Foraging For Bees

Today was a busy bee day in Carmel Valley. Last night I was previewing the film 'Vanishing of the Bees' for a screening this weekend. Today, I had two calls to check swarms in Carmel Valley. With all of the problems bees have been experiencing, a two swarm day is a good bee day for sure.

In case you are wondering, a swarm is the way a colony reproduces itself. So lots of swarms mean lots of healthy expanding bee colonies. Usually swarms mean there will be two colonies where there was only one before. So... this is good. Really good.

Call #1

Look at that beautiful ball of bees on the eve of this log house. I feel it is a privledge to be able to climb a ladder and get your face 12 inches away. There is a beautiful scent when they swarm like this. A sweet scent. Absolutely amazing.

Call #2

Okay, this one is going to take some thinking. The bees landed on a branch high in a live oak tree. But the branch was dead. So it broke off, and the bees are all over the ground now. There was a primary swarm ball, which I was able to pick up and put into a box. But there are hundreds of bees dispersed on the ground.

After spending 30 minutes covering up the clumps with cardboard until they climbed on-board and then brushing them into a box, I had an idea! I got a bigger box, put the box with the primary swarm ball into it, and just wait for the bees to climb on-board. Here kitty... kitty...!

Success, look how they all just climbed into the box by themselves. Good bees. Here's a treat.

Finally, back at the farm in the evening, I set up the new hive boxes which are to bee their new home. The first swarm was mighty big. So this will be a strong hive. Assuming they don't all fly back to that log home eve. It is about 1.9 miles away, so just inside their flight zone. Let's see if they stay put. I put a large box of cane syrup on top to entice them to stay put. The second swarm was very small, maybe no more than 2000 bees. Time will tell.

But if they do fly off, at least they will be out here, in the serenity of Tassajara. Free to find a new home in a beautiful white oak.

Which is the bee?

In the bees I find a mirror.

Which is the bee? The individual or the colony? Watch them perform their tasks, there is no self. To separate the individual from the whole is death. Each bee bears the scent that defines the organism. The colony.

As with us.

I started farming with a vision of independence. But as with life, I learned the opposite. The Earth herself taught me that independence is pursuit for Ego. For perfect harmony, we must be tied to those around us, as well as to the Earth. That was clear with the first stroke of my shovel against the ground, when it bounced back at me laughing. My will too is strong, but I am nothing without the whole.

And yet, the closer I get to Mother Earth, the less familiar the scent I wear. Until it is unrecognizable. And the more comfortable I become with the scent, the further I am pulled from the Earth. Dissonant dilemma that is my condition.

I love to watch the bees. Each seem to possess a profound belonging. A wisdom.

One bee cannot change the colony. But a bee removed, and placed in a new colony, can change the bee. She takes a new scent. A new identity, and becomes a part of a new whole. But they must be protected during this process, or the others will destroy them.

Humans are not bees. In us, are belief and creed. Yet we must wear the scent of our colony. And if it is not in harmony with our self, we must live with the painful awareness of isolation.

A wish burns, to someday wear a scent in harmony with the individual self. With the Earth.

A bliss of true belonging as yet not found.

Ice-ya!

This morning I got up at 7am to check if things dried out. It was 30 degrees, and all was frozen. All went much smoother today! So I got my ice-nine after all. And it didn't freeze the oceans!

The Cat's Cradle

Got ice-nine?

I could have used some today. I was trying to get a three day irrigation project completed today, but the rain last night turned everything into a slurry.

Even the tracks on this baby were getting gummed up. I can see why the military in Kurt Vonnegut's novel wanted to find something to solidify the mud. If only it didn't freeze the oceans!

I tried trenching the cave-ins by hand, but the pea soup that used to be earth just stuck to the shovel and turned them into 50 lb weights on poles.

As if the hip deep mud weren't enough, I think it was the hail that finally caused me to call it a day. The rain was supposed to peter out by the afternoon. But it's after 2 and still raining sideways.

Sigh... Wish I didn't have anything to get DONE today!

These last few weeks, Carmel Lavender has been working hard bringing more lavender to Carmel Valley.

Here in the photo is foreman Alfonso, Jose, Nick, Jay, Nico, Charlie, and Eliodoro standing in the new median field. In a couple of months the hundreds of plants will begin spiking lavender turning this avenue into a purple dream.

This field was prepped by ripping to a depth of 2 feet, which brought up a lot of the roots. And then disked. But each plant had to be hand placed. Drip irrigation lines were run down the rows subsequently. But lately irrigation has not been necessary. Mother nature has been taking care of that quite handily.

Hive Building Time

This weekend, I am building bee hives. More bees are coming in about a week. So I have to get their homes assembled and painted before they arrive. The weather is making this challenging however. This spring has been fairly wet for this area. That's great for the plants. But not so great if you have things to get done outside. For example building and painting bee hives.

So the first thing I did was try to make a covered area where I can work in a light rain. I got a cotton drop cloth. Cotton, not plastic. Cotton isn't waterproof, but hopefully will shed a light rain. Unfortunately those plastic tarps are an ecological disaster. They don't last forever. Then they start flaking into little pieces that wind up all over the planet. Nope. I'll try my luck with cotton. I hung this out behind my lavender workshop and leveled the area a bit. Then I set up two 2x6 rails on which to set the newly assembled hives for painting.

In the picture above, you can see me putting one of the hive super boxes together. They are already cut. I just need to glue the corners, and then put screws to hold them firm. Once they are all built, I stack them on the rails for painting along with the bottom boards, lids, and stands. Here I am enjoying my new outdoor hive workshop!

When I finish assembling, I paint! Unfortunately the sprinkling has started. Cold weather is not the best to paint in. But I suppose the show must go on. At this point, it is still cold enough I wish I could wait an extra week for things to warm up. Would be better for the bees too. Nice for them to have good weather when they start their new colony. Of course, the rain should mean there will be plenty of flowers for them to forage from when it does warm up.

Everything has it's benefits and nuisances. I guess there is something to be said for having a really big barn! Maybe someday.

Moving Day for Chicken

The wheat I planted in the fall is finally starting to look substantial. I wish it were a little thicker actually, but the chickens have been HUNGRY! I suppose with the cold air they need their calories. Well I have had the chicken tractor parked for a while waiting for the wheat to grow thicker. But I felt this week it was time to move, and let the chix graze on the new wheat grass.

If you are new to my blog and haven't read my previous stories about my chickens, let me provide a brief overview. My chickens live in a mobile chicken coop that you can see to the right on the far right of the photo. The coop protects them from the elements, and just as important, PREDATORS! However it is important for the hens to be able to get to the ground. To eat growing plants and bugs in the soil. So the purple beast to the left in the photo is the chicken tractor that attaches to the coop. These can be moved as the chickens eat their way through the ground beneath.

I move each part, the chicken tractor and the coop, separately. They are detached by removing the bridge tunnel. Then the chicken tractor is jacked up and the wheels deployed. The coop is just pulled. Both by tractor. Once they are moved and aligned, the bridge is reattached and the chickens let loose.

Here you can see the happy chickens foraging on the newly available grass. They absolutely LOVE fresh ground. They had so much fun eating the plants and rolling in the fresh earth. I came back about mid-day to find a dozen hens taking dirt baths in the fresh soil. They sure looked happy!

I hope all of this helps their egg production. With the cold weather, they have been a little slow these past couple of weeks. People want eggs ladies! Try not to rest all day ;)