CrossRoad Farm

Past & Present

2016-04-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

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!

2016-02-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

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!

2015-10-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

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.

Breed your own queens.
Let your hives raise and replace their queen.
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.

The queens you produce are a representation of the stock you breed from.
It takes 16 days from egg to queen.
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.

I have no doubt that I would not have gotten this information if I had not asked for it.
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!)
Is there really such a thing as UPS time-out?
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?
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!

2015-10-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

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."

New look.

2015-10-20T09:14:00.000-05:00

You may be noticing some changes on this site. I had a melt-down this past weekend and in the process of my melt-down, I tackled my blog. I mean literally a full on hit. I stripped it down to nothing, leaving only the content. I am going to rebuild it slowly. I'm not even sure what this means exactly. I just know I needed to take it to its simplest form.

I really long for simple.

Life is hard. It is confusing. It is too complicated. It can get depressing. It can get cluttered. When this happens...best to strip it back to nothing and completely start over. The only thing constant in this world is change. Change is good. As I worked on this project, I kept looking at my farm name. Maybe it was my mood? Not really sure, but I considered changing it. Not all of it. Just that little tag line at the bottom. For some reason it was really annoying me.

Sometimes you reach a point, then have to choose a direction. This line played over and over in my head. You don't stand at the CrossRoad of life just once. It happens over and over. I seriously almost changed it to, "Sometimes you reach a point, then What the heck now?" I mean, enough already! There are just days when you don't want to be an adult. You don't want to make the decisions. Remember when you were a kid and you hated the fact your mom always told you what to do? Where are those days? Then this morning, over my morning coffee, my Canadian Blogger friend wrote a post on writing. (You can find Alanna here.) She wrote "Slumps make you humble!"

Totally humbled.

And now...Totally over it!

I have no idea what this means for me. I have no idea what this means for this site. I have no idea what this means for this farm, or that annoying little tag line. It's not bothering me as much today, but it is by no means safe. Nothing is safe. In the absence of a plan, it all gets stripped down to its simplest form.

I'm not complaining about rain in May any longer. Over it. Check back and I will tell you some funny stories about things that happened in all that MUD!

Yes. It gets funnier!

Rain in May.

2015-10-16T11:43:00.000-05:00

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

2015-10-13T12:09:00.000-05:00

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.

2015-09-11T13:05:00.001-05:00

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...

2015-08-29T18:21:00.001-05:00

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?

2015-08-15T16:02:00.000-05:00

*tap, tap,tap*

hello?

anyone there?

I am starting to feel a little life...

2015-03-11T14:34:00.000-05:00

The sun is peaking through the haze, and I feel like I can breathe a little again. I love Texas! I love our weather! I know I am crazy for saying so, but it is true. We had an amazing fall. We had a mild winter...right up until a few weeks ago. Then it came in all at once. We have had ice. We have had snow. We have had brutal temperatures. We have had crazy winds. Nothing like getting it all in at one time! I say that cautiously because I believe we will get a little more in the near future. I have no meteorological background to base that on. It's just something I feel in my bones.

Most of you know when you don't hear from me for a long period of time it's because something is happening. It may be something good. It may be something bad. I just tend to drop off the face of the earth here and now. I used to make excuses for it. Now I just accept it. I hope you can as well. Obviously, after blogging for six years, I'm not going to change.

I have been stalling on this latest update for the last week. I have sat down several times to write this post, but each time, I knew I wasn't ready yet.

For those of you wondering...The last skunk I trapped has been successfully relocated and released! I am not a cruel person. I have not kept the little guy trapped up all this time.

Some of you already know we have suffered a loss here on the farm. If you follow along, you know we have quite the menagerie of animals that do their best to run this place. I say they run the place because I spend very little time thinking I am actually the one in charge.

I am not in charge!

On February 14th, Valentine's Day, the Man in Charge and I spent our night at the Emergency Hospital with one of our dogs. Her abdomen had bloated and was quite enlarged. Fearing her gut had twisted, we rushed her in for x-rays. After four hours, we learned that she had a ridiculous amount of fluid in her abdominal area. Two liters to be exact! They removed the fluid to ease her discomfort, and sent us home. We followed up with our regular veterinarian on Monday and learned she had liver cancer.

