(I have it on Good Authority!) Now I know what all the squawking was about the night before last.
I tried to tell you. Says Tui.
Two tiny tiny kittens. As long as my thumb. I heard their mewling after the milking yesterday morning and look what I found tucked away behind a bale of straw.
I got in trouble for taking photos without Author’s permission. I hope they have their mothers eyes.
She is quite the sweetest little mother.
Coincidentally I took Scrapper to the vets for his wee op yesterday as well. Though that is a little like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted or whatever that expression is.
I called the bee man and he is sending me a new queen. By yesterday morning all the bees from the weaker hive had jumped ship and moved to the stronger hive. So I am to carefully take two full frames from that hive and move bees back to join their new queen. I am to lock down the entrances for a few days. Then he said to change the shape of that hive as bees do not recognise colours they recognise the shape of their home. So each hive should have a different kind of weight on the top. I shall give these guys a V shaped tower of little red bricks so there is no confusion. He said sometimes he pins a plastic triangle on the front or writes a big number, all these things help the bees to get used to their new home. Interesting isn’t it.
I also learnt from the bee man yesterday that dandelions are the best flower for the bees in the spring, as they produce both nectar and pollen and are the first to flower. Our humble dandelion which is prolific in the wild grasses out here is bee gold. So no more mowing the dandelion flowers – let them grow and flower in your lawns. You will be doing your early bees a great favour. Dandelion leaves make a good salad too you know, we had some with our greens last night. 
He has dispatched a new queen for me (he only had two left!) and she should arrive this morning. She will come with a few bee attendants. Once again she will have a stopper in the box made of candy that the other bees will nibble away at so that she is slowly released. By the time she is out she will be their queen.
My yellow magnolia has begin to bloom. Here is a close up!
I love this tree.
Good morning. I hope you are all well and busy. I do apologise for not being able to visit your sites as much as I would like at the moment. Spring is a busy time but soon we will calm down again before harvest time and I hope to zoom about a bit more then.
Oh and no roofers yesterday but they are hoping to come today. Of course we have bendy tree weather this morning so I am not sure if they will come today either. And the dry-waller got his weeks mixed up and will come next week I hope. Ah well. We will get there.
Today, after I have visited my old people with meat loaves and clean washing, I shall garden and make bread and do lots of ordinary things. Daisy is giving so much more milk now that she is on grass (a couple of hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon to avoid the bloat) so I am going to begin a few more Parmesan cheeses.
I can hear Author, that tiny mother cat who is no more than a kitten herself, calling to me from the steps, she wants her milk!
Have a lovely day.
your friend celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “New babies in the loft!”
The perfect post for a cat person like me! Better late than never with Scrapper’s op – maybe he’ll scrap less now! We’ve got a problem with a stray ginger tom at the moment. Coming in and stealing the others’ food is one thing but he scares poor old Pusscat to death! Worst of all is the spraying and trying to find it, so now the cat flap is on double lock-down until he hopefully becomes bored. The other cats aren’t too pleased about that needless to say!
Christine
Hopefully if he cannot get to their food he will go and bother someone else, ginger toms are such gorgeous creatures though, scrapper is like that, he beats everyone up and growls and howls at the other cats.. so lets hope he calms down now.. c
a new addition to the farmy! they are so precious! now i have a reason to embrace my dandelions! i will post a pic of my 4 season faucet on my post today so you can see it! joyce
Thank you Jaz i shall zoom over and bookmark it, I asked the boys and they all said they had not thought about it, as you know i have only one faucet for the whole farm so another one on that side would be excellent//.. c
I love knowing that spring really does exist, somewhere! Adorable kitties. Interesting about the dandelions. I have a love-hate relationship with them. I honestly love their sunshiny faces in the yard…but my youngest daughter is dreadfully allergic to them. And now this bee information! What to do, what to do…
goodness, how sad to be allergic to dandelions, and they are everywhere, what bad luck, morning gretchen.. c
I know. It doesn’t stop her from bringing me lovely wee bouquets of them, though!
So beautiful. And nothing you ever do could be called ordinary!
Bee society is fascinating!
So glad Dandelions are good for the bees as my so called lawn is full of them LOL, That and clover. In fact I wouldn’t call it a lawn at all, more like a meadow. I can appreciate how busy you are, me too. Today especially long one, with pet sitting 2 cats, walking 4 dogs (all separate owners) and gardening for three hours at another clients house. The gardening I did in drizzle the whole time. Soaked to my underwear! And very muddy. Still I was mostly sowing seeds so the drizzle will help bed them in without washing them away. Off to grab some lunch as I missed breakfast and I am starving! Have a great day and I love the kittens! Have had to say ‘No’ to my self as I have three cats, or I will become known as that crazy old English lady with all the cats in the white cottage!!
three cats is enough.. and am loving the crazy old english lady moniker!
Excellent news – permission not to mow the grass. cheers for that one
oh yeah cute kitties too
tho I did like your last mowing ! c
No wonder you’re always so cheerful, Miss C. Never knowing when a surprise like the two kittens might appear ! And how exactly wil the queen arrive? In a carriage drawn by mice footmen? In a UPI box?
speedy post evidently whatever that means! c
Ooops. UPS.
Sweet baby kittens…is there anything cuter? Well, all little babies are pretty cute. Was this a total surprise? I will save my dandelions…had no idea they were favorites of the bees, so chalk up another thing learned here. Am very excited for you to hear that the bees survived and moved to the other hive. It will be interesting to see how they acclimate to the new queen. And I’m fascinated that they recognize their hive by shape…who knew this? Maybe they could have cool folk art hives to go to! 🙂
good idea… i should let the kids do the hive painting form now on.. c
Glad to hear a New Queen is one the way! Baby kitties – purrfect – oh so cute too:) Happy Day on the Farmy
I have tried an tried to like dandelions, but my tongue simply rejects them no matter what my brain tells it. I find that the flowers are far more palatable. Try some! Pick one, peel off the green stuff around the bottom where it connects to the stem, and pop it in your mouth. There is absolutely no bitterness. THAT’S the part of a dandelion that should be eaten!
excellent, i shall put them in tonights weed salad! c
My most favorite of flowers …OF COURSE…perfect bee food. And perfect food for us and for healing of the body…I just love those cheerful yellow flowers!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
You are so lucky – worry the dandelions here would be contaminated from chemical from lawn companies ( hate those guys for many reasons)
Such cute kittens – I’ve never had a little one – they are usually teens when they arrive at our house.
We have white magnolias – and pinks can be bought at nurseries – but yellow! Need more pictures of those!
Glad the bees are managing a bit longer – always wondered how they knew which man-made hive they belonged to!
Hope the week goes well
Kittens! Just EXACTLY what I needed to see today.
Thanks Celi