Past & Present

Trying to wrap up last year, and talk about this year is kind of ridiculous!  Especially when I'm already running 900 mph, in 5 different directions.  Good thing I'm not a quitter!

Slacker, maybe?

Quitter, no!

I think I have you caught up on the crazy Spring season of 2015.  I hope it is never repeated in my entire life.  It was hard, and while I might know a few things that would help me if I ever had to endure it again, I don't wanna go there.  Ever.  Again.

Once we managed to survive the spring, the honey build up began.  It took a while to get started, but once it did, things were moving fast.  In a moment of panic, I had to move my largest hives.  Moving hives is zero fun.  Moving large hives is negative fun. It is hard.  It is stupid.  It also requires friends to show up and get to work.  Luckily I am very blessed in the friend department. The Blue Dog Bee Lady pulled one night with me, and Lilly Point Farm pulled another. Plus, my Full-Timer, who is now my No-Timer, showed up for a shift.  It really was our last ditch effort for a honey crop, and in the end it paid off.

On top of getting the bees ready, we had an additional task in 2015 for honey harvest.  We set up our own extracting equipment for harvest.  The first task was cleaning our space.  My bee shop was a catch all for a ton of activities.  No more!  The next task. Insulating and air conditioning the space.  I do live in Texas.  It is hot in Texas.  It took me three days to get the space insulated.  I would go in the attic at about 6:00 in the morning, and I was only able to stay up there until about 9:00.  It was so stinking hot.  I would come down and be completely drenched.  It did not help that I had to wear long pants, long shirt, a breathing mask, and gloves.

Talk about claustrophobic.  

The air conditioning was a little easier with the purchase of a portable unit.  I was hopeful it would be enough to keep us cool, and in the end, pleasantly surprised at how efficient the unit was.  Once we had everything in place, we waited, and waited, for the honey.  Those girls took forever to cap the honey last year.  We were also pushing the limits for the Snow On The Prairie bloom.

You have to harvest before the Snow blooms!

Talk about being under some pressure.  The first bee yard we tried to harvest was miserable.  Of the twelve or so supers in that bee yard, we were only able to harvest two.  Talk about a little nerve wracking.  It was an excellent trial run for our new equipment because we quickly realized we needed to change a few things, but I was very worried about our prospects.

The second bee yard went much better.  We pulled more supers and our equipment set up was much more functional.  We did start noticing a problem with a product we were using to help get the bees out of the honey supers.  Problem being, it wasn't working!  This led to a lot of hand brushing bees off of frames of honey.  They don't really like that.  Facts are, I don't really like that.  Plus it added additional time to the entire process.

Once harvest season started, there was no stopping it.  I had four bee yards to harvest.  Some I had to harvest twice because the girls just weren't getting the honey capped.  The Blue Dog Bee Lady had a bee yard to harvest.  Plus, I assisted all my students in their first harvests.  It became a maddening, non-stop race.  A race that did not include adequate sleep or nourishment.  I was getting up at 6:30 in the morning, and most days not getting back to bed until 1:00 or 2:00 the next morning.

I am an 8 - 9 hour-a-night-kind-of-girl!

On top of sleep deprivation, I was not eating quality food.  It was quite ridiculous.  I knew it was getting scary when I went to take a power nap one day, and completely forgot I left a pot on the stove with water and a tea bag on full boil.  You can imagine my surprise when I woke up.  My first thought, "Who's cooking?"  You know, because I could smell the tea bag burning!  Then my next reaction, to shoot out of bed in a sprint to the kitchen!  Where I found a pot completely ruined, with the remnants of a tea bag burnt to the bottom of it.  Only funny part about that experience was when the Man in Charge came home and asked me why it smelled like marijuana in the house.  I was hoping to avoid the whole "I almost burned the house down" conversation, but instead, it seemed much better then him thinking I had become a pot head.  I think in the end, he agreed.

My next real wake-up call about 2015 Honey Harvest came one day when I wore four contacts all day long.  Yes.  Four contacts.  I had been to the eye doctor, and I had several pair of trial contacts to use.  Apparently, I forgot to take out my contacts before falling in bed one night.  Upon rising, I just stuck a new pair of contacts in my eyes.  It was one of my all-time dumbest moments ever.  I kept thinking to myself, "Man.  I must really be tired!  I can't focus for crap!"  It wasn't until 1:00 in the morning, standing in the bathroom, trying to pull my contacts out that I realized my mistake.  I only realized it when I pulled three contacts out of my eyes.  Yes.  Three.  I spent forever looking for number four once I realized what I had done.

This prompted a quick visit to my eye doctor the next day.  First, to see if I had a contact hiding in my eye.  Second, to have him look to see if I had damaged anything.  This visit brought on a lot of questions from my doctor.  No, there was no missing contact. Yes, I had scratched my eyes.  Then he placed me on restriction for three days...no contacts!

Ugh!

The whole process of honey harvesting took nine days.  Nine long days of running like crazy.  Plus, it was the first stretch of 100 degree weather in the great state of Texas.

Joy.

Somehow.  For some reason.  After it all ended.  I got up at 4:00 the next morning and drove 5 hours to buy a baby goat.

Harvesting honey is hard.  

The goat just made perfect sense.

You should know I made this a day trip.  I came home at midnight.  I spent forever getting my new girl settled in.  Then I promptly crashed.  I had a bee lesson early the next morning.  I woke up to a garage full of water.  My water heater went out.  I really just wanted to leave and go buy another goat.

2016! Ready or Not!

Hey Guys!

How's it going?

I know it's been a while, and I know you know how I am, so we won't even go there. 

I so can not believe it is almost March!  Super crazy!  I am not ready yet, but I don't think that matters anymore.  I'm going to pick up where we left off, throw some random things in the mix, and move on!  For those of you that do not know me, nor do you have a clue what I'm talking about, please take some time to browse through this blog. 

My name is Candi.  I live in Texas.  I am a beekeeper.  I teach beginner beekeeping.  I run a small family farm.  Mostly honeybees, but I have managed to throw some chickens and a couple of goats into the mix.  You know, just keepin' it rural.  Not to mention, the dogs, the kittens, the horses, and one crazy steer.  Go ahead and browse around a bit.  We'll wait for you to catch up.

Go ahead.

It's okay.

We will wait...

ready?

Let's jump right in.

As you gathered from the previous post, I've had some negative experiences with a couple of queen breeders in Texas.  I am certain there are some really awesome ones, but I've never had the luxury of doing business with them.  Not only did I struggle with the lack of customer service, but I also started noticing some really unacceptable behavior in my hives.  A larger then acceptable number of them were starting to have aggressive tendencies.  I don't like mean bees.  It really takes all the fun out of beekeeping.  Something about them coming at your head at full speed tends to make it seem a little more like work.  Get what I'm saying?

I mean, let's face the facts.  I live in Texas.  We have bees with Africanized genetics down here.  Part of being a good beekeeper is managing your hives to limit the possibilities of picking up those genetics.  The problem comes when you are replenishing your bees with genetics from the same breeders.  Especially if they are reproducing those undesirable qualities.  Over a period of  a few years, I went from having the occasional aggressive hive, to aggressive hives becoming the norm.  I mean, full-on-want-to-kill-you-bees.

There are a lot of factors in this scenario, and as I started to slowly figure things out, and realize my mistakes, it became clear to me what had to bee done!  I have always been a big chicken when it comes to killing a queen to replace her.

That changed in 2015.

I frequently refer to it as terminating a queen now, but it is murder.  I will also acknowledge that I do not even hesitate at this point in my career.  If a hive becomes aggressive, that is it.  That queen will be terminated and replaced with a queen from gentler stock.  The days of giving them every opportunity are over.  I have also started purchasing all of my queens from various breeders in California.  I'm hoping they will all have that west coast, laid back, beach mentality.  You know what I mean?

I'm very excited to see how well we did in this department.  The proof will come this spring with the spring build up.  I really doubt I will be breeding my own queens this year.  I can't imagine in what world that would take place, but I'm okay with that.  We are entering this year with the goal to replenish our stock with characteristics we find desirable.