I hate cancer.

We knew our future with her would be short. After consulting with our vet, we knew the transitions she would go through. Our tasks included keeping her comfortable and encouraging her to eat as much as she wanted. The veterinarian's instructions were, "I want Belle to eat! Let her have whatever she wants!"

We have a running battle in our home because the Man in Charge likes to feed the dogs people food. For the most part, I don't really mind this, except when they eat something and get sick. You see, I am the one left to clean up the messes. I also don't really like dogs that beg. For those two reasons, I am constantly yelling at him to "Stop feeding the dogs!" With the vet's instructions, my Man took full advantage.

Belle enjoyed chips, snacks, lunch meat, cheese, anything and everything he had, she had!

They both loved it!

Belle turned 11 on 3/1/15. We made it to the 4th, and then had to put her down. I am not writing this because I want you to be sad. It was sad, but I want to share with you the life of this dog. This dog, who taught me so much about dogs. This dog, who greatly impacted our lives. This dog, who we will greatly miss.

We got Belle as a puppy. She was six weeks old, and a bundle of fur and belly. She had one ear that flopped over and she was the cutest thing ever. As a puppy, she was a force to be reckoned with. She was a bundle of uncontrollable energy. Constantly on the move. Constantly bugging the crap out of you to do something with her. We had two older dogs at the time, and she harassed them non-stop.

Belle loved to run around the yard, eating mud and sticks. Yes, eating them. I was certain she would do permanent damage to her digestive system, but she survived it. She hated bath time, and I mean hated bath time. She would scream at the top of her lungs like you were killing her. I remember one morning she had managed to cover herself in mud. Not wanting her to run through the house that way, I had one of the girls hose her off on the back porch before we let her back inside. She screamed so loud, one of our neighbors called to make sure everything was okay over here.

Belle would bug you to play with her. With four of us in the home at the time, plus two other dogs, we were still no match for her level of energy. Not to be put off, she managed to create new games to play with us even if we didn't want to play any longer.

One of her favorite games was "Toy on the Foot"

I can hear you now...what?

When we were all exhausted from trying to exhaust her, she would grab a toy in her mouth, and while you were sitting down trying to recover, she would hold the toy on your foot. If you tried to move your foot away, she would aggressively chase it. I can not tell you the amount of time we spent sitting cross-legged, bouncing a foot while she tried to keep the toy in place. She would growl and sound aggressive during this game, but she was good at it. The only way to make her stop would be to sit on your feet. As weird as this game sounds, in a small way it was a relief. We could keep her entertained all from the comfort of our easy chairs. We knew it was weird, but it became a part of our regular life. We never thought twice about it until we had a house guest. My Aunt came to visit, and sitting in the living room, trying to enjoy a cup of coffee and visit, Belle attacked her with a game of "Toy on the Foot." My Aunt was shocked and more than a little scared, thinking she was trying to eat her, but once I explained the game, she relaxed and became an active participant.

At six months of age, Belle's sister from her litter came to live with us. Even though they had been apart for months, after about two minutes, they had bonded and were chasing each other around the place. The two were inseparable after that. They loved having each other, and joined forces to create havoc at every opportunity. They ate remote controls. They destroyed a cell phone. They were bent on killing anything that may contain stuffing of any kind. For a year and a half, they really pushed every boundary I set for them.

They both taught me a lot about dogs.

They both taught me a lot about being a committed pet owner.

For my own sanity, and to encourage their development, we actually brought in other pets for their benefit.

Yes, I got pets for my pets!

They started with goats that we had actually acquired for our filly. Yes, even our horse had pets. They spent hours herding them into their pens, and they loved it. The goats didn't really love it, and for their own survival, they learned the game quickly.

See dogs!

Run to pen!

