Premiere

It was brought to my attention this past weekend, that perhaps blogging about the goings on out here where we live might be a good idea.

Posting photos and blurbs sporadically on Facebook may satisfy some curiosity for those I don't see often and need on my part to share and touch base.

But in this format, I can go into a little more detail with various projects, observations, et al I otherwise couldn’t.

So it is with this first installation (‘Premiere’) that I welcome you to the ramblings of life out here in The Redneck Shire, complete with photos.

Thanks for reading!

Recently, CAM & I were fortunate to finally move ahead with plans we’d been vaguely mulling over for awhile, one of which was adding an apiary to Bramble Island.

Over the course of the last 3 years, we’ve made remarkable strides in reclaiming much of what we initially thought was a swampy, briar infested corner to the west of the property.

Just up the bank from the creek and surrounded now by better managed blackberry vines appeared a perfect spot.

Setting off with Groupon in hand, I attended an Introduction to Beekeeping class at Eugene Backyard Farmer given by Bill Wood.

He was clearly passionate and knowledgeable about the subject, but I left with more questions than answers.

Subsequent research both online and through the book 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beeking', which we received at the presentation, helped only a little more.

Turns out, we’ve a local bee/honey/equipment resource, but were months too late ordering the ‘packages’.

They are delivered in mid-April, but pre-sales sell out quickly ahead of time and it was unlikely we’d get anywhere on a wait list.

So we began to explore attracting a natural swarm.

Firstly, we’d need to house them.

Long story short (and if you’ve specific questions as to why we settled on this, I’d be happy to answer) we bought a Warre hive from Professor Bee through his small business Beeologique.

Unbeknownst to us (and it’s going to BEE really hard from here on out not to make clever references like these) assembly was required.

Not to worry, CAM’s fairly handy and the directions pretty simple and as it all came together- rather satisfying.

Top bar hives may not yield as much honey, but they’re more bee friendly.

Our first priority was the stewardship of the bees, with their by-product as a bonus.

Colony collapse is a true concern and many theories exist as to its origin; no doubt pesticides and chemicals are to blame, but there are other factors.

Mans’ interference with the natural structure of comb and physique in the commercial industry’s need for higher yield and profit are also showing dangerous repercussions.

We have learned a great deal in just a short few weeks- they are a fascinating being.

(FYI, it’s the females who do the work, drones go up to the ‘bee layer’ and try to knock up as many queens as they can!)
As suggested, we downloaded Abbe Warre's treatise on his work from Bill's website, then took the pdf. file into Kinko's to have it printed and bound.
Excellent resource.

Below are photos from various points in construction with captions explaining what’s going on.

As it stands now, we await our new tenants eagerly!

Professor Bee

Preparing the apiary means eliminating bramble and mulching an area to support the hive(s)

Even if honey is not forthcoming anytime soon, providing sanctuary for a threatened species will be worthwhile

Zabriskie is a helper dog in PNW foul weather gear

Surprise! Looks like we have to assemble this

There are 3 boxes, but we'll only need 2 this first year

It's a high quality, treated wood and we'll keep it mostly in this unadulterated way

Voila! The rooftop and base board will be painted with a light, outdoor paint mostly for weatherization

Scorching the inside to rid the accommodation of its new wood, construction odor
The old table isn't very aesthetic, but is necessary to protect against predators by getting it up off the ground 

This layer of burlap has been starched with a rye flour solution to keep the bees from chewing through it as they clean their home

Natural lures: old honeycomb & lemongrass/pheromone ampules will be placed in the bottom section

Placing the top bars which have been filled with melted wax so as to cue the bees where to begin creating the comb (see above) 

The quilt box is filled with shavings for insulation
Those little port holes open so we can easily monitor what's happening in there w/o too much disruption

Welcoming committee!