Crop Mob Spring 2013

The Crop Mob held on March 30 was a wonderful success!  About 20 folks showed up to lend a hand with a multitude of projects.  The hoophouse frame is up and ready to go, the pig pen has been cleared out and ready for the house to be put into place, the Two Bees sign is up, dirt was moved, wood chipped, weeds picked, bees checked, and a great time was had by all!  It was so uplifting to see so many folks working together.. Some have been doing this for years while others just bought their first pair of gloves for the event!  It was amazing to watch young and old learning from one another and to see such bright smiling faces!  Thank you so very much to everyone that came out!

This Spring has been a bit "wacky" to say the least!  At times, it felt more like January than March.  The cold, rainy weather has really stalled seedlings.. my potatoes are just now coming up and those poor tiny seedlings are finally starting to take off.  It seems the worst of the cold is behind us.  Everything in the garden is finally coming to life and I hope to have my first veggie boxes out in a few weeks. 

The bees have been VERY active lately.  The three new hives that were put in a few weeks ago are doing well.  One of my older hives is busting with bees.  I checked yesterday and there are queen cells, which means they will swarm soon.  I've got emergency lesson plans set up at school in preparation for the swarm that will surely come.  I just hope I'm lucky enough to be around when it happens.

I had a little bit of that luck on Saturday.  I looked up to see a huge cloud of bees.  As it turns out, it was a swarm that settled right under a table near the hives.  Pictures will be added soon.. I was able to capture the swarm and they are now in a nuc box close by.  I'll check them in a week to make sure the queen is settled in and laying.  So, lucky me, I now have 6 hives, and maybe 7 by the end of the week?