#1...Calm Temperament!

We will build on temperament as a foundation, and then add the other qualities we find desirable.  Then, and only then, will we consider breeding our own stock.

For those of you who are new here, thank you for stopping by.  I hope you'll come back.  Even though I've just revealed to you I am a murderer of epic proportions...It's okay.  I won't hurt you.  You can trust me.

Long live the Queen!

I'm sure you are sick of this photo, but I love it!  It is my favorite to date, and because I spent most of this year without a camera in my hand, I don't have another one to replace it yet.  This queen is big and beautiful.  She has her court circling her, attending to her every need.

I so need a court.

Most of you realize the importance of the queen.  Each hive consists of one queen, workers and drones.  The workers make up about 90% of the population and the drones the other 10%.  All necessary.  All important.  In the absence of a queen there is no hive.  Their future depends on her and the 1500 eggs a day she can produce.  To be so important, the downside is how fragile these girls are.  They don't live forever.  Part of a beekeepers job is to monitor her activity, and replace her if need be.

This is where the problem lies.

Beekeepers have only a few options when it comes to replacing queens. 

1.   Breed your own queens.
2.   Let your hives raise and replace their queen.
3.   Buy queens from a breeder.

Becoming a queen breeder is a goal of mine.  It is a complicated process, and I will admit I don't know much about it.  I was able to sit through one lecture on this topic at the Texas Beekeepers Association Summer Clinic this past June.  It was the one lecture I was really looking forward to.  It was the one lecture I planned my entire trip around.  It also happened to be the first lecture of the day, and the young girl who was teaching it was struggling.  She planned to have someone else giving the lecture with her, and that someone else ended up getting a flat tire on the way to the clinic.  This led to that someone else not making it.  That someone else also happened to have all of the equipment with them.  The entire lecture she was checking her phone.  She was obviously rattled due to the fact she did not have the props she had planned to use, and the whole thing went downhill from there.  The points she covered were well done, but in the end, she ran out of time.  I am sure it all made perfect sense to the other attendants with queen breeding experience, but to someone like me, not so much.  The lecture ended before she was finished and I am quite certain those last topics were vital to the process of breeding your own queens. 

Ugh!

Having said that, I understand getting a flat tire.  It can't be helped.  I understand getting rattled when your entire presentation gets thrown out the window.  I feel like I gleaned enough information to read up on the subject and get a better understanding, but I haven't had time for much reading this year.  Maybe when winter hits.  I did walk away with one very important piece of the puzzle.

The queens you produce are a representation of the stock you breed from.

Letting your hives raise and replace their own queens at first glance seems like the most natural solution.  There are just a few problems in this department.

1. The queens you produce are a representation of the stock you breed from.
2. It takes 16 days from egg to queen.
3. Hives will have a gap in reproduction during this process.

And the final option, buying from a queen breeder.  I'm going to step out here and speak the truth.  When I took my beginner classes, we were told it was very important to buy queens from the region in which you live.  On the surface, this makes total sense to me.  Texas queens will be more accustom to Texas weather.  So for the past several years, this is what I've tried to do.

There are two main breeders in Texas.  They are family.  They used to run one business together, but sometime in the past, there was a feud.  It has been explained to me that these two families are now like the Hatfield's and McCoy's.  Serious feuding.  Like if one of them saw the other's dog, they'd shoot it.

Ouch.

I can't speak to the feud.  It happened long before my time, but in dealing with both of these companies individually, they should bury the hatchet.  The reason I say this, they are both lacking in customer service.  Where one is stronger, the other fails miserably, and vice versa.  So you can't help but think if they got it together again, they may have a decent go at it.  Even operating as one entity, they would still suck at the customer service thing.

There.  I said it.

Maybe it's just me, but I doubt it.  I spent years working in sales.  Customer service is very important in sales.  If you can't take care of the customer what do you have left?  This little corner of the market in the beekeeping industry takes quite a few liberties.  Queens are in short supply.  Queens are very fragile creatures.  I get this.  However, this is not an excuse to just treat people like crap.

The whole process of ordering queens is messed up.  If you are a big commercial guy, you may need 600.  If you are a little guy, like me, you may only need 10.  Who do you think wins here?  The other ridiculous part of this process is we have to order our queens long before we need them.  Like I am ordering queens now for March of 2016.  How am I supposed to do that?  There are a lot of variables in this scenario.  How many will I need?  When will I need them?  What will the weather be like?  Will they actually ship on time?  Blah, blah, blah.  Not to mention, they are a little expensive.  I realize a lot of this is out of everyone's control.  We're all in the same boat here.

There are a lot of leaks in this boat.

Last year, I placed my order for this years queens.  I don't usually like to put all my eggs in one basket, but I only had one order placed with the McCoy's.  Not sure why I did that, but I had my ship date set and all was well.

Not.

This was a crazy spring.  I had some hives building faster than others.  Faced with these hives swarming and taking a hit on their productivity when it counted, I searched for queens.  No luck.  Then to my surprise, the Hatfield's sent out an email stating they had some Hawaiian queens available.  How could this be?  This was awesome.  So I placed an order for some Hawaiians.  I wasn't sure how they'd fair in Texas, but it seemed like a good gamble.  Much better than not having anything to help manage my potential swarming issues.  The price on those Hawaiian girls was through the roof!  Still, based on what I was seeing in my operation, the price was worth it.

The process of splitting hives and requeening hives takes some planning.  In an ideal world, a hive or split should be without a queen for about three days prior to introducing a new one.  Plus, as I explained in my previous post, splits need to be moved to another bee yard.  You would think people in the business of breeding queens would know this.  I know they know this.  The Hatfield's and the McCoy's love to ship your queens with no heads up.  Pretty much the day they get on the UPS truck, you get an email later in the evening with a tracking number stating they'll be delivered the next day.  I don't really like this method of shipping confirmation, but over the years I have gotten used to it.

Anybody see where there may be an issue here?

I go out.  I look at my hives.  I make a plan.  I get my equipment ready.  I make my splits.  I move my splits to new apiaries.  Then, instead of getting an email with a shipping confirmation and tracking number, I get an email that says my Hawaiian girls are lost in transit from Hawaii to Texas.

Oh how I wish I had that email conversation saved to share with you.

I'm a reasonable person.  I get that things can happen.  I don't get the 9 emails it took to get anywhere with this company.  It went something like this.

Hatfield's:  Your queens are lost in transit.

Me:  What does this mean?  Are they going to reship?

Hatfield's:  Yes, they'll reship, but we don't know when.  If you can't wait, we can substitute some emergency queens in place of your Hawaiian queens.

Me:  Emergency queens?  Are these Hatfield queens?  (please keep in mind...Hatfield queens showed to be sold out per their website)

Hatfield's:  Yes.  These are Hatfield queens.

Me:  I'm in a bit of a bind here.  I'll take whatever I can get.

Hatfield's:  Okay.  I'll ship out some emergency queens then.

Me:  Great!

Me:  I appreciate anything you can do.  Just curious.  Am I going to be paying Hawaiian prices for Hatfield queens, or will you refund the difference?

Hatfield's:  We don't have any Hatfield queens.  They are sold out.  These are emergency queens.

Me:  Uh, but you just said?  I mean, I'm at your mercy and will take what I can get.  I was just curious.

Hatfield's:  These are emergency queens.  Want them or not?  You can wait for your Hawaiian's if you like, but I don't know when they'll come in.

The conversation went on from here.  It was rude and crazy and made no sense to me.  Just say No if that's what you mean!  The whole thing was stupid.  Then to add insult to injury, they shipped my emergency queens UPS Overnight with an AM delivery.  I waited all day for those stupid queens.  When my driver finally showed up, the label said they were shipped UPS Ground.  After an endless amount of time on hold with UPS, I discovered the original box they were shipped in had been destroyed somehow.  UPS was able to make out the ship to address, so they repackaged them and stuck a ground label on the package instead.  UPS told me to contact the shipper and I would be refunded the shipping costs.