Belle had a pet bunny that lived inside. She spent countless hours watching her rabbit. It was really like doggy television! While it kept her occupied, she was quick to come get you if her bunny was sleeping. It disturbed her if she went to sleep, and she would run back and forth to get me just so I could make sure the bunny was okay. I would explain that her bunny was sleeping, and she'd lay down in a huff and watch her until she awoke.

I also purchased baby ducks for these two. Then, set about making them a round pen in the yard so we could train on herding. The ducks were inside the pen, and the dogs ran the outside. Belle's only issue with herding, she only had two speeds - Down and Full Speed!

In the end, Belle's favorite pet has been the cat. We found out early she had a healthy cat addiction. Her main purpose in life became the cat. Where is the cat? Is he inside? Is he outside? Can I see him? Can I chase him? Where is He!!! I want you to know, this was important to her right up until the end.

She also was able to enjoy the baby calf we acquired in December. The last three weeks of her life, even feeling bad, she would jump up at the site of bottle making and wait at the door so she could go to the barn with me.

All I can say...We love dogs! They add quality to your life. They each have their own personality. They will each teach you something about dogs, being a dog-owner, and things about yourself, if you let them. As sad as it is, they all end up being heart-breakers in the end. Even with this knowledge, the benefits far out weigh the heart-break of losing them. We will always have them in our lives!

Number Three

2015-01-27T09:19:00.001-06:00

You may be wondering...

2015-01-22T11:50:00.000-06:00

If you've logged in to the farm Facebook page or followed us on Twitter or Instagram, then you may be wondering where the cow came from. I'm going to take a few minutes to give you the low-down.

Before I begin, you should know that I love beef. I'm a big fan of grass-fed beef, and I try to eat a Paleo-style diet. I've been doing this for about three years now and it has changed my health, my energy, my skin, my everything. I'm not perfect, and I fall off the wagon at times. There have even been times when I've fallen off the wagon, built a raging fire, and burned the wagon down to the ground. Then I rally and get back to my usual routine.

If you've ever looked at the price of grass-fed beef, it can be shocking. I try to counter the up front costs with the long-term medical costs of living an unhealthy lifestyle. In my mind, this works. Due to this fact, we've talked briefly here and there about having our own cows. This would allow us to raise our own beef, and sell beef to like minded people. This conversation always ends when we start talking about the price of cattle. I'm referring to the live ones, not what you find in the butcher section. Cattle prices in this country are at an all-time-high.

Most ranchers realize the price of their livestock. Due to this realization, they will do what's necessary to take care of them. If they run into a situation with a calf that has been orphaned or is struggling for one reason or another, most will take the extra steps to get them on their feet. This is money standing on the ground if you stop and think about it. Ranchers are businessmen.

I kind of put the word out that I would be interested in purchasing calves that looked like they weren't going to make it. This is pretty stupid if you stop and think about it, and one heck of a gamble, but in my mind, it would be the only way to get started. Plus, I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. It's something I really thought would never be considered. Again, calves are money on the ground. Ranchers are businessmen.

In the middle of December, this all happened. I got a call from someone very near and dear to me. It seems there was a situation of a cow giving birth to twins. The cow must have evaluated her options, and she took the larger calf and left the smaller one. When I say smaller, he only weighed half of what he should have.

This was my opportunity.

The calf was only about 35 lbs when I picked him up. He should have been about 75-80 lbs. The likelihood of him making it was so slim, he was just handed over with a "Good Luck!"

I will tell you...he rode home in the back seat of my truck.

I had put down a water-proof seat cover that I use for my dogs, but still, not everyday you have a calf standing in the back seat. Once I got him home, it was a mad dash to empty out the stall in the barn that has not been used in forever. I had actually been storing a bunch of junk in there. Once it was empty, I put down fresh shavings and hung a heat lamp directly in the middle.

I'm not going to bore you with every detail, but I will tell you the next four days were a flurry of activity.

Did I mention I've never done anything like this before?

I knew nothing.

I have never been more appreciative of smart phones, Google, social media, and both of my girls. I was lucky to have a lot of local ranchers to ask questions of. I also was able to tap into someone who deals more on the Show Side of the cattle industry. If you don't know the difference, the Show Side of the cattle business is a LOT of money. These guys will go to great lengths for their animals. It is a ridiculous amount of money spent on these cows. Couple all of that with the endless amount of research you can lay your hands on via Google, and you just may be on to something.

