Hidden Opportunities

We lost one of our hives early in December and since there's really nothing to do with it until things get warmer, I just covered the entrances and let it be.  But when my sister and her family came last week, I realized that a winter deadout is a fantastic hidden opportunity to teach people, especially kids, about bees.

First off, I knew for a fact the middle hive was a deadout because Lily and I had already opened it to make sure a few weeks ago.  We thought the nuc was a deadout too and had opened it only to find that not only was it alive, but defensive.   On this day, we left the nuc completely alone and opened only the hive I knew was already dead.

The day was cloudy and in the lower 50s.  We did see a couple of bees from the big hive come out for exercise.  I had the boys put their ears to the back of big live hive and then I knocked so they could hear the hum.  

Then we opened the deadout.  We showed them propolis and how the bees had sealed up all the cracks. 

We talked about how winter bees are all girl bees and how they kick the drones out when it gets cold but the queen lays more when it starts getting warmer.   We talked about how drones don't have stingers. 

The boys got to hold dead bees.   They thought that was really cool.  I showed them how fuzzy they are and where the stingers were and that an insect has three parts:  a head, thorax and abdomen.   

We showed them how the cluster was arranged like a ball in the hive and then we pulled out a frame with bees on it and show how they were arranged in the cells and over the cells to make the cluster.   We looked for the queen but couldn't find her.   We did see dead brood and showed them the capped brood under the bees.

Eric explained how when bees are born they start out as nurse bees, then progress to foragers and finally water carriers.  

I pulled out a frame of honey and cut some off so everyone could taste it.   The wax was crispy from the cold, but the honey was gooood.

We showed them the pollen stores and some unfinished nectar and the capped honey and a couple of places where the caps were shredded and honey must have been robbed out.  We talked about how bees make honey from nectar.

They wanted to know what killed the bees, so we talked about varroa and Eric pulled the bottom board so we could show them a few.   We talked about how a varroa on a bee is like a tick the size of your fist on you, passing on diseases like Deformed Wing Virus and that those things will weaken a hive so it won't make it through the winter.  

We talked about where the hive entrances are and how you stay in the back of the hive when you check things.   They asked tons of questions and it was one of those times when you can see learning happening.     I think from now on, whenever I have a deadout I'm going to make a point of inviting people over to look it over.   It's a great way to teach people about bees.

Project: Crochet Flowers

It's time for a winter fiber flower fix.  I put two new patterns together yesterday for crocheted flowers, one for finer [fingering] yarns and one for heavier [dk, worsted] yarns.   I'll be introducing these in person at Yarns Unlimited in Bloomington, IN on Sunday, Feb 6 at our winter Knitreat.  Go to their website for more info.  It's in the Events section.    www.yarnsunlimited.com

5 Petal Crochet Flower

This 5 Petal flower is for finer yarns.  I made it with my Nuthatch Cable yarn in the Sunset colorway.   See my website for more information and photos of the yarn.    The finished flower is 3 inches across.   I keep thinking it needs an extra something in the center - maybe a button?  

my website:   www.robinjedmundson.com

Crochet Camellias

These Crochet Camellias are made out of my Cotton Bamboo yarn. [It's on my website, too.]  It's between a dk and a worsted weight yarn.  I used an H hook for the green one and F for the gold one.   They are about 3 1/2 inches across.   The gold one is a bit smaller.  

Welcome

Towels on the loom.

We moved from town to the country in 1994.  I called our transition from a tiny town lot to 40 acres of aggressive wilderness 'rurification'.  We got to know the land, the birds, the trees [and the local health department really well since we had to put in a hugely expanded septic system right away.]  We raised sheep for a while.  We started our businesses.  We had two children.  I became a dyer and weaver.  In 1996, I started writing stories about our adventures and they've been saved on various generations of floppy discs and hard drives ever since, waiting to be read.   It's time to share them.  This blog is my adventure in sharing what goes on in my tiny corner of the rural south central highlands of Indiana.   Note: 'highlands' is a subjective term.  We Hoosiers take what little altitude we can find [800 ft above sea level max] and celebrate it by giving it lofty names.

My days are spent gardening, homeschooling, running a business, making fiber art of all kinds, and teaching.  I teach many things, at fiber festivals, the LYS, at my studio:  dyeing, weaving, spinning, crochet, color theory, and creativity    I write about everything. 

Make yourself at home, and feel free to comment and ask questions.