Wanna guess how that conversation went?

Apparently the Hatfield's can't be bothered with that sort of paperwork.  I never saw a dime for the queen refund or for the shipping costs.

Licking my wounds from this experience, I recovered and readied myself for the next round of queens with the McCoy's.  I had an order confirmation with an expected ship date.  Prior to doing any of the necessary work to prepare for the arrival of new queens, I sent off an email asking to confirm my ship date.

Side note:  The Hatfield's and the McCoy's refuse to do business via telephone.


My email to the McCoy's:

Order # 7623

I had on my calendar that this order was shipping this week. Just want to
confirm the status of the order. I also noticed the bill to address is
incorrect. It should be P. O. Box 312 Ponder, TX 76259

Also, do you usually send an email with shipping information the day an
order has been shipped?

 

The McCoy's reply:

 

It's been rescheduled to ship out next week.  UPS took away our shipping
rights all of last week because one of their employees got stung by a bee.
As a result, we are running about one week behind schedule.  You will
receive an email on the day we ship so check your email regularly for the
shipping confirmation.

 

What?

 

I had a lot of issues with this situation.

 

1. I have no doubt that I would not have gotten this information if I had not asked for it.
2. Who is the UPS guy that is such a sissy that he reported this to his higher ups?  (I get some people have violent reactions to bee stings, but if your that guy, why are you picking up at a queen breeder.  Request another route!)
3. Is there really such a thing as UPS time-out?
4. There are other ways to ship bees.  Wouldn't it make more sense to explore those avenues rather than hold up your operation for an entire week?
5. Seriously.  I'm not the only one effected here.  Wouldn't a blanket email to all parties involved during your UPS time-out period have been an appropriate means of communication?

 

Luckily I had taken the time to send this email or I would have been put in a serious bind - Again!

 

Side note:  I talked to my UPS guy and he said the only way UPS will suspend your shipping privileges is if you don't pay your bills.

 

I shared this above response with The Blue Dog Bee Lady.  She had some queens added on to my order.  So this effected her as well.  She sent it back to me with commentary added.  So glad I saved it for you.  She cracks me up!

 

 UPS took away our shipping rights all of last week (but we just found out about last week a few minutes ago, even though nothing shipped last week, because we would have told you last week if we knew about last week - because customer service - we got it) because one of their employees got stung by a bee. As a result, we are running about one week behind schedule.(or maybe 2 weeks behind, because you never know when bees will sting - but we will let you know in 3 or 4 weeks if we are 2  weeks behind - because customer service - we got it).   You will receive an email on the day we ship (or the day after your shipment arrives - because we can't be bothered, er, I mean customer service - we got it) so check your email regularly for the shipping confirmation (or maybe you will win $1,000,000 from the lottery in your e-mail, who knows.) It's been rescheduled to ship out next week. (of course that doesn't really mean anything - because where else can you get bees in Texas besides us, or our family feud cousins, so we don't care!!)

Love from the QueenBee

 

I mean, seriously.  I would have had more respect for them if they had just answered me with the above commentary.  At least it would have been the truth.  I'm thick skinned.  I can handle the truth.  I can't handle being treated like I'm an idiot.

 

One would think if you have been in UPS time-out for a week, and you say your a week behind schedule, then you would be shipping the following week.  Like you said you would.

 

No.

 

The following week I called.  And I called.  Until finally someone was brave enough to call me back.  My order was not going to ship.  There was no future ship date set.  The new story...a couple of their bee yards had taken a hit in storms.  The day she phoned me, they were supposed to ship 600 queens.  The crew only brought in 26.  All orders were being shipped in the order they where received.  It could be next week.  Or two weeks.  Or six weeks.  Or never.  If I wanted to cancel my order, I was free to do it online.

Because heaven forbid she have to find that order while we were on the phone and ripped it up right then!

 

I did cancel my order online.  I threw all my plans out the window and went back to the drawing board.  In canceling my order, I read the fine print.  You are only allowed to cancel one order with this breeder and expect a full refund.  Any orders after that will only be issued a store credit.  Only one get-out-of-jail-free card.  Then after that you're just stuck with them!

 

Guess this was my last order with this breeder...for soooo many reasons.

 

More to come on my Queen breeder Education of 2015.

Super Funny!

I've shared how miserable May was in Texas.  I won't tell you I breezed through it with a smile on my face the whole time.  Having said this, I usually try to find some good and some funny in bad times.  My daughter tells me my life is animated.  Like a cartoon.  Maybe she's right.  It can be easier to view things with a little animation.  May was no exception.  It came with some hilarious events as well.  I mean, how can you live through all that mud and not have some funny stories to share at the end of it?

My little place in the world is home of the worst dirt in America.  It is black clay.  In a drought, it can get as hard as concrete.  Heaven forbid you should need to dig a hole.  It is a workout!  In the rains, it gets slick and thick.  It gunks up on the bottom of your shoes and won't let go.  The longer you are in it, the heavier your feet get.  Heaven forbid you should need to dig a hole.  That stuff sticks to a shovel like nobody's business.  It can also get a little slippery.  It's miserable.  Having said that, let me also give it some credit.  As a gardener/farmer, I know from experience it can turn into something wonderful.  It takes a mountain of composted material and a lot of back breaking work, but you can end up with a very beautiful, rich product in the end.

We weren't gardening in May.

I spent a lot of time with my truck in four-wheel drive.  I spent a lot of time driving a nasty truck.  I also spent a lot of time throwing mud up and down the roads once I hit pavement.

The Blue Dog Bee Lady lives north of me.  She has the same lovely soil I have.  She also happens to live at the bottom of a rolling prairie.  When it rains, she gets some mud.  I traveled up to help her inspect her hives one afternoon.  We knew she had some wet places, but we thought we could manage the terrain.  We loaded up her truck with all of the necessary supplies and started out.  It didn't take long before our boots were weighing about 30 lbs. each.  We expected this.  Once we made it to the back of her property, we were able to get most of our inspections done without much trouble. 

She has a history of some really aggressive hives.

One of her hives was going crazy.  They had started their spring build-up earlier then everyone else, and there were a lot of bees in that box.  We discussed our options and decided to split them.  This is a pretty standard practice to prevent swarming, but she was grumbling a little. 

She only wants six hives in her world.

Splitting hives means you are essentially increasing your apiary.  Splitting an aggressive hive means they will essentially try to kill you in the process.  Something about dividing their world puts them in a really bad mood.  It also means you need to relocate the split.  Sitting them right next to each other will not work.  All your workers will just go back to their original hive, and you will have done everything for nothing.

We loaded the split up into the back of her truck.  Grabbed the rest of our gear and were heading out of there.  She had decided to relocate them to the front of her property temporarily.  My boots were covered in mud at this point.  So, not wanting to get her truck completely filthy, I hopped up on the tailgate and told her to drive us out of there.  She jumped in and began navigating us through an area that was a little swampy.  It took all of two seconds and I realized we weren't going to make it.  In true fashion, in the deepest, slimiest part of this swamp, we came to a stop.  Tires spinning.  Mud flying.  Mad bees in the bed of the truck next to me. 

We were stuck.

Little known fact about transporting bees...if you have an emergency and you have a load of bees it greatly limits the people you can call for help.

I hopped off the tailgate to assess the situation.  She climbed out of the cab to have a look as well.  We were stuck alright.  We had also made some really nice ruts in the field.  In a situation like this you only have one choice. 

You have to get out of it.

Waiting for her man to come home and then explaining what we were doing did not seem like a good option.  Leaving the vehicle there was out of the question as well.  We were sure we couldn't hide our poor decision making.  Not to mention we had a box of really mad bees loaded in the back.  What were we going to do...carry them?

I slopped around in the mud, and then closed the tailgate.  I jumped behind the wheel to see if I could get us out of it, but no luck.  I think we were just getting deeper.  I jumped out and told her to get in.  My plan was to push while she drove us out of the mud.  I instructed her to get behind the wheel and punch it.  She looked at me with great concern.

me:  Just get in and punch it.

her:  What are you going to do?

me:  Push.

her:  Why don't you drive and I'll push?

me:  It's your truck.  You drive.

her:  I don't want to drive.

me:  You have to.  It's the law.