For the first 24 hours, I was in my barn every hour. It started off okay, then immediately went down hill fast. I was not sure we'd make it through the first day. The next 24 hours, I was in my barn every hour and a half. Mind you, there was no sleeping between trips to the barn. That time was used communicating with people that could tell me stuff and reading every thing I could find on the Internet. By the third 24 hours, I was pretty loopy and exhausted. I was still going to the barn about every 2 to 3 hours. I hadn't slept in my bed since I brought the calf home. I was too scared to lay down, certain I would not get back up. I took little 20-30 minute naps in my chair, and at times, I wanted to stomp on my phone every time the alarm went off to prompt me to get ready for my next trip outside. It was cold and by day three I was certain one or both of us would die.

Day four was the turn around period. I had been adding honey to an electrolyte recipe I had conjured up, and had been pumping fluids, as well as milk replacer into the little guy. Coming into day four, I started adding a heaping spoonful of honey to his milk. At this point, he was only taking 8 ounces of milk at a time. He was weak. He couldn't stand without help. I had managed to get him hydrated, and we had survived scours, but I knew we both couldn't go on like this. Every cup of milk had honey added and I was out there about every 3 hours at this point.

At about 2:00 pm on day four - Relief! I went out to check on him and he still needed help to stand, but he was a completely different animal. He started trying to maul me at this point. He was hungry! After trying to nurse on anything and everything he could get his mouth on, I started to realize he must be on a sugar high.

Either way, I'd take it!

There was life back in this animal.

The rest has been documented here and there on Social Media. It was not reasonable to come sit down at my computer and blog about it. If I had that much time, I was sleeping! It was just easier to put a little video or picture up here and there. And before you ask, this calf is a boy. Male beef cattle get two choices in life...

Live your life as a bull.
Live your life as a steer.

I can not have a bull. I'm not set up for that. Plus, that's the last thing I need in my world, and with his small start, he probably wouldn't be a great one. Living your life as a steer only ends one way. I have found over the last month, this fact is horrifying to some people. They can't rationalize raising this calf and then eating him. They think he's cute. He is cute! It just doesn't change the facts. It also doesn't change the fact that every hamburger or steak you eat, used to be a cute calf. I'm not an evil person, but I am resolved to the facts and the future. I so wish he'd been a girl, but he's not. This only leaves me to give him the best life I can give him. I'm not heartless. I know there will come a day, and it will be a sad day.

I also know this is the start of something great in my life.

I Have Missed You!

2015-01-20T11:13:00.000-06:00

At my desk, with my second cup of coffee, and I am thrilled to be having it with all of you. I have so much to tell you, I'm not sure where to start. I am sure some of you are a little lost about what's been happening in my world. Especially if you follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Feel free to click the links below and join the group if you like.

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

If you've checked the blog lately, then you know we have been back in The World of Trapping. Can I just say, I love my chickens? I do not love the endless string of critters they attract. Whether it's snakes in my nesting boxes, or possums looking for a chicken dinner, or skunks looking for whatever skunks look for, They wear me out! I spent a lot of time one summer trapping possums that had taken up residence in my horse hay, also housed in the same barn as my chickens. This event was not pleasant, and was one I never wanted to repeat. I devised a plan to stop the onslaught of critters digging under the wall of my barn and moving their families into a nice new home. I blogged about the beginning of said project years ago. If you missed it, you can catch up here...

How to Vermin Proof a Pole Barn

It was not fun. It took a long time. It was a lot of work, but I managed to get the entire area surrounding my hay storage sealed off. I buried wire around the whole stinkin' thing. I also did the same thing around the section of my chicken barn that houses all the baby chicks. Vermin love the baby chicks. They are easy prey. I have since tabled the rest of the project around the rest of the chicken coup. It hasn't been necessary, and I don't do anything that isn't necessary.

Fast Forward to present times...

