How Sweet It Is...

I don't want to be too big a braggart, but I have to say, our bees are super productive, our queen is strong and our hive is an example of beehive perfection! I can't take all the credit of course, as the bees are doing most of the work, but I am turning out to be quite a good little beekeeper. I say this with my fingers crossed, but it is looking like we may have a honey harvest in our first year!
Look at all that honey!

July's HCBA BeeBQ...

A big thank you to Carrie and Arthur Naatz for having us all over to eat and socialize! The food was great and there was plenty of it!
Anthony Trani attended the picnic and showed off some of his great beehive woodenware. He is a local craftsman and if you did not attend the picnic but would like to check out his work please click this link Anthony had a lot of nice stuff at very fair prices!
Some of us ventured down to the Naatz's beeyard. I love Carrie's choices of colors!
That's a good looking bunch of beekeepers!

Thanks again to Arthur and Carrie! See everyone in August!

My First Sting and Other Accomplishments...

I went into my hive yesterday morning to find my queen and see if she'd started laying eggs yet. It was a little early to check, but I'm glad I did. When I pulled out my first frame, I found this... The bees are supposed to build their wax comb within the frame, in a nice even and flat pattern. But, as I learned in bee school, sometimes a colony introduced to a new hive with a caged queen, will build a structure like this one around the queen's cage. So it is a problem, but a common enough one and fairly easy to solve. All I had to do was take it off. Yup, that's all. Yup, that's how I got stung. It turns out, the bees get upset when you destroy their hard work. I hope I won't have to do that again! Now that I've gotten my first sting out of the way, I feel like an official beekeeper.

Other accomplishments yesterday include, easily spotting my queen, Elizabeth Woodville (not an easy task sometimes!) and graduating from beekeeping school (while my new sting was still swelling.)

Easter Bees...

I've always thought honey bees were very cool and Sean encouraged me to pursue my interest. So, I did and I discovered the Hampden County Beekeepers Association. I've been going to beekeeping school since January. Sean was even able to join me a few times when he wasn't in NYC rehearsing for the CudLife Tour (coming soon to a city near you). We've both enjoyed bee school and have definitely learned a lot. What do I do with all that knowledge? Start a hive of course!

Tom from the HCBA drove all the way down to Georgia to pick up bees for this season's new hives, and on Easter morning the bees had arrived in MA. I was so excited to pick up my package! And I'll be honest, I was a little nervous too. Bees sting you know! It looks like they like me, I made it through the whole day without a single sting!



Here are some pictures...

Good Morning...

This is the view from our bedroom window...
So, even though I'm sick of winter, sometimes it's still a little pretty.

SKUNK!

Turns out this little guy lives under our porch! And all this time I thought that smell was just something I'd have to get used to living with Sean. Ha! He's just a baby but he is causing quite a stir with the neighbors. I've seen him a few times at night, and so far I haven't actually smelled him spray anything. He's getting a bit bold now though, coming out before dark to look for dinner in our yard, and I don't know what to do. The neighbors want him out, but he lives under my porch, so I'm the one that will have to pay to "have him removed" by a wildlife specialist. If he's not hurting anything, is this necessary? I suppose I won't think so, until I end up skunked in the face!

I Can See Clearly Now...

Is it possible to see a rainbow and not get all giddy like a little kid, and be all "Look! A freaking rainbow!"? I was in the parking lot at Marshalls and couldn't resist joining in with all the other regressed grown-ups taking pictures with our fancy phones. I got to see both sides of this sucker, but couldn't quite capture it all.

The Lawnmower Man...

Is that Nic Cage mowing my lawn? No? It's someone even MORE famous? Yup! Ladies and gentlemen feast your eyes on Jarvis Morgan Holden! You may recognize him from such bands as American Nightmare, Give Up the Ghost and my personal favorite Head Automatica. Why am I sharing this? Because I know just how lucky I am. Thanks Jarv! XO.

Running Through the Ghetto...

Sing it to the tune of Van Halen's "Running with the Devil" and it's funny.

The nice weather is here so I'm backing to running and biking outdoors. Not that I was doing much of it indoors though. The last 6 months have been newly-wedded bliss which means I've spent a lot of time eating take-out while helping my husband hold our bed down.

This morning on my run, which takes me directly through the "bad section" of town, I saw this view and thought I was pretty lucky to have this be the worse section of the area where we live.