She slowly got behind the wheel.  I positioned myself at the tailgate.  I would like to remind you we had a box of very angry bees in the back of this truck.  We had our suits on.  Bee suits are white!  I put my shoulder on the tailgate.  I was ready to give it everything I had and pray.  She got out of the truck.

her:  When you say 'punch it' do you mean gas all the way to the floor?

me:  Yes!

her:  I don't know about this.

me:  Push the gas pedal all the way down.  When you started moving, don't slow down until you get to the driveway.  I'll catch up.  Don't wait on me.

She was a little more than nervous.  She may have even argued with me some more about letting her push while I drove.  I tried to encourage her, and laughed at her because she had never gotten herself stuck and had to get herself out before.

me:  Get in the truck!

She did.  She punched it.  I put my shoulder into the tailgate and started pushing.  The mud wasn't giving me much traction either.  Her tires started spinning.  Mud was flying.  Mud was flying high and far.  The ruts were getting deeper, and for a moment I didn't think we were going to make it out of this situation alive.  In the end, she got some traction.  She kept the gas to the floor and fish-tailed her way to the drive.  She did everything I said.  Once on solid ground, she stopped and got out of the truck.  I really wish I had a picture of what I looked like.  My suit was no longer white.  Her truck was no longer clean.  Her field was no longer pretty.

She celebrated her success.  She may have been on a little adrenaline rush at this point.  She had never actually put the gas pedal all the way to the floor before.  We dropped off our load of angry bees.  Then we put the truck back in its regular parking spot.  Once we had it unloaded, we took a look at the truck and the ruts we had left behind in the field.  She just looked at me.

"He'll never notice."

Rain in May.

I already whined about the flooding in May.  I've whined about the flooding in May all year.  It is October.  We are in a full-on drought again, and yesterday, I was still whining about the flooding in May.

Maybe today will be the last day I whine about the flooding in May?

I make no promises.

So.  You get it.  It rained almost the entire month of May.  It was lovely, awesome, scary, depressing, and very muddy.  The thing about being in a drought for over four years...all those low areas, which may have needed to be addressed for drainage purposes, get pushed to the back burner.  Then the rain comes.  I am doing my best to get those addressed by the end of this year.  We are expecting to have a very wet winter.  Not sure if it will happen, but even with all the flooding in May, I'm okay with it. 

Bring it on!

Along with the rains, came tons of bad weather.  High winds.  Tornadoes.  Hail.  You know?  Fun stuff.   I can not count the times we had tornadoes tracking directly at us from the west.  It happened over and over again.  Each time, when they were a few miles out, they would take a northerly turn.  This would give me one second to sigh in relief.  Only one second.  The tornadoes northerly turns put them directly in the path of one of my largest bee yards.  As many times as I've tried, I can't picture what a direct hit by a tornado would look like on a bee yard.

It would have to bee utter chaos. 

This particular bee yard was my first apiary off of my property.  I was such a rookie back then.  I didn't want my hives sitting up by the road.  It is no small investment, and the thought of some kids or another outlaw beekeeper  messing with my livestock was of big concern to me.  No. No.  I wanted this apiary concealed.  So, I put it on the back fence of a fifty acre field.  It was concealed alright.  It was also almost impossible to get to after heavy rains.

Did I mention it flooded the entire month of May?

Many times over, I sat with the television tuned into my favorite meteorologist, scanner in hand and tuned into emergency services tracking and responding to weather related emergencies, checking twitter, running in and out to visually check storms myself, and praying.  It was exhausting and this scenario repeated multiple times.  Once I knew my home and livestock here were safe, I would switch gears to areas where I had apiaries set-up.  Not to forget, texting and calling areas of family and friends.  I would go through the motions of locking the barns down, making a run around the house to check for items that may end up in someone else's yard, cramming my truck into the garage, and grabbing the dogs.

My dogs were so sick of getting thrown into the bathroom for safe keeping.

Here is one storm I captured.  It had been tracking directly toward my home.  Then, made a turn and headed to the apiary I mentioned above.  I headed out to check the girls.  In this shot, it had already passed my bee yard, and was tracking directly toward the Blue Dog Bee Lady.

Side note:  The Blue Dog Bee Lady never worries about storms.  Doesn't watch the weather...nothing.  One tornado earlier this year went right down the road in front of her house!  When I checked on her...she said, "Oh.  I heard sirens heading down the road.  Wondered what was going on."  After that conversation, I kept her updated via text of what was heading her way.  She usually reported back with the color of her pajamas.  You know.  In case the house was flattened and I had to dig through debris to find her.  Then, I would know what to look for.  That girl is very low-key.

Several times, after a sigh of relief that the house was safe, I would load up in the truck and drive out to the bee yard.  I started referring to it as a Fly-by.  Reason being?  I would get out there, unlock the gate and open it, then put my truck in four-wheel drive and never hit the brakes until I was safely back at the gate.  There is a small winding gravel road leading through that property.  It was usually under water in some places.  It also ended about half the distance to the bees.  Once you left the gravel, it was imperative you not hit the brakes.  Just punch it and hold on!  Once I was close enough to the see the hives, I would start a wide, sweeping turn.  Counting lids as I went by.  Once I knew the lids were on and the hives were intact, I gunned it and got the heck out of there.

Luckily, I never had to stop.

Getting stuck in the mud out there would require some help.  When I say help, I mean someone with a tractor and a really big heart.  Good thing I know a few people that would fall under that category.  Luckily I never had to drag them out in the rain.

CrossRoad Farm Beekeeping School

I know some of you may be shocked right now. 

Yes. 

I am sitting at the keys. 

I'm a little nervous. 

I haven't done this in soooo long. 

Hope I can remember how.

*deep breath*

*eyes closed*

*jumping in*

This has been the craziest year in so many different ways.  I'm not always good at preparation, but I'm not sure anyone could have predicted the many hurdles I've faced this year.  I am not willing to say I have made it across the finish line, because this race isn't over yet.  I do feel like I am maintaining a decent pace at this point.  No record setting times.  No championship ribbons.  Just slow and steady.  I am still on my feet.  No longer to the side of the road, heaving for a breath, red-faced, and suffering with leg cramps!

Earlier - yes.

Today - no.

This year, I jumped full in with beekeeping lessons.  I started teaching beginning beekeeping in 2014, but this year I expanded.  It is really funny, but at the beginning of the year I thought I would sign a maximum of ten students.  In my mind, that would be a reasonable and manageable number.  I ended up signing seven.

I would not have survived eight!

Not because my students are difficult.  They are amazing.  It was all due to the weather.  Time is limited when there is only so much sunshine in your life.  In the beekeeping world there are only so many things you can do on a rainy day.  You can build equipment, but you can't seal it or paint it.  You can make sugar syrup to feed your bees, but you may not be able to get out to the bee yard to give it to them.  You can read books on beekeeping, but let's bee honest.  Books on beekeeping usually lead to napping in my experience.

Not the most riveting material, if you know what I mean!

My class structure is on a personal level with one-on-one instruction.  I think it allows people to move at their own pace.  You don't get bogged down in a large group.  It gives me more freedom.  Plus, it gives everyone a better opportunity to get to know each other.  I never expected teaching to be such an amazing experience.  I would not have told you I would have enjoyed it as much as I have.  The 2015 Class were a very eclectic group.  Different ages.  Different backgrounds.  Different outside interests.  Different personalities.

All very beautiful people!  

With all their differences, we came together for the love of honey and the honey bee.  Everyone approached this new hobby with eyes wide open!  They listened.  They learned.  They asked questions.  Some even tested me on a few topics.  Another aspect of teaching, for me personally, is learning.  I don't claim to know everything.  If you ask me a question I do not have the answer to, I'm totally open about it, but I will have the answer the next time I see you.  One of the things I love most about beekeeping is the fact you will never know it all.  The honeybee is constantly being researched and studied.  I go to clinics every year to learn the new, latest, greatest, fill-in-the-blank about this intriguing little bee.