I went to put my horse up the other night and close the chicken barn. There was a skunk roaming around in there with the big chickens. It was late and I was tired. I took a different approach this time. I simply stood in the door way and yelled at the skunk.

"Skunk!"

"You are not welcome here!"

"Now get out!"

I went and put my horse up, and then came back to close the chicken barn. The skunk was gone. I was very pleased.

A couple of nights later, the same scenario played out again. I took the same action. It worked again. Then I came out and found this...

MY HAY IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS WALL!

I put up 170 bales of hay this summer. I have made a nice dent in it. The last thing I want is a skunk or something else living in there. You can clearly see the wire that I spent so much time burying. This discovery really made me mad. This is something that will stop all other projects and get my full attention.

THIS WAS WAR!

I set my live trap that very night. I baited it with a can of Fancy Feast and went to bed.

This is what I discovered the very next day. While pleased with my catch, this is not the skunk I had seen on previous nights! The skunk I had seen was your usual black and white variety. Clearly, this thing is not black and white.

After having a conversation with the Blue Dog Bee Lady down the road, she agreed to come help me relocate this guy. I don't know what to say? She loves me? She's a glutton for punishment? She's a little crazy? Just like me? However, I love her for her bravery!

We met for lunch, you know, because it may be our last meal. I paid, you know, to ease my guilt in case I get her sprayed by a skunk on our adventure. Then, we came back to the house and went about loading this little guy up. It was a little stinkier than I've experienced before, but we walked away scent free. We did move it to a nice location, free from homes, barns, etc. While this was awesome, and a bonding experience between friends, the war was not over.

I set another trap, and caught another skunk on the other end of the barn.

This one, black and white!

Yay!

For some reason, I don't have any pictures of the latest catch. I did call my faithful friend, and in true friend fashion, she was up for another round of Catch and Release! We did let this one sit in the trap for an extra day before releasing it. We came to an agreement that this is the better plan. No stinking this time. We took the last one to the same location and released it as well.

Could this be the end of this adventure?

No!

I went to the barn yesterday morning and found a new hole dug under the chicken coup wall.

Ugh!

I set two traps last night. I was certain I would trap my cat because he was very interested in what I was doing. I tried to catch him several times, but he was on the move. I left to make a grocery store run, thinking I would check the traps before bed and free my cat if he was locked in one of them. Also, hoping to teach him a lesson in the process.

I pulled in the driveway, opened the door and my first welcome home was Eau de Skunk! My next welcome home, Kid came running around the corner wanting inside the house. I was relieved to find out he wasn't locked in a trap with a skunk, but concerned because there would be no break in the action on my trapping adventure.

I went to the barn this morning. Something ate the Fancy Feast in one trap and tripped it, but managed to escape. The second trap still had Fancy Feast, but it also had been tripped and was empty as well.

Apparently, the skunks are now in War Mode as well. They have upped their game. It's now my turn to counter.

Game On!

Could be good?

2015-01-14T10:10:00.001-06:00

This is how today started.

Not good!

2015-01-13T17:09:00.001-06:00

This is how this day started.

Merry Christmas!

2014-12-25T09:25:00.001-06:00

I gotta a GoPro camera for Christmas!

Get ready for some bee videos in the New Year!

Thank you, girls!

This is going to be awesome!

The sun sets on another beautiful day!

2014-12-22T20:29:00.001-06:00

Photo Walk

2014-12-11T16:26:00.000-06:00

One of our local camera shops holds these amazing "Photo Walk" events. Basically, a bunch of people get together at a specific location and take photos. It is open to all ages, all skill levels, any type of camera, and it is free. The staff from the store is on hand for tips and advice, and you will meet a ton of people that are willing to help you out.

Who could ask for anything better?

I have owned a decent camera for over a year now. It may be two years, but whose counting. I tend to shoot everything on AUTO!

Blah!

Boring!

I know my camera has tons of buttons and knobs that control all sorts of settings, but for the life of me, I do not understand what any of it means. It is like learning a new language. I haven't had the time to try to figure it out on my own, and I really doubt I could. These photo walks are held at different locations and at different times of the day. I have always been busy, exhausted, or if I'm being honest, intimidated! This time, I decided to be a grown up and sign up. It also helped when I found out one of our family members had signed up for the same event. I was certain she knew more about her camera than I did, but I found confidence in not being alone in the crowd.

