My dad is a beekeeper (among the many other hobbies he has). He has had honey bees since before I was born. Recently he has started rescuing bee swarms from people's homes - that would otherwise be killed by a terminator. Honey bees are actually becoming a little scarce and a law was recently passed making it unlawful to kill a honey bee.
Yes, the female honey bees (regular looking bees) sting, the male bees (drones that are a bit darker than the females) do not, and the queen bees (longer body that looks like the females) rarely do, but can. Sometimes, there are some rather mean and aggressive bees - these could be related to the African bees and should be killed (law or no law).
Eating the local honey from the local pollen around you is the best way to keep yourself rid of allergies. There are all sorts of ways to rob the hive (get the honey) - one that I prefer is to be wrapped from head to toe in a thick suit, gloves that come up to my elbow, and net bee hat. A smoker can be used to blow smoke on the bees that make them fat and hard for them to sting. My dad on the other hand can walk up to a hive, lift the top box, pop out a frame and grab some honey comb. He doesn't mind being stung - bee stings are actually really really good for your circulation and joints. The bee stings are actually being used to help MS patients! I have yet to purposely sting myself like my parents do!
My dad has a certain way to attract local bees (with a cone type bee catcher with a queen bee) for a backyard hive. We are currently working on his web site and hopefully have it done soon for all the other beehive hopefuls out there! I hope to have the hive in the backyard once the yard is complete...I don't want to scare off my husband from completing the yard with a bunch of bees flying around. Oh another tip...point the opening of the bee hive up against a fence, so they will go up and over the fence (and bee the neighbors problem)! : )
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Not much...but something
So, although I have vowed not to do anything to the front or back yard until the stairs inside the house are done (they are not even started yet), I have taken some of Janet's advice from her post and decided everything didn't have to be perfect for me to do something...although I didn't have my truck full of top soil or mulch ready, nor even a shovel handy...I decided, as I sat in our front yard throwing the ball for our two dogs (Kady-Golden Retriever and Mason-Dachshund), to go ahead and make one of my flower beds bigger...I just used my hands and took away the grass and then moved the rock around a bit in preparation to bring more rocks to line the bed (we have piles and piles of white limestone rock either left over from building our house 25 years ago or they just come up out of the ground?). I plan to do another matching bed on the other side of the sidewalk hopefully today as I throw the ball for Kady and Mason again (our daily ritual).
I am also desperately trying to find the "before" photos of our back yard and suspect they are on an unlabeled cd mixed within a stack of cd's.
I do plan to take pictures of our retaining walls, picket fence, and patio that we have done so far...alas nothing planted as of yet. I have to say, it is a bit difficult revealing the "coming along" stages...I am such a "big reveal" type person.
Stairs, stairs, stairs!
I am also desperately trying to find the "before" photos of our back yard and suspect they are on an unlabeled cd mixed within a stack of cd's.
I do plan to take pictures of our retaining walls, picket fence, and patio that we have done so far...alas nothing planted as of yet. I have to say, it is a bit difficult revealing the "coming along" stages...I am such a "big reveal" type person.
Stairs, stairs, stairs!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Beehive and Goals
Bees and honey has always been an integral part of my life. My parents had a beehive on their place all my life...yes, there are a few bees buzzing around here and there and when other kids came over, there was always the standing dare of kicking the beehive without getting stung...but what I remember most is the rich honey that we used on fresh bread and the sweet honey comb we chewed on like gum.
So, much to the Penny Pincher's (could also be called the Bee Hater) dismay, I insist that we have a honey hive incorporated somehow in our garden. I can already see it - painted a pale crisp yellow...five boxes neatly stacked with the honey bees busily working to make our honey. The Penny Pincher is sure that we are going to be slapped with a lawsuite. However, a beehive in your garden is now the hottest trend - Michelle Obama just announced the other day that the White House will be making its own honey from the beehive in the new vegetable garden (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090320/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_garden)!
Our plans for the back yard our currently on hold for two reasons: A) The Penny Pincher and I MUST finish the stairs inside the house before starting any new projects (repeating this matra over and over); and B) All the leaves from the Oak trees need to finish falling before we bring in new mulch and dirt.
However, we already have a couple of big backyard projects underway:
1) All the rotten trees have been cut down and taken away
2) We leveled off the top half of the yard with a 2 1/2 foot white limestone retaining wall and brought in 13 yards of fill dirt. On top of that, we built a nice little picket fence to divide the yard and put down sod on that half of the yard. This top level is our dog's paradise.
3) The wood deck has been torn down and they are putting the finishing touches on the our stained and stamped concrete 300 sq. foot patio raised 2 1/2 feet from the ground. We still need to install the French doors in place of the windows that lead off the sunken living room of the house (instead of the big step down from the dining room).
So, much to the Penny Pincher's (could also be called the Bee Hater) dismay, I insist that we have a honey hive incorporated somehow in our garden. I can already see it - painted a pale crisp yellow...five boxes neatly stacked with the honey bees busily working to make our honey. The Penny Pincher is sure that we are going to be slapped with a lawsuite. However, a beehive in your garden is now the hottest trend - Michelle Obama just announced the other day that the White House will be making its own honey from the beehive in the new vegetable garden (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090320/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_garden)!
