Farm Fodder » farms http://weber-farms.com/blog A day in the life of a small farm Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:34:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Sometimes, it’s not my bees-iness – 12/11/2007 http://weber-farms.com/blog/2008/10/29/sometimes-its-not-my-bees-iness-12112007/ http://weber-farms.com/blog/2008/10/29/sometimes-its-not-my-bees-iness-12112007/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:20:58 +0000 admin http://weber-farms.com/blog/?p=23 One of the negatives of having to work outside the home while attempting to build up a farm, is, well… I’m not there to get some things done…

Today, Dec. 11th, it was partly sunny and in the 60′s…. And Marilyn called to say that the bees were flying. – A perfect opportunity to feed them once more before winter in the hopes that they will stash most of it for the winter ahead…

Of course, I’m stuck in the office. So, I called and asked Nathan to feed the bees for me. Sure, he can suit up and be safe from bee stings – and he can carry a 1 gallon container full of sugar and water. And he knows how to open the hive up and put the containers in – and he’s pretty responsible. So, why am I anxious about him doing it?

Because he’s my boy and I worry about him dealing with the bees. And because they are my bees and I worry about them being dealt with by a 10 year old boy!

Sure, everything will be fine – but I should be there taking care of my bees!

I’m very grateful to have such a responsible son, (and relatively calm bees) and I have come to rely on him heavily since we have increased the number of animals and things that require some oversight. He is truly an asset to the family ( and the farm). But …

I just found out he’s swatting at the bees! That’s the part I was referring to above (being dealt with by a 10 year old boy). Yes, I have told him to “stay calm and they won’t bother you”. And “open the hive slowly and they won’t be frightened”. But he’s a 10 year old boy – and yet I trust him with my bees and I trust God to protect him from the bees…

]]> http://weber-farms.com/blog/2008/10/29/sometimes-its-not-my-bees-iness-12112007/feed/ 0 Black hens in the black of night- 12/07/2007 http://weber-farms.com/blog/2008/10/29/black-hens-in-the-black-of-night-12072007/ http://weber-farms.com/blog/2008/10/29/black-hens-in-the-black-of-night-12072007/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:17:26 +0000 admin http://weber-farms.com/blog/?p=17 Last night, we had some pretty strong winds – So, I went out to check the animals.

Sure enough, the 2 chicken tractors holding the 25 black Austral-orp hens had blown over, and the chickens were not in them.

Well, it was pretty hard to see solid black hens in the solid black night! I went back in the house and got Nathan. We went out with flashlights, and when we spotted a cluster of them huddling, we would lay down our flashlights and catch as many as we could and relocate them to a larger house for the night. This went on for about 30 minutes, but we think we got all but one – that one elusive chicken was no where to be found, so we called it a night ( since it was after 10:30PM).

I’m awaiting a report from Nathan this morning on the actual head count of chickens…

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