Each student starts with in-class lessons.  Not the most exciting part, but necessary.  We learn about equipment, the basic workings of a hive, and pests and disease.  Everyone jumped right in.  They took their classes.  They did their homework.  They built their equipment. 

Then...we had our first lesson in the bee yard.

I have to say this is my favorite part.  Taking a newbie into the bee yard for the first time is AWESOME!  I remember my first time.  I was a nervous wreck.  It also happened to be the day I would be bringing my bees home.  I mean, talk about sink or swim.  I stood in a group of about 20 other newbies.  We were all suited up and had our smokers going.  To a newbie, your smoker is your life line!  So you can imagine the amount of smoke we were putting out.  My eyes were watering.  I was coughing.  Finally, I looked at my instructor and said, "Either get me out in the bee yard now, or I'm going to run screaming from this place!"

Hilarious!

In preparing to meet bees for the first time, I shared this experience with all involved.  We discussed what to expect.  What to do.  What not to do.  I asked them all if they had any questions or concerns?  Were they apprehensive?  Nervous...anything?  In true fashion, they were all very different.  Some openly nervous.  Some with serious reservations, but doing their best to hide them.  Some just ready.  Whatever their frame of mind going in, they all had the same response when we were done.

They couldn't believe it!

It was awesome!

It was not what they expected!

They were HOOKED!

They each went home to set up their apiaries.  They each waited in anticipation for the arrival of their honeybees. They were eager to get started.

Then the rains hit.

I started beekeeping during a drought.  It was all I had known.  I taught my students based on a typical year.  Then I had to look them in the eye and say, "Okay.  All that stuff I taught you?  Forget about it.  It's not happening.  We're going to do this instead..."  Luckily for me, they are smart cookies.  They could all see what was going on around us, and they could all understand the impact it was having on our bees.  I spent a lot of time this spring emailing my mentor, and asking him a million questions.  My mentor has been a beekeeper for thirty years.

He'd never seen anything like this.

North Texas started out celebrating a wet spring.  It has been a long time coming.  The land needed it.  The lakes needed it.  The people and the livestock needed it.  Then, it slowly started to turn to dread.  We had floods.  We had tornadoes and high winds.  We had hail storms.  We had rain for 27 of 29 days!  My students all hung in there.  The night we picked up and delivered their bees, we were dodging bad weather the entire time.  No one wants to be caught out in a hail storm, or heaven forbid, a tornado.  I certainly didn't want to experience either with a truck load of bees.

It was crazy!

Once the bees were all relocated in their new homes, the task of helping them build up in hopes of a honey harvest began, and the challenges continued.  We had a lot of hungry bees and we fed more than we normally would have.  Our spring flowers tried to come up, but the rains beat them back down. 

Little known fact:  Rain washes the nectar out of flowers.  It takes about 24 hours of dry weather and sunshine for the nectar to build back up.  Honey bees do not fly in the rain.  If it rains for 24 hours, then three or four hours of sunshine, and then back to raining...over and over again.  See the problem?  Those bees were hungry!

Pretty much the entire 2015 Bee Season has gone like this...

1.   Make a plan in anticipation of what the bees need.
2.   Go to bee yard.
3.   Realize your bees have not read any of the same books you've read.
4.   Admit your bees are not behaving in a typical manner.
5.   Your bees have their own plan.
6.   Go back and make adjustments according to their plan.
7.   Re-evaluate anything and everything you know about bees.
8.   Contact your mentor to pick his brain.
9.   Evaluate all available information.
10. Try Again.

The fact that these seven individuals had trusted me to teach them to be beekeepers weighed heavily on me.  I love my bees.  I wanted them to love their bees.  I also wanted each of them to be successful.  I would have taken it very personally if one of them had failed.  Somehow.  Someway.  We did it.  The Class of 2015 hung with me.  They adapted.  They bought more sugar than they have ever bought in their lives.  They fed their bees.  They checked their bees.  They worried over their bees.  This was a very challenging year to be a beginner, but they made it, and they all enjoyed a honey harvest. 

Hats off to all of you! 

You worked hard for that sweet reward!

I will continue giving lessons as long as I am able. 

The reward for me was much sweeter than honey!

I know. I know.

Still waiting to hear from me?  

I'M TRYING!  

It really is a blizzard of snow on the prairie.   When will this stuff quit blooming?  I want to be done already!  

Ugh!

What a teaser...

I bet you all thought that last post would lead to something amazing!  Me, too!  Then, in typical fashion, by bees decided to throw a ton of work my way, and do their best to continue to consume all of my time!  I have wanted to escape into the air conditioning and catch up with you, but they are trying to kill me.

Figuratively and Literally!

I should be out there right now dealing with a few issues, but I'm procrastinating.  I'll get out there, but thought I would write a few words first.  Just want to give you a preview of what's to come, and in doing so, give myself a list of topics before I forget them all.  I've never been known for my memory, and the sun has been baking my brain on a daily basis this summer.

• CrossRoad Farm Beekeeping School - Teaching beekeeping lessons has been one of the most rewarding things I have done in a long time.  My students are an amazing group.  They are all very different personalities, but have all come together for the love of honeybees and honey!
• Rain in May - As a beekeeper, rain during the spring is an amazing and exciting prospect, but when it rains for 27 days in one month...anticipation turns to dread!  I knew it was taking a huge toll on my hives in May!  I had no idea the havoc it would create for the rest of the year!  It will make you rethink everything you have ever thought before.
• Queen Bee Breeders - Let's just say I learned a few things about a few breeders this year.  It has forever changed the way I will do business in this area of my operation.  I may, or may not name names! 
• Honey Harvest 2015 - Setting up your own bee shop and extracting equipment is super exciting!  Trying to harvest four bee yards, plus the Blue Dog Bee Lady's bee yard, plus all of your students apiaries may kill you!  Lack of sleep, 100+ degree heat, and a bee product that should help you pull your honey supers off their hives, but doesn't...will make you want to quit your own business!
• Creeper T.V. - Apparently I have an addiction to television that depicts serial killers, murderers, rapists, wives that kill their husbands, husbands that kill their wives, etc.  I think this scared my husband.  I learned that when I shut down...I go to a deep, dark place.
• Still no end in Sight - As insane as this spring has been, right now is even crazier.  We are having this amazing nectar flow right now.  It really has taken me by surprise.  My bees are building up like crazy.  They are increasing their population, building wax, and storing honey.  This has created the last bit of drama in my life.  I am building and painting boxes.  I am ordering queens and splitting hives.  Yes.  More hives!
• What to do? - This entire year has me rethinking my entire operation, and what I feel like I can actually handle.  Plus, I would like to have a life.  You know, other than beekeeping!
• Oh, and the day I almost died! - Gotta have a cliff-hanger!

I know.  This is a lot, but it is what's to come!  Plus all of the other crazy things I did.  Things that have nothing to do with bees.  Attaching a picture below of the crazy little flower that has my world still going 900mph.  This shot is not representative of what is actually out there.  Some fields are solid white.  The plant is called Snow on the Prairie.  Super fitting.  In places, it looks like a frickin' blizzard!  Too bad it makes a less-than-stellar honey.  It's gonna be all for the girls this winter.

As I type this...I'm kinda glad.  Don't really think I could handle another harvest right now!

Did I mention I should be done by now?  We normally harvest the middle of July.  Then you do any splits the beginning of August.  Then, in the worst case, I would be feeding some hives right now.

I am so ready for winter!

Canada, what will it take for a girl to get some cold fronts running down this way?

Life is Good!

I love it when things work out.  I posted previously that I was going to build a honey warmer.  I know, some of you were like, "What?"