It was so much fun!

I met a lot of people that speak camera, and were willing to help me out. I was even lucky enough to bump into a guy who owns the exact same camera I do. He had a ton of knowledge. He was willing to share. So I humbled myself for the experience.

I admitted to one of the staff members that I usually shoot about 100 pictures and feel lucky if I get one good one. He laughed, and then pointed out that I only have a 1% success rate. He was committed to helping me improve on that. He gave me some pointers and then with the help of my fellow Canon owner, I set about executing my new found knowledge.

One of the first shots I took in manual mode.

Then my new Canon friend showed me another angle to try. The illuminated snow flakes on the ground are a result of some pretty impressive lighting around the square.

Then we tried to play with the water a bit in front of the tree. I really wanted to go move that umbrella in the shot, but I refrained. Let me tell you, it was really hard not to move that umbrella.

Then we went super crazy playing with the shutter speed and focusing in or out!

Then we moved back to the front of the tree and tried it again.

Then we played around with this cute little gingerbread girl.

Then we moved to the other side of the square and played around with this water fall. You can't really see the water, but the lighting was really cool.

Outside the square, we took a different view.

Love the light tracer from the car that had just made the turn.

Back around to the tree again, and yes, another umbrella.

The last one is probably my favorite.

Can't wait to do another one!

Life is Good!

2014-12-09T16:48:00.000-06:00

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!

Productive So Far...

2014-12-07T16:30:00.001-06:00

I've been doing my best to get some spring cleaning done. I know. It's not spring, but I'm running on Bee Light Savings Time, and there's no time like the present. If you have no idea what Bee Light Savings Time is, catch up on the post I wrote previously - Solving The Problems of the World!

I missed my spring cleaning this past spring due to the endless amount of work my bees required. I am trying to get caught up and get a jump on the new year. So far, I have pulled everything down from the attic and gone through the garage. Not your typical spring chore, but I had to get the Christmas decorations down anyway. So, I just pulled it all out of there. I moved the Christmas decorations to the guest room, and hopefully I'll get them up this coming week. I also went through every box I hauled down. I packaged a lot of it up and took it to my favorite donation spot. In the process I called a couple of hooligans over to go shopping as I was hauling it down. One of them didn't take a single thing, but the other left with a truck load.

Thanks Willie T.!

I always knew you were good for something.

In the process of cleaning out the garage and attic I realized there was something that needed to be moved to my closet. This prompted a quick closet clean out. I only went through the clothes that were hanging in there, but I managed to part with about six bags of pretty nice stuff. Those bags also made it to the donation drop off.

The attic and garage may seem like a random place to start, but there is a method to my madness. For one thing, there is zero insulation in the attic above the garage. I don't know why, but I'm going to change that. I have a lot of DIY projects that need to get done before Christmas. I want to be warm out there if it decides to get cold on us again. Plus, on the particular day I made my way into the attic, it was in the seventies. Not a bad day for such a chore.

I'm also trying to be a little proactive on the coming bee season. Each season starts with the building of additional equipment. Well, not each season if you quit expanding. I have not quit expanding. For the past three years I have been caught in the peak of the season building equipment. I have yet to be prepared with what I need ahead of time.

Not 2015!

I want to get all of my wooden ware built by February. Texas weather is always unpredictable except for January and February. You can pretty much count on the fact that these are going to be our coldest months. I mentioned buying a heater for the garage, but the Man in Charge said it would be pointless without some insulation up there. If there's one thing in life I don't want to be - it's pointless!

I've just resolved myself to the fact that it's going to be another crazy week. Crazy because I will be all over the place. I've got to finish my closet, insulate the attic, build a honey warmer, bottle honey, put up the Christmas decorations, go to the dentist, go to the doctor, and don't forget all the usual stuff. I know there are not a lot of things on this list that may interest you, but I am super excited. Especially about the honey warmer. I'll try to post some pictures of the process. I know you're just dying to see what I'm talking about.

