So much good news.
I was clearing the bees doorway yesterday afternoon. It was above freezing and such a beautiful day without a breath of wind. I put my ear to the beehive and there they were, making their disapproval known with a deep far away baseball cheer of buzzing. Good bees.
Later in the afternoon, I was brushing Daisy and felt her calf kick.
Baby rippled along her belly like a little Loch Nessie. Let me count how many days the little tike has left in there.. 39.
Thirty-Nine days left. See how she is carrying to her left side. (below) Her left not our left. This is very common to have the calf bulge out to one side. Left or right. When baby begins to engage, preparing for birth, her sides will even up and drop. Seeing this bulge out to one side means all is well in that department. Of course not all cows will do this.
Daisy will have a big calf. She is an Ayrshire. Queenie is a Hereford – she will have a much smaller calf. So I did not expect quite such a big belly on her. Though it looks like she is going to give birth to a box.
Also she is not due for another three weeks after Daisy. Maybe she is just full of good hay!
Tilly practicing her smoke rings. Little Slapper. She is the noisiest animal on the property. I opened up the big barn doors to the sun and all the birds tip toed into the warmth. They hate snow so have been inside for ages now and loved having the sun in to visit.
An unusual line-up. Son of Neanderthal Man, Son of Son of Neanderthal Man and Son of Son of Son of Neanderthal Man (also known as Bob). Neanderthal Man was our first rooster, he had very feathery feet. He died years ago. Though I have only been here seven years so it cannot be that many years ago.
And Sheila was so chipper today that we are going to start her procedure next Wednesday with a hormone shot and breed her three to five days later. I very very much hope this works.
Last night I bought three pounds of Russian Bees (read an interesting article here) and a Russian Queen to be delivered in the late spring. Russian bees have a natural resistance to the mites that are plaguing the more common prettier Italian bees. (Varroa Mites have only recently invaded American hives (since the 1980’s) but they have been in Russia for hundreds of years and the bees have developed this resistance over a very long time.) Plus Russians are better in temperature extremes, so my father and our research tell me. They are not as pretty as Italians, but I am going to begin a hive and do a comparison.
I would like to have four hives in the end. Everyone loves honey.
That was a good news post! It is -5F (-20C) this morning .. sounds so commonplace now, doesn’t it, but we have the potential to rise above freezing again today. Delicious.
Good morning. The light is coming – soon it will be dawn.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “Bees and Bees and Baby Bumps”
Thank you, Celi, for the daily positive slice of life, buzzing bumps and all!
This whole post just made me smile. 🙂
Queenie has a soft, contemplative expression on her woolly face. I think motherhood is going to suit her.
I love the shots of Tilly making her smoke rings! Those are wonderful. Sounds like a great day on the farmy. It’s going to be a busy spring for you!!!
Fascinating. How much do the cows have to adjust their balance? I love the picture of the “smoke” rings. Looks like you had a wonderful day.
Perfect year to buy Russian bees as a salute to the Olympics.
I’m glad to read such good news, about bees, the first kick of the new calf, and some rays of sunshine. Tilly and her smoke rings made me laugh. Am a bit behind with your posts, and off to the bach now so that will put me behind again. Never mind. You know I think of your blog even when I’m not getting to it, and when I hear bad weather reports from USA I think, ‘how is Celi coping with this?’ My sister just flew back from a trip to New York and said 900 flights were delayed due to ice! Her plane was 2 hours on the runway, being de-iced and then waiting in a queue, but at least they got out.
Lucky your sister got out by the sounds of it..and you can never be behind, it is just life.. I look forward to your post when you come back from the bach.. c
It looks like life is moving ahead nicely looking at those baby bumps. 🙂
Russian bees have been our very favorites. Very laid back. Just didn’t like the foundation we had in our frames. They made their own comb design. Messy, but it was just their thing!
Do you think I should just give them the frames without foundation and let them have at it? I have always wanted to do that actually.. c
I would just put about an inch or two of foundation at the top of the frame and let them build down as they wish. It’s messy when you open the hive,because they free form it a bit, but they are much happier!
Wonderful that is just what i will do. I am looking forward to them.. hopefully they will be more resilient in this environment.. c
I hope the Russians don’t convert the Italians to preferring ballet to opera!
Glad to hear your bees are buzzing. Are you supplementing their food source at all? Read a few days ago that supplementing at this time of year can be tricky – sugar water or other liquids can freeze and/or chill the bees, however granulated sugar is a safe alternative. Have a look at a wonderful blog called “Thy Hand Hath Provided”, They are new to beekeeping, but have some interesting posts about bees, food, and all kinds of things.
Hope you are missed by more storms and start warming up soon.
Chris S in Canada
Yes Chris, well done, that is exactly what I am doing, they have an empty super above their hive with sugar in there and a ziplock bag of honey, (anything else would freeze solid very fast!) with small slit in the top for them to feed, bees keep moving upwards so when it is warm enough I will very quickly rotate the supers, so that they will find the honey they often forget in the lower supers. The moment we hit the 40’s for a few days i will replenish their food trays.. bees often die right at the end of winter.. so i am feeding alright.. c
I wondered if the girls had taken to smoking in the barn. I didn’t think that was Tilly. She looks so–sheepish. Big girl sheepish. Queenie may just have a surprise for you, a gift-wrapped calf!
Morning ! So happy for all of the life wriggling and buzzing away on your farm. We have earnest small birds belting round the garden eating seed and insects and getting themselves built up for courting and nesting, new feathers on and all. The robin dives into the birdbath in the rain and the jackdaw colony in my neighbours’ chimneys appears to be growing. Xx jo
Your birds must be very clean, with all that water around. Can’t wait til our robins come back with their beautiful calls, but we are still knee deep in snow no wriggly worms yet.. c
Those smoking sheep really made my day! How interesting to read about the Russian bees. I’m sure they’d thrive here as well, although there’s always been something of a stand-off between the Swedes and the Russians 🙂 We’ll see… meantime, the world continues it’s march towards spring.
Well you’ve just taught me something…I thought bees went south with the birds. I took a picture of this huge icicle hanging from our roof and noticed a good size hornets nest. Maybe somebody’s in there.
I’m surprised Daisy doesn’t tip over 🙂