will only see a few flying in and out of the hive. No one has gotten stung yet, except Steven who stung himself on a dead bee! He says they are nice, tame, domesticated bees :) You can see the sacs on the sides carrying pollen on the one bee in the photo.


~~6~~
Mother's Day!
We had a nice Sunday. We attended the local church where our friends took this photo. Then we went to brunch with my parents. Later in the day I got to grocery shop ALONE while my family picked up the house. Then the girls and I went to a ballet production that evening. A blessed day!

My gift will be forthcoming in the purchase of a new (used) refrigerator. Ours is dying a slow death and we really need more space for food and a working ice maker. Water in the door is a priority too, so the kids can actually get their own drink of ice water without having to climb on the counter to get ice from a tray and water from a faucet! Please offer a little prayer that we will find the right (cheap) fridge close by, and soon? Thanks!

My sweet kids have also been working for weeks on some project for me in the garage office. Now they are saying it might not be ready until my birthday (in February)! I can't wait to see what they are creating!

~~7~~
Life is a bit crazy right now. I'm still in awe that we have 4 kids. Time is flying by so fast! I can't seem to keep up with cleaning, bills, or even feeding people on time. Honestly many days I lay down to nurse Tommy and just want to hide under the covers and take a break from the madness! The boys are very needy. Thomas is cutting his 2nd tooth and is screaming day and night. Steven is mischievous as usual, and days like today I spend a lot of effort trying to teach him to be kind to other children. The girls are finishing up their schoolwork, but are quite creative in the messes that are happening around the house, like a coloring project on the kitchen table, which has been there for a few days. I think I need to do a big "clean sweep," especially with the toys as we prepare for summer and, more importantly, as we prepare to have a CRAWLING BABY very soon! I am SO not ready for that yet. Lots of work to do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now, to rest for a few hours before the crazy morning of swim team and t-ball and a Saturday afternoon work day for Daddy.

See more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!

New Bee Videos

This time Aaron, our neighbor and the amazing woodworker who built the hive, is the one doing the work. We also have to credit our friend Devin who first peaked Steven's interest in beekeeping and has been another go-to for questions (Steven also learns on some beekeeping online forums). Thanks, Aaron and Devin!

Day 7 Inspection


Day 7 comb removal

7 Quick Takes Friday

~~1~~
Beehive! Our honeybees arrived on Saturday and seem to be doing well. Here are all my little beekeepers...




and a sweet dessert that our friends brought to celebrate bee day!


~~2~~
Goings-on around here...
Digging in the backyard dirt


and TRYING to finish these last few weeks of the school year! No one is in the mood, but we've got to get it done. Lots of our days just look like this with Mommy pleading with them to please finish lessons before Daddy gets home!


~~3~~
Thomas is such a happy boy. Today (7.5mos) his first tooth broke through, though not far enough for pics yet. These are from last week...





~~4~~
Steven and his buddy J hanging out at the park. They have lots of fun together. Whenever we're going to an event SJ wants to make sure J will be there!


~~5~~
Here was our after-birthday park celebration for Ellie with the pinata we forgot about at her party and the good friends who weren't able to be at the party!





~~6~~
I don't think I've shared here that our newest niece was born last week! Arden Rosalie (Rosalie was my grandmother's middle name) was welcomed by my brother Brice, his wife Allison, and big sis Addison! Sounds like she is doing great and we can't wait to meet her. We so wish they didn't live across the country :(


~~7~~
Prayer requests:
~Some friends are hosting a mother/daughter from Nicaragua since the little girl ("S" age 5) needed open heart surgery. She was very, very sick before the surgery, but seems to be recovering well.
~Tonight I've received a prayer request from friends for a new baby named Max born today who will need open heart surgery very soon.
~A friend's baby boy needs to undergo testing at the hospital tomorrow.
~This morning we attended a local daily mass, which happened to be said for the teenage neighbor of my parents who died suddenly in December. His mother was at the mass and I'm sure could use some prayers.
~We got a call today to schedule Steven Joseph's MRI in preparation for his open heart surgery later this year. May God give us strength on this heart journey.


Now for a weekend of...First Friday Little Flowers, ballet exams, watching our homeschool group's Shakespeare play, first t-ball game, and cousin's First Holy Communion! I'll be back next with Mary Clare's Communion pictures. Have a great weekend! And read more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

Bees

We got 10,000 honeybees over the weekend! I'll add some pictures soon, but here is some video footage for those who are interested. Steven and our neighbor Aaron have been working hard, and we're all excited to watch how this progresses! Way to go, beekeepers!