Keeping Cool

Here is what bees do to cool off a hot hive:

Here is what kids do to cool off hot feet:

Heat Wave

Its hot here in Wisconsin!  Yesterday was over 90 degrees.  It looks like summer has finally come!

The high heat is apparently another big debate in beekeeping.  When the outside temperature exceeds about 95 degrees, it can begin to soften or melt the beeswax in the hive, causing it to fall off the top bars.  Dont worry, I checked mine last night and its ok!   The debate is over whether to ventilate the hive or not.  Some people say yes, ventilate because it allows it to cool the inside off.  Others say no, dont ventilate because it allows the hot air in.  The tipping point seems to be moisture.  I dont see any condensation in the hive, so I figure I'm good with the  balance of ventilation I have.

The heat wave has also brought something else to the house - a pool!  Erin set up the pool on our deck.  Its about a 10' diameter, 2 foot deep pool for the kids to swim in.  Yep, they've been in it every day since Erin filled it.  Even when the water was about 50 degrees straight from the hose!  It looks like a really fun summer for the kids!

Young Farmers

The girls got a treat this weekend!  We stayed over night with my cousin Dan and Kristin at the farm!  In the morning, after they treated us with pancakes, we got a tour of the farm.  Emma has been learning about dairy in school this week, so all week she has been asking if she could milk a cow.  Emma and Ginny jumped right in!  Here's some photos of the young farmers:

 It was a lot of fun.  I have such good memories of exploring the farm with my cousin Dan as a kid, so it was great to share the experience with the girls!  Thank you again to Dan and Kristin for being such wonderful hosts!

Bees. In. Hive. - The Visual Edition

Wow, reading yesterday's blog is a wall of text! Here's the pictorial version!

This is what a "package" of bees looks like:

Here is Hyacinth the bee.  She stayed pretty much right there the whole drive home:

Here are the two beekeepers, trying to look confident before putting them in the hive:

Here is the smoker Jerry gave me.  Works Great!

Here is the empty hive.  The opening is where I dump the bees in.  The glass jar on the inside is the feeder, full of sugar syrup:

Here's me trying to get the queen cage out.  I have a few seconds to lift the can, slide the queen cage out and then put the can back down.  The picture below is actually a video.  See how fast I did that!?  

Ok, it is just a picture, I couldnt do it that fast.  A few bees got out.

Here is "Magnolia", the queen, in her queen cage.  This is before I replaced the cork with a marshmallow.

Here is me smoking the bees to keep them a little calmer.  The next part is kind of harrowing, so I want them as calm as possible!

Here is me dumping bees into the hive.  They pour out like water!  How many bees do you see flying in the picture?

Here is "most" of them in the hive.  I have an observation window to peek in on them.

Here is my outstanding assistant!  One of the bravest 6 year olds you will meet!

What a day!  You can click on most of the pictures to see all the pictures Stephanie took!  I really appreciate her taking pictures.  They are awesome!

Thinking Inside the Box

I bought a new office chair today to see if it will help my hip bursitis.  I was noticing my hip hurt more after sitting in my office chair so I wanted one with more cushioning.  Anyway, this isnt a blog post about a chair.  Its a post about a box.  The box the chair came in to be more specific!

The kids decided the box was really a car.  They colored it all up and made it into a convertible.  On the inside front, they taped a steering wheel.  Yep, they've been playing with a cardboard box for about an hour!  Here's some photos of the new drivers.

This box is going to be pretty great for dad too.  Apparently corrugated cardboard makes for excellent smoke in a bee smoker.  There's a reason the cardboard box is in the Toy Hall of Fame people.  

Winter Sports

Sorry again for the long delay between blog posts!  My deadline at work has passed, so I should have energy at home again!

Emma went for skiing lessons late last week!  There is a ski hill in the town next to ours (Tyrol Basin) that offers lessons for kids.  Below is a video of Emma skiing (turn off the volume)! Not bad for a first timer!  Here's hoping this shows up in an olympic montage someday!

Erin got to do some skiing with her too.  Definitely something they will do again next winter!  Me, I'm looking forward to spring.  Spring training that is.  I head to Florida to see some games with my friend Henri next Thursday!  Where did I put those shorts?

Music To My Ears

Erin had a great idea this week to help the kids with playing the piano!  She took scotch tape and put it over the piano keys.  Then she took a sharpie marker and printed the note on each of the keys.  After that, she marked a couple of pieces of music with the notes to play a song.  I came home on Friday to the sound of Ginny playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".  Awesome!

The kids are getting much more interested in music.  Gramma and Grandpa gave Emma a guitar and she has been writing songs and playing them for us.  I got to accompany one of her songs playing my roll patterns on the banjo (about the only thing I can do).  It was a lot of fun.  I'm looking forward to more banjo lessons from my dad!

Here's a couple pictures of Erin's great idea:

She's got it write

We were excited that Ginny began writing her name unprompted this week!  She must have been watching her big sister.  She wrote both her name and Emma's!  Its really amazing to me how kids pick up new skills.  It almost seems like magic.  I'm really glad there are so many magicians (teachers) in their life!  I really like the E with all the lines in it.  The picture on the bottom is another Ginny drew this week.

Black Comet Defender

Emma played her second basketball game this week.  She plays in the Verona rec league on Wednesday nights.  She is on the Black Comets team!  The season starts out with 3 practices and then there are 4 games. Its really fun to watch the kids learn how to play as the weeks go by.  In the first game, Emma was a fantastic on the ball defender, following the ball handler around the court and waving her arms furiously over her head to make sure they didnt get a good shot or pass.  This week, in the second game, she was a great all around defender, staying with her girl and keeping herself between them and the basket.  She kept her arms above her head waving furiously the whole time on defense!  She even followed her girl on offense!  Bo Ryan would be so proud.  Its really fun to watch!  Here's a shot of our great Black Comet Defender!