As a beekeeper, one problem we all deal with is honey that crystallizes.  All honey will do it at some point or another.  It's just a question of when.  This has never been a problem for me before, but before this year, I've never had honey left in December.  It flies off the shelves as soon as we harvest it.  I still have a decent supply, and I actually have customers that want to give it as Christmas Gifts.

The problem - cold honey does not bottle well.

Crystallized honey is even worse.

The trick with getting your honey back into its most beautiful liquid state is to do it slowly at a low temperature.  If you heat it at too high of a temperature it will caramelize.  Caramelized honey is no good. If you get it to the point of caramel, it will never liquefy again.

Think "Making Candy" - it is sugar at this point!

I've been looking around for an old refrigerator to use as a honey warmer.  Then it dawned on me.  I have a mini fridge the girls used to drag around in college.  It hasn't worked for a while, and I primarily use it for storing pollen substitute for the bees.  After I looked it over, I realized it would be perfect.

Today - I broke out the tools.

I had a plan.

I had supplies.

It all came together.

Exactly like I had envisioned.

(Please excuse photo quality, the garage does not have the best lighting.)

Here is the fridge in question.  You can tell it's been moved around a bit, but it's not too shabby looking.

The view of the inside...

I had to make a few adjustments.  For one, the freezer section was in the way a bit.  It had to go.  Second, I needed a heat source.  Keep in mind, I need low heat over a long period of time.  This is where the genius of my plan comes in.  I won't take all the credit because I had help from some great guys down at the local hardware store.  When I say local, I mean small scale store, no big box stores could have helped with this project.  

They just don't understand me.

The freezer removed, and the light fixture installed, I think I'm in business.  Removing the freezer was easy enough. Adding the light fixture just required drilling a few holes in the bottom and a little wiring to supply power.  No worries, the wiring part was easy.  It was all color coded and pretty simple.

I always knew color coordinating was important to men.

Everything fits perfect.

I'll be bottling honey before you know it.

Really sorry about the photo quality.

Just super excited this actually worked!

Solving the Problems of the World.

Solving the problems of the world is a daunting task.  So daunting, I would never consider it.  I would be happy just to solve my own problems, and possibly the problems of those near and dear to me.  I am no where near accomplishing such a feat, but I think I may have made a small break through.  I have struggled all year.  I have felt over-whelmed, under prepared, and like I've just been hanging on to the shirt-tails of life, flapping in the wind behind it as it blows by.

I will flap no more!

It dawned on me, as I was preparing my house for the upcoming holiday, how behind I've gotten on some necessary chores.  Chores that no one likes doing, but have a positive impact on one's life and happiness.  I've never been awarded a prize for being Suzy Homemaker.  My home is lived in.  For the most part, I manage to do what is necessary and just live with the rest.  It's easy to live with the rest when you just go outside.  I follow the out-of-sight out-of-mind mantra.

I've learned over the years that if you hit spring with a good spring cleaning, then manage to throw a couple of party's over the summer, things stay relatively organized.  I mention the parties because I have found them to be the best motivation for a good cleaning.  Couple that with a good holiday cleaning and you're golden.  I don't fret if the baseboards and the ceiling fans aren't cleaned once a week.

Not my style.

If I can manage the spring event, plus a few parties, plus the holiday schedule, things stay relatively orderly around here. The benefit of the major cleanings is to reduce clutter.  These are the times of the year that I go through closets and rooms without much sentiment.  If it doesn't get used or worn, it's out of here.  I also manage a spring and fall overhaul in the barn.  These have been very thorough in the past years.  Cleaning out the loft, scrubbing down stall walls, removing stall mats and hitting everything with a pressure washer.

Yesterday I realized I have been slacking in these areas.  I'm going to make a bold statement here, but I am going to blame it on being a bee keeper.  Becoming a keeper of bees has messed up my entire schedule of events.  My spring was crazy.  My summer was equally crazy.  My fall did not slow down a bit.

At present, I'm still trying to adjust to the time change.  I'm not sure who invented Day Light Savings time, and I'm not going to Google it and find out, but I'd like to punch 'em.  It always messes me up.  I hate dark at 5:00 pm.  I need sun.  I have always wished they would just leave the time alone.  I get that winter brings shorter days, but let me adjust to that on my own!

Stay with me.

There's a point here.

Beekeeping has become my Day Light Savings Time of spring cleaning.  It's not possible to do it in the spring.  This would be fine if I was a man and had a wife to do the chores.  I am not a man.  I do not have a wife.  At times I think I'd like one, but then I realize we would probably argue for hours on end.

Who needs that?

(Man in Charge, if you're reading this, YOU DO!)

I'm not sure how to compensate for these changes.  I've been in spring cleaning mode this week.  It's necessary to my survival.  I am buried under things that need to be culled from my life.  Useful things that someone else should have. Things I would happily donate if I just had the time to gather them.  I know this job is not relative to Thanksgiving Dinner or the plans I have for the coming weekend, but they must be done!

Side note:  Why, as women, do we measure our success in life by such things?

I feel like a failure if things are cluttered and unorganized.  I have never heard the Man in Charge measure his worth by the state of our closet!

Ugh!

I'm going to take a serious look at the calendar and try to come up with an alternate schedule to get these tasks taken care of.

I am essentially going to create Bee Light Savings Time!

Beautiful Day!

We've been cold and miserable, but in true fashion, Texas delivered a 60 degree day!  The sun was shining.  We had a light wind.  It was awesome.

Except for two things...

1. I'm supposed to be getting things caught up and in order for Thanksgiving next week.  All of those chores are indoors and boring.
2. I had bee chores begging for my attention.

One would think this is a win/win.  

Ditch the housework and get outside!

I did ditch the indoor chores, but I didn't really enjoy myself outside.  I managed to run around and feed all of my bees, checking for evidence of survival.  Most of this went well, except the girls were a little unpleasant today.  I mean, seriously, how much fun is it to hang around a bunch of cranky women?  This meant my feeding stops all went very quickly.  I had bees trying to hitch a ride in the truck.  I had bees stuck on my suit.  I had bees constantly buzzing in my ear.  I started getting hot.  My new haircut was getting in my face.  I was fogging up my sunglasses.  It was crazy.

It didn't take long for me to get cranky.

I made my rounds at the house last.  I just wanted to be done.  Please, force me inside to clean house!  That's when I noticed something off.  I had a hive that was relatively small, but there seemed to be a lot of activity around it.  I was pretty certain a population boom wasn't the explanation.  I grabbed the smoker and lit it up.  It took all of two seconds to see the hive in question had not made it through the cold snap.  Without bees to defend the hive, all the neighboring bees were having a field day.

Thieves!

It's sort of sad, but that hive has struggled since the beginning.  I hate to lose one, but this one didn't really surprise me.  I had sort of expected it.  Since I had the smoker going, I went ahead and popped the lid on a few more hives I had been concerned about.  I'm happy to report they are doing great.  I did manage to move some hives around and grab some panels to put up in the pasture.  Trying to prepare for the next cold snap ahead of time.  I have two hives by the driveway that I am moving to the pasture tonight.

Joy!

Moving bees in the dark.

My favorite thing to do.

All in all, I have accomplished some big tasks today, but my mood is foul and has paid the price.  My hair's still in my face, and now I smell like a bee smoker.  I see a hot bath, a hot cup of tea, and an early night in my near future.

Is it possible to actually catch up?

I always think, "If I can just get caught up, then life will be so much easier."

I am starting to think this is delusional thinking.

A game I play with the voice in my head?

Obviously it hasn't happened yet.

Am I just fooling myself?

Is it even a realistic possibility?  

I spend most of my life flying by the seat of my pants.  It's frustrating and totally self-inflicted, but it is my reality.  I spent all last week trying to recover from my camping trip.  Running around in the cold, stacking up bales of straw to protect my bees from the cold that has infiltrated my world much earlier than usual this season.

Side note:  Going to blame the early cold on my new Canadian Friend.  You see, I enjoy my relationship with her, but I've come to realize the problem with making friends with Canadians...they're really nice people.  Nice people want to share. It's the number one rule of being a nice person.  Sharing!  Please stop!  Our averages for this time of the year, highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's.  It snowed here last night.  Love ya, but really, I'm good!