Our plans for the back yard our currently on hold for two reasons: A) The Penny Pincher and I MUST finish the stairs inside the house before starting any new projects (repeating this matra over and over); and B) All the leaves from the Oak trees need to finish falling before we bring in new mulch and dirt.
However, we already have a couple of big backyard projects underway:
1) All the rotten trees have been cut down and taken away
2) We leveled off the top half of the yard with a 2 1/2 foot white limestone retaining wall and brought in 13 yards of fill dirt. On top of that, we built a nice little picket fence to divide the yard and put down sod on that half of the yard. This top level is our dog's paradise.
3) The wood deck has been torn down and they are putting the finishing touches on the our stained and stamped concrete 300 sq. foot patio raised 2 1/2 feet from the ground. We still need to install the French doors in place of the windows that lead off the sunken living room of the house (instead of the big step down from the dining room).
Backyard/Garden Wish List
- Pale yellow beehive
- Gingerbread playhouse (preferably out of recycled materials)
- Limestone retaining walls
- Area secluded for dogs
- Compost
- Retractable clothesline (does one exist?)
- Pebble paths
- Stone 3 foot high patio with surrounded flower bed at same height
- Pergola with wisteria
- Herb garden
- Vegetable garden
- Double french doors onto the patio
- Bougainvilleas
- Climbing rose covered pergola
- Bird bath
- Fish pond (after all, this is a wish list)
- Sprinkler system
The following is one of my many sketches of plans for the backyard...
Friday, March 20, 2009
The "Before" State of the Backyard
My vision for my backyard is far beyond anything I expect to achieve. However, it does give me something to dream about and plan to the best of my ability with our meager budget - that is actually about to be cut again by Mr. Penny Pincher (my husband), who does not see the importance of perennials or any type of "pretty" plants for that matter.
When we moved into our Beowulf house, not only was the inside of the house in dire need, but the backyard was a desolate pile of dirt, dead termite-infested trees, and an abundance of ivy - which was actually pretty, but overwhelming. The prior home owner's dogs had made sure that there was not one blade of grass alive and the back 8 foot fence was so rotten, it was about to fall over.
The 150 sq. foot deck coming off the house was painted a dark red and although was somewhat stable, I disliked the 4 feet of space underneath it that quite possibly harbored skunks, snakes, and rats.
There are quite a few salvageable trees - four very tall Mountain Laurels, three Kumquat trees, a Peach tree, an Oak tree, two Red Buds, and one very tall shady tree that I think may be an Ash (junk tree). I do like the "might be an ash tree" because it provides so much shade on one side of the yard.
The trees that were not salvageable - HUGE Elm tree and three Oak trees - all rotten and eaten out by termites. It killed me not to be able to save them.
As far as plants, there is one salvageable Lantana. Otherwise, there are tons of fallen leaves, a few holes, lots of washed away soil because the yard goes down a slope, and tons of large limestone rocks that will prove useful in the future I am sure (we live on top of limestone and they just pop out of the ground from no-where!).
The yard is home to several squirrels, a few nests of pigeons (that Mr. Penny Pincher threatens to shoot down because of all the white poop on EVERYTHING), a skunk (but that is ok because I don't mind the smell), lots of bees, and our two dogs (Golden Retriever - Kady and Dachshund - Mason).
When we moved into our Beowulf house, not only was the inside of the house in dire need, but the backyard was a desolate pile of dirt, dead termite-infested trees, and an abundance of ivy - which was actually pretty, but overwhelming. The prior home owner's dogs had made sure that there was not one blade of grass alive and the back 8 foot fence was so rotten, it was about to fall over.
The 150 sq. foot deck coming off the house was painted a dark red and although was somewhat stable, I disliked the 4 feet of space underneath it that quite possibly harbored skunks, snakes, and rats.
There are quite a few salvageable trees - four very tall Mountain Laurels, three Kumquat trees, a Peach tree, an Oak tree, two Red Buds, and one very tall shady tree that I think may be an Ash (junk tree). I do like the "might be an ash tree" because it provides so much shade on one side of the yard.
The trees that were not salvageable - HUGE Elm tree and three Oak trees - all rotten and eaten out by termites. It killed me not to be able to save them.
As far as plants, there is one salvageable Lantana. Otherwise, there are tons of fallen leaves, a few holes, lots of washed away soil because the yard goes down a slope, and tons of large limestone rocks that will prove useful in the future I am sure (we live on top of limestone and they just pop out of the ground from no-where!).
The yard is home to several squirrels, a few nests of pigeons (that Mr. Penny Pincher threatens to shoot down because of all the white poop on EVERYTHING), a skunk (but that is ok because I don't mind the smell), lots of bees, and our two dogs (Golden Retriever - Kady and Dachshund - Mason).
Poem by young Jessa Marie
The Flower
Sits
Alone
In the field,
Drinking
The sweet air.
And thinking of those days
when she
was born
and thinking
of the children
while they laugh
and play.
August 29, 1983
Poem by Jessa Marie (6 years old)
My parents recently found this poem in their stuff and gave me a copy of it...I thought it was a perfect start to my gardening blog!
Sits
Alone
In the field,
Drinking
The sweet air.
And thinking of those days
when she
was born
and thinking
of the children
while they laugh
and play.
August 29, 1983
Poem by Jessa Marie (6 years old)
My parents recently found this poem in their stuff and gave me a copy of it...I thought it was a perfect start to my gardening blog!
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