Such is the life of a retired SAHM, empty-nester, do-it-your-selfer, beekeeping, crazy person.

Success or Failure!

2014-12-03T10:52:00.000-06:00

I committed to posting on this little blog of mine for the entire month of November, and I almost made it. I missed the last two days! I was really bummed about this, but this is the closest I've ever come to actually doing it! I posted something every day! Days that were crazy busy! In the end, we were just having too much fun!

Both the girls came home for the holiday weekend, and it was a packed weekend of events! They both rolled in on Wednesday evening and the games began. We stayed up until 2:00 in the morning cooking for Thanksgiving Dinner! It was fun and there was a lot of chatter and cooking happening. Our dinner was perfect this year. I'm not just bragging on the food. We also had the cutest two year old at our table this year. He was very entertaining. He brought his mother and his baby brother, and we had a blast.

My new worker in training.

We took him out to feed the chickens and he was a little hesitant at first. After dinner, we asked if he wanted to feed them again and he was all over it! He ran across the yard, calling them up and throwing out bread. When the bread was all gone, he ran back to the house giggling and wanting more bread! The girls ended up having an awesome Thanksgiving as well. I think they ate about a half a loaf of bread!

Friday, we put Thanksgiving behind and went to Ft. Worth to watch the Parade of Lights to kick off the Christmas season. We met everyone at the train station and made our way into the big city. This time we had two of the cutest two year old's in tow. This was their first train ride and their first parade! The weather was brisk, but pleasant, and we had a great time. We finished with dinner and after we made it back home, we stayed up into the wee hours of the morning playing cards. Saturday started out a little slower, but we finished strong with a late night movie with friends. So again, another late night.

Sunday - I took a long nap!

This week has been a struggle to get going. I am so far behind on my life, but oh well! I did celebrate my wedding anniversary yesterday. The Man in Charge and I decided to have a quiet evening in with take-out! Some may say, "Boring!" For us, it was perfect!

Today, gulping coffee and trying to get myself together!

Christmas Starts Now!

2014-11-28T19:57:00.001-06:00

First Parade of Lights for some little ones! Spent the evening with family and friends.

IT ALL STARTS NOW!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2014-11-27T23:03:00.001-06:00

Just finishing a long day of family and food with a little slice of pie and some cards for fun!

(Pumpkin pie with whipped cream and crumbled gingersnaps on top!)

Thanksgiving Day Countdown!

2014-11-26T20:09:00.000-06:00

I have no business sitting down at my computer right now, but I love you guys and I wanted to share something real quick. Yesterday I told you that I tend to go through rooms without an ounce of sentiment. Getting rid of things that are not being used or worn, and therefore I deem them as clutter.

Well...I'm struggling with something.

I have spent time cleaning and organizing rooms for the girls this weekend. One room in particular is about the only girly room in this house. It is the original guest room. A little history for you. When we bought this house, we were having guests relatively early, and this room was bare. No furniture. Nothing pretty or welcoming.

Just blah!

Having just bought this place, we were a little tight in the finance department. Still, I wanted my guests to feel welcome. So I really had to put on my creative hat. We bought a bed, and I mean we bought a mattress set and frame. I may have had some old nightstands back in the beginning of this room, but I don't really remember now. I threw some paint on the walls, but it was still sad.

So I did this...

Maybe one of the girls will leave a comment about the process we went through to get this painted on the wall. I don't have time to go into all the crazy details now. I have added furniture to this room over the years, and it really is a nice place to be.

Just one problem though.

I've just recently come into some new furniture. New, really old furniture. It is the Man in Charge's Great-Grandmother's bedroom suit. With the girls gone, I've been kicking around the idea of shuffling some furniture around. That old bedroom suit would fit perfect in this room, but it already has a headboard. A very pretty headboard. I have been pretty resolute in the idea of painting over my creation. I've heard whining and complaining from others, but my mind has been made on this topic.

Until I was in there today.

I'm still gonna do it, but I'm gonna miss this room.