In my hectic world, I find it best to get geared up for big events.  The best way to gear up?  Take a day off!  Rest.  Relax. Mentally prepare.  My problem, it never fails when I get in the mood to shut-down my world, like I did yesterday, something happens.

I started my day with a large box of donuts.  Don't judge me.  Well, go ahead.  It's fine.

A photo posted by bee wrangler (@bee_wrangler) on Nov 11, 2014 at 9:07am PST

My intentions, to eat as many as I could, then take a sugar-coma induced nap!  Followed in the evening by a nice cup of hot tea and to sleep like a baby all night!

The donuts thing completely happened.

Then, I countered the sugar-coma with a lot of coffee because I found a horse in the barn with a mild belly ache.  Horses with belly aches are a big concern when we suffer drastic weather changes.  I don't know if it's the change in barometric pressure, or temperatures, or what, but it's a huge concern for every horse owner.  Their environment changes and their habits change.  Either they spend more time in the barns, or they drink less water due to the cold, or they are just finicky creatures.  I don't know.  My neighbor just experienced the same thing the other night.  Unfortunately it was devastating for them.  After having a veterinarian out and spending all night with a sick horse, they ended up at the vet clinic the next day with out any success.  The animal had to be put down, and now there's a man grieving the loss of a good horse.  A tragedy that left us all sad, while reminding us about the realities of these fragile animals.

I have been hauling warm water to the barn for the horses to drink since the cold snap hit last Tuesday.  A chore I don't mind, but I do feel my arms get longer every winter.  My mare tends to be the more fragile of the two standing out there, so I have been pleased with the amount of water she has been drinking.  Saturday night had been damp, drizzly, and cold.  The winds had switched around to the south, but the dampness just made it feel colder.  I had been able to let her out earlier in the day.  Then another cold front moved through and the winds were back out of the north.  I had decided with the pastures wet from the night before, I'd leave the horses in for the day.  I ran to the barn to throw hay and dump water before I headed out to fulfill my need of sugar and bread.

All was good.

After consuming large amounts of junk food, I proceeded to goof around on the Internet for a bit.  Longing for a nap, I decided to head to the barn with water and to drop more hay before crashing out for the afternoon.  My grand ideas of sweats, a cozy blanket, curling up with my dog, and drifting off into a Utopian dreamland vanished!

My mare had been laying down and she had not finished her breakfast.

I gave her the once over.  Checking her gums for color - still pink.  Checking her sides for signs of pain and discomfort.  She has done this to me plenty of times before, and if her sides are drawn up tight, I know I'm in real trouble.  She seemed to be okay in this area.  I listened for gut sounds, still hearing light sounds, but not the usual amount of action one would hope for.  I cleaned her stall, looking for fresh poop.  Gross, but always a necessary inspection process.  I moved to her brother's stall, but kept an eye on her.  She was pacing a bit with her discomfort.  Trying to decide what to do, I made the decision to gamble and go with my gut feeling.  I was hoping I caught this at the beginning, and could possibly head it off before having to call the veterinarian out for an emergency call.

I ran to the house, informed the Man in Charge of my discovery, grabbed a shot of pain medication, and ran back to the barn.  I gave her the shot and waited for it to hit her.  Within about 15 minutes she was starting to relax a bit.

At the same time it started sleeting outside.

I know from past experience with this horse, the key is to keep her calm and comfortable.  The shot seemed to be accomplishing my goal.  I had removed all of her hay, and within minutes of the medication relieving her discomfort, she started looking around her stall for scraps.

My next decision was the big gamble.

1. Go gear up with every winter item I own and get her out of the barn and start walking her?  
2. Or, just see if I could get her to drink water and stay calm? 

I was leaning more towards #2!

This started the long, miserable process of running to the barn every thirty minutes to check on her.  If I found her laying down at any point, I would immediately call the veterinarian.  The first check, no evidence of laying down and she had drank a bit of water.  The second visit, a fresh poop.  The third visit, she drank more water and tried to bite the crap out of me!

Her brother was eating hay.

She was not.

This did not sit well with her.

I did this until midnight last night.  She managed to drink a five gallon bucket of water and take a few poops.  Each trip a little scarier for me.  The downside to this plan of action:

• Pain medication wearing off.
• Finding I had just delayed the inevitable.
• Calling the veterinarian for an emergency call.
• Walking my horse in the sleet/snow.
• Spending the night in the barn with freezing cold temperatures.

I am happy to report, this gamble paid off!  

I love it when that happens!

I caught it early enough to head off a big problem.  She seems to be doing fine this morning, and she's much happier now that she's getting a little hay.  I, on the other hand, not doing so well.  I've been gulping coffee at an absurd rate.  Yes, gulping!  No pinkies raised here.  Two hands, grasping a mug of coffee like it's my only chance of survival!  

I've managed the daunting task of making a list for the week.  Having to come to terms with the reality of my situation. Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  All the projects I hoped to accomplish before opening my home for this holiday have been firmly placed on the chopping block.  Ten years ago, I would have started remodeling the kitchen without hesitating.  The present day version of myself is much more pragmatic about what can actually be accomplished.

As if an upcoming holiday isn't enough to add to the burdens of being one step behind on my to-do list, add another weather change.  The forecast is calling for a warm up.  Another change for the animals in my world to endure.  Plus, a golden opportunity to knock out some bee chores before the next blast of cold hits us from the north.

So stay tuned.

It's going to be another jam packed week!

Blogging Every Day!

Sounds easy.  

Most days, it is easy.  

Today, not easy.

As you may know, I went camping this past weekend.  What you may not know, I had planned on winterizing all my bees this past weekend.  Last Friday and Saturday were perfect for such a chore.  Nice weather.  Lots of sunshine.

I was not here.

I'm not complaining.  My trip was of the utmost importance and I gladly cleared my schedule to go.  The only problem came upon arriving back home.  Monday was 80 degrees, but 30 mph winds gusting up to 40 mph.  Not exactly ideal when it comes to beekeeping.  Plus, I had totally neglected some of my other duties.  This meant Monday was all about catching up.

Tuesday the cold front arrived.

Yesterday I ran around stacking bales of straw to use as wind breaks and installing entrance reducers.  Two things required for bees to make it through the winter.  I did not get everything finished.  Today has been much colder.  I picked back up where I left off.

The wind has been ridiculous.

I still have things to do.

I still have to go back outside.

I've lived in my coveralls today.

Heading out to finish, then off to bed.  

You'll get more of the camping adventure tomorrow.

Sometimes you reach a point...then have to choose a direction.

Going to let you guys in on a little secret.  

I'm trusting you to keep this just between us.  

We're friends, right?

The name of my farm is CrossRoad Farm.

The little slogan I do my best to tag on everything... 

"Sometimes you reach a point...then have to choose a direction."

It has been with me my whole life.

At first glance, you may think my property is located at a crossroads.  Not hardly.  Or, located in Crossroads, Texas?  Not even close.  When I originally came up with this name, I lived at the end of a long, winding road, on a cul-de-sac.  At present, my property is located on a regular street.  I'm not at the end.  I'm not in the middle.  Just the second house down on the left.  It has never been about location.  It has always been about a state of mind.

Where am I?  
Who am I?
What's happening in my life?  
Where do I want to go?  
How do I want to get there?  
Who do I want to take along for the ride?  
Who am I kicking out of the truck?

It has always been about food to some extent.  I've had a passion for organic gardening since the beginning.  After planting the first seed, and enduring the challenges of nature, organic or natural gardening has been important to me.  My first challenge came when ants took up residence in my garden.  I did what most do.  I went to the store to get some ant killer. Ants can be mean, and I wanted them gone.  The problem came when I started reading the labels.

Ha!  My label reading affliction started long ago!  

I couldn't find anything that I wanted near my food, or the food I wanted to feed my children.  I was also going through a lot of bad stuff in my life.  Bad relationships.  Bad self-image.  Bad decision making.

