Family Portrait

Here is my attack hen (see previous post) and her brood, in a much calmer mood. I left her alone all day and when I went out for evening chores she had led all her babies into the miking stall and was showing them how to scratch for bits of grain. There are 14 chicks! Sadly, I  found three more chicks that must have gotten separated from the group and perished. Pretty hard to keep track of 17 chicks. I wish I had checked on them earlier.

Since we aren't miking now, I closed the family in the stall for the night and provided feed and water. There they will be protected and corralled, and not underfoot when I am hauling out bales of hay in the morning.

No Paparazzi!!

This morning in the barn I heard a chorus of peeping and it wasn't coming from the two chicks that hatched a couple weeks ago.  I often check this site for eggs, so I am surprised this nest eluded us, but behind the box I had turned into a  cozy cat den for Poet was a hen with newly hatched chicks.

It was too dark to see anything behind the box so I got my camera and took a couple of blind flash shots.

Squawk!! Flap!! Wham!!!  Suddenly the hen attacked me,  crashing into my face and scratching my cheek (glad I wear glasses!)  and continued on her rampage chasing poor Cocoa the innocent bystander dog and several other hens in the vicinity. I have never  had a hen act so aggressively protective so it caught me off guard. I guess she doesn't like paparazzi.

At least it gave me  chance to shoot a  photo of her clutch while she was off the nest attacking everybody. Looks like she has a dozen or so chicks.  She is going to be one busy mom.

Beeing

Although  I was dismayed that my two Warre hive bees did not survive the winter, it gave me an opportunity to shore up the hives.  The fellow who built them for me had assembled them with a nail gun. They seemed secure, but after a season of housing bees and heavy combs of honey, the corners were pulling apart.

Rog and I replaced the nails with screws and I gave them a fresh coat of paint - honey gold and  vivid spring green.  I think they will look sweet with colorful flowers planted around them.

On Saturday, I picked up my  two 3-lb. packages of bees.  The  members of the SE MN Beekeepers Association had combined their orders and John, the bee club president, had driven to the supplier to pick them up for everybody - intrepidly driving with hundreds of thousands of bees in his car (many flying freely) for three hours.

Each  package of bees came in a box with a can of food (sugar syrup) to sustain them during the long trek from California where they were raised. Before releasing them, I spritzed them with sugar water, which reduces their ability to fly and keeps them busy for a while licking themselves clean.  I carefully pried out the food can and set it inside the hive on top of the  frames.  Then, I slid out the tiny cage within the box, containing the queen. I put her in the pocket of my bee suit until I was ready for her.
I don't have photos of  emptying the bees into the hive because I was doing this solo and couldn't simultaneously shoot photos.  But,  I rapped the bee box  on the ground a couple times and  the bees let  go of the screen and fell to the floor of the box in a cluster. Then, I simply poured and shook them into the hive.  A few bees couldn't be shaken out of the box, so I set the box on the ground next to the hive so they could evenutally find their own way into the hive.

Next, I fished the queen cage out of my pocket and removed the cork in the end of her cage, making sure not to let her out (I had also spritzed her with sugar water for good measure so I would be less likely to lose her.)  I re-plugged the opening with a miniature marshmallow and set the queen cage into the hive. She and the worker bees will consume the marshmallow, releasing her in a day or two. By then they will  accept each other, if they haven't already during the long trip together.

I put the cover on the hive and the bees were officially installed.   The straggler bees had made their way out of the box and were already attempting to get into the hive.  I had plugged the opening at the bottom of each hives with grass so they couldn't immediately fly away before giving the hive a chance as their new home. I watched for a while as the bees worked to removed the grass; I saw one bee flying while tugging out a blade of grass.

After installing the Warre hives, I opened up the Langstroth hive.  I have been feeding them honey-water so they have enough food until the  nectar flow begins, and they hadn't emptied the last refill yet. There are a LOT of bees in this hive!

I added a box to give them more space, the bright yellow one in the photo. This size box is called  a "medium" - it is smaller than  the two "deeps" on the bottom.  Eventually I want to change over to all mediums. Those deeps are heavy, awkward and hard on the back to move when they are full.

The Langstroth bees have been hard at work the past few weeks.  Some of them return to the hive with big panniers of pollen on their back legs. In this photo, you can see  one bee with golden yellow pollen and one with bright orange.

We are having a very cold spell of freezing nights --a rude introduction to Minnesota for California bees. I hope they adapt quickly.

Wordless Wednesday: Appreciating April

Prairie Smoke

Our friends and neighbors (the rural definition of neighbors, a couple miles away), Kris and Maynard, have restored acres of native prairie surrounding the beautiful house they built about 15 years ago.  To maintain a prairie, it must be burned, and they invited us to help with the prairie burn.

Maynard is a member of the Prairie Smoke chapter of the Prairie Enthusiasts group, and was the leader for the burn.  He had spent many hours in advance preparing for the burn, mowing and raking the paths that would serve as firebreaks.

We were instructed to wear leather  boots and cotton clothing. Actually, Rog and I were more observers than helpers - they had a large, experienced crew of prairie enthusiasts, but I took photos.

Four areas were burned. The largest area had a  bare cornfield on the north side, a great natural firebreak.  First the downwind side was burned.  Then the upwind edge was lit and a wall of flame raced across the field.

Too bad the Internet doesn't have smell-o-vision yet so you could sense the acrid, smokiness of the fire.

In a few weeks, the blackened field will be vivid green. By midsummer it will be covered in fabulous native prairie blossoms.

Peeps

This morning when I went into the barn to get hay for the cows, I heard that familiar tiny sound, "peep, peep."

I discovered a hen  on a clutch of eggs, two of which had hatched, inside a 5-gallon bucket stored under the ladder to the hayloft.  Not the most brilliant  nest site -the chicks would never be able to get out!

I turned the bucket sideways and added a bit of  straw. Perhaps some of the other eggs will hatch over the next couple days.

Mom took the chicks out  for a bit of food and water, then  herded them back to the bucket.

Poulet Pasta

I discovered a bowl of leftover pasta in the back of the refrigerator, so the hens got a special spaghetti treat.
Something about chickens slurping up noodles tickles me.

Hens making quick work of a big bowl of spaghetti.