For me, preparing hives for winter means putting insulation on the top, wrapping the hives with a relatively modest insulation, and adding mouse guards to the entrances. The mouse guards are needed because, believe it or not, mice love to cohabitate with bees during the winter. They seem willing to risk the possibility of being …
Author Archives: rpgreen61
Sad goodbye
For most of my life I have had cats and right up to the age of 50, I would have told you I was a cat person, through and through. My husband, Gary, is definitively a dog person, but for years declined to adopt a dog because we were both working long hours and he …
A $600 jar of honey
I am the editor for the Michigan Beekeepers Association‘s (MBA) quarterly newsletter, and I wrote this story for my “Editor’s Musing” section of the newsletter that came out in November. At the moment it was happening, it didn’t seem amusing at all, but after the fact, it makes for an interesting story, so thought I …
Farmers Market Friends
It feels like a long time since I sat down and posted anything about life on Green acres farm. OK, it has been a long time! It has been a busy summer, with too many things calling for my attention! Between the garden, chickens, goats and ESPECIALLY bees, this summer kept me hopping! But we …
Babies, babies, babies
We have been waiting with great anticipation for Luna’s due date as we all love baby goats. Luna must love them too, because she got an early start, with the babies arriving 4 days before we expected to see them. Early this week I came out for on evening goat walk at the end of …
The chicken saga continues…..
When I last wrote about the chickens, I told you of my failed effort to have a broody hen do the work of hatching and raising chicks for me. You may recall that the first broody chicken gave me a good effort, but failed in the end, and my second broody hen rejected my suggestions …
Swarmy Weather
Don’t know whyThere’s those bees up in the skySwarmy weather… May is swarm season in Michigan, and swarm season can get a little crazy. This year it seems crazier than most. I spent the early part of May working hard to keep up with my bees, with the goal of managing swarming. If you want …
In the battle of wills, the chicken is winning
Last year, after a series of missteps dealing with a broody hen, I thought I had it all figured out. But as it turns out, NOT! Three weeks ago, when one of my chickens decided she wanted to brood, I knew I was going to allow her to sit on eggs. Free chicks! To try …
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Raccoons and possums and skunks, oh my!
What a spring it has been. Temperatures in the 80s in mid-April in SE Michigan, followed by cool days that just didn’t seem to want to go away, keeping the bees inside. Finally, it is warm enough here to get serious about making splits, moving queens and a cohort of bees out of the original hive to …