The name just grew out of the dysfunction.

I wanted to start my own organic farm all the way back in the late 90's.  I was a member of the Texas Organic Grower's Association.  I subscribed to a ton of publications, like Acres, USA.  I even went to an organic gardening convention in Austin Texas.  It was a dream.  Then, life happened.  Jobs changed.  Relationships changed.  A plague of grasshoppers moved in.  I had to make decisions for my family.  My dream was moved to the back burner, and life moved front and center.  I'm not complaining.  I just had to do what I had to do.

Fast-forward to the beginning of this blog.  Completely different life.  Completely different relationships.  Completely different goals.  Completely different location.  Same dream.  Trying not to disrupt everyone's life in my household, I started small.  I had fun.  Crazy things happened.  Then, a drought and a second plague of grasshoppers that tried to rival the first I'd seen.  When out of the chaos, a new love happened.  My bees!  I really do love my bees.  It was unsuspecting.  It was challenging.  It's very rewarding.  Even though it's crazy hard at times, I love it.  I also love honey, and I feel very good about the crop I produce.

Yet, I'm still standing at that same CrossRoad!

A lot of things have changed in my life.  Life does that.  The only constant is change.  Whether you refuse to see it, and the world is changing around you.  Or, you grab on to it, and see where it takes you.  There is, and always will be CHANGE. There is change ahead.  I can feel it.  I can smell it.  I can even taste it a little.  I don't know what it is, and because I am controlling by nature, it frustrates me a little.  I like to have a plan.  I like to have a direction.  I don't like standing in the middle of a CrossRoad waiting to figure it out, but I am.  I'm just hanging out in the middle of the road.  Looking from one direction to the next.  Turning in a circle.  Trying to decide which path is the right one.

The facts are, I don't have enough information at this point to choose.

I've been here for a while.  Trying to define myself.  Trying to consolidate who I am.  Trying to wrap it all up in a pretty package.  I think this partly explains why I have been neglecting this blog.  I know I've been busy, but really, I've just been undecided.  I've been trying to define this space.  Trying to understand who I am and what I want to put out there about myself.  I don't have those answers, and I finally understand why.

I don't fit inside a pretty little package! 

I can not be wrapped up in paper with a pretty bow on top.  It doesn't work.  You can't shove me inside a gift bag with tissue paper either.  I'm that annoying present that can't be wrapped in a manner to make a presentable gift.  There is not a box I fit in, and even if you find a box large enough, it will be one larger than the paper is wide.  You're going to have to use two sheets to cover all the sides.  There's not enough ribbon to cover all the seams and hide the truth.

Not going to happen!

Today, of all days, this is finally okay with me.  I can't define, or redefine, this blog.  This blog is about me.  I'm a retired stay-at-home mom.  I'm an empty-nester.  I'm a wife.  I'm a Christian.  I'm a sinner.  I'm a gardener.  I'm a beekeeper.  I'm a do-it-your-selfer.  I'm a horse owner.  I'm a dog lover.  I'm a cat lover.  I'm the egg lady.  I'm the bee lady.  I'm a city girl. I'm a country girl.  I'm a rebel.

I'm all over the place!

If you come here to learn about bees?  Keep coming.  You'll learn a thing or two.  If you really want to learn about bees? Contact me.  I teach beekeeping.  If you want to learn about gardening?  You're going to have to dig in the archives.  We've had terrible weather and it has not been successful for a long time.  If you want to talk about raising kids?  I know a thing or two.  Shoot!  I'll do my best to answer.  If you want to read crazy stories that give you a little insight into who I am?  Check back daily.  You never know what you'll find.  I don't fit into a category, and today, I'm no longer going to try.

Oddly, I'm breathing a little easier.  

Now I feel better.

Whew! Glad that's over!

Just kidding!

This was just the beginning.

If you've been keeping up, the last three posts cover the events of one night!  One single night of moving bees all over the country side!  One night that seemed to last forever!  One night that did it's best to turn us into quitters!  One night!  One night that really drove home the ridiculousness of...

We're only doing ten splits.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please, take a moment to go back and read what we've been through up to this point.

Go ahead.  

I'll wait.

As much fun as we had getting everyone moved around.  The fun wasn't over.  Now we had to install our new queens. Queens we had received via UPS.  Queens we had fed a little drop of honey.  Queens we had let spend the night in the guest room.

Yes, I love my bees that much.

Plus, it was super hot in the garage, and the guest room is the warmest room in the house.  They're very temperamental girls, you know.

Installing queens is not a super hard task.  The difficulty comes when your not sure where the old queen is.  Some hives we split, we had actually laid eyes on the old queen, and knew if we left her where she was or moved her.  Some hives, we had no idea.  Like the mean hive we moved at the very end.  They were so aggressive, we just decided to split them and then look for her the next day.  The thought being it would be easier to look through half as many aggressive bees twice than all of them at once.  The problems started when we were in a hive, thinking we had no queen and realized we had a queen. This led to a lot of driving back and forth.  Checking and double-checking.  Plus making a trip to the Blue Dog Bee Lady's place.

It took all day!

All day in the heat!

No fun.  

We were tired.

The fun part started when we left the Blue Dog Bee Lady's place and stopped at a gas station to grab a drink.  We pulled up wearing full-on bee gear!  Not sure why, it just happened.  We had been living in those get-ups for the last 24-plus hours. We definitely got a few looks as we pulled in and parked.  The funnier part came as we jumped out of the truck. Simultaneously, on each side of the truck, we started pulling our gear off.  Hats.  Suits.  Boots.  Each of us grabbing a ball cap, tennis shoes, and, if I recall, smearing on a little deodorant.  Slamming the doors, we met in front of the truck to look up and see we had quite an audience.

Seriously.

It was like people had never seen a bee suit before.

Or, two girls getting out of them as fast as they could.

They're hot.

It wasn't like we weren't fully dressed beneath them.

We had on shorts and t-shirts!

We were super punchy at this point.  We just busted out laughing and went in to grab a cold drink.

Definition of Punchy:  Everything becomes stupidly, ridiculously funny.  Your brain, mouth, and body quit working together.  You do dumb things.  You say dumb things.  You laugh at EVERYTHING!

We left feeling a little more refreshed and headed out to the big city to grab some provisions.  It had been a while since we made it out for a grocery run, and the pickings were slim on the homestead.  We had a really strange list of items.  As we pulled into the parking lot of Sam's, I started running through the list.  We were in dire need of a siesta, and I wanted to consolidate our trip as much as possible.  From the looks of it, we needed to hit Sam's, Wally World, and the regular grocery store across the street.  My Full-Timer was really on her last leg, and starting to show all the signs.  She just wanted to be done.

Whatever it took!

We are not big Walmart shoppers.  I actually avoid the store like the plague.  It has always been frustrating to me that you can walk in there needing four things, and walk out having spent $100.

What's up with that?

My hat's off to the marketing department within the old Wally World.  Those guys really know how to do their job.  It doesn't matter what four things you need, they will be located on opposite corners of the store.  Then, as you make your way from one side to the other, you will find 50 things, at prices you can't pass up!  I super hate that.  Plus, the whole concept of the big-mega-run every little guy possible-out of business-store, just makes me a little ill.

I'm a little guy!

But, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Running on fumes, my Full-Timer was doing her best to look at the list to see if we could one-stop shop.  We looked at the list fifty ways to Sunday.  Each time, we would be missing something if we only went inside Wally World.  After struggling to find an answer where there was no answer, my Full-Timer grabbed the bill on her ball-cap, pulled it down over her eyes, slumped down in her seat and said,

Forget you, Walmart!

Are you fricking kidding me?

What's it take for a girl to get a break around here!

I had to crack at this moment.  It was so sad.  Yet, so absolutely hilarious!  I laughed until my ribs and my cheeks hurt.  She was laughing just as hard.  We let ourselves have our moment.  Then, we grabbed our list and managed to hit all three stores.

No offense to any Wally shoppers intended.  

We just needed Wally to come through for us, and he let us down miserably!