The First May Quilt Block

Yes, I'm that far behind. I haven't had much time for quilting lately. This is the first of the 2 quilt blocks from May. This is called a Modern Frame Log Cabin Block. You can make the sides all different widths of fabric giving it an asymmetrical look. As usual I used thirties reproduction print fabric. I had to knock the dust off poor Betty White, my treadle sewing machine. This quilt is being pieced entirely on Betty.

She's no great beauty but she sews a nice straight stitch. I can't wind a bobbin on her worth a damn, though.

Feeding the Bees

Last night I attended my very first beekeepers meeting. I have been keeping bees for one full year but have only recently felt comfortable enough in this pursuit to join the Pierce County Beekeepers. Although I was obviously new only 2 of the members, both female, took the time to welcome me. If there is one thing I've learned from pipe club, when you have a new person at a meeting, welcome them and encourage them. You want them to have a positive experience and a desire to come back and be a part of your organization. I did finally track down the person who collects the dues and became a paying member. I even bought my hat. I really wanted one of those nifty apprentice patches for my bee suit but was told emphatically "no". They are only for those who have taken the class and are certified. Instead of just telling me no, it would've been more encouraging to say, "I'm sorry, these are only for those who've graduated from that class...BUT the next class starts.....". I am gung ho to take any and all beekeeping classes but right now I have no idea when they are offered. I wasn't able to locate that information on the Pierce County Beekeepers Assoc. web site.

Last night was their annual potluck picnic, which was held indoors. There seemed to be a nice turnout although I overheard that there are usually more people. There was lots of good food, including some awesome smoked salmon. After dinner they had a mock honey judging demonstration....although no one really participated. Maybe because this is such a bad year and no one has any honey? There was also a fun auction for some beekeeping equipment. I didn't win anything. I had to restrain myself from bidding on the queen grafting set up. It'll be a while before I get to that stage, but it was so tempting.

All in all I had an enjoyable time. I gleaned some useful information. Mainly that this is a bad year for the bees and I better be vigilant in my feeding if I want them to be strong enough to survive the coming winter. The reason they are draining the top feeders so fast is because they are starving. I am going to use the jar feeders, instead, because they are easier for me to keep on top of and rotate. I also remembered that I had purchased some Bee-Pro pollen replacement...way back when I first ordered my wooden ware, but had never even cracked the seal. It would be a crying shame for my bees to starve when I have lots of food right here, in the house. I mixed up a couple of pollen patties and placed those inside the hives, between the top 2 boxes. That will provide some much needed protein. It takes 16 days for a queen to hatch so if I did have one in the works, she may already be out and about. If not, she'll be out sometime this week. Fingers crossed. I am going to open the hives and peek around on the 15th or 16th. That should give her time to mate and begin laying. If I open the hive and find nothing but drones, we're up a creek.

Bee-Movie: New Hive 7-1-2012

The activity is steady at the entrance to the new hive. Today it looks almost busier than the first hive, prompting the husbeast to comment that he thinks the original queen is in the new hive. The population seems to be growing. There's no way of knowing who has the old queen without tearing into the hives and it won't be safe to do that for another couple of weeks. If there is a new queen "cooking" she will hatch sometime this week. Then she will have to mate and begin laying eggs. The queens lay rather slowly at first. I plan on looking inside the hives after July 15th. I'm so excited to see what they've been up to this past month. Meanwhile, here is a peek at what they are doing outside the hive. When I pan up you will see lots of bees coming and going. At midday the sky is alive with bees. Isn't it amazing that I have over 50,000 bees in my backyard and have only been stung once in over a year? And that was my fault for opening the hive without a bonnet on. Today Reggie and I sat 3 feet from the hive entrance to shoot this video and watch the bees. It's very relaxing.

Kenmore 1701

I rescued this poor thing yesterday. It was located in Everett but the seller delivered to Fircrest which was much closer to home. They had transported it with the machine still in the cabinet. When I arrived I found it hanging precariously inside the cabinet by one screw, with it's top knocked off. I stifled a gasp (forgive them, for they know not what they do) and  handed them their payment. I quickly carried the whole thing to the back of my vehicle, whipped out my handy Cabela's Multitool, and removed the head from the cabinet. The cabinet predates the machine by a good margin and the wiring is questionable. I'll have the husbeast give it a good look before attempting to plug it in. Good thing I have a Kenmore "organ donor" machine with a foot pedal. I'll be able to plug this machine in and see what's what. The reason I have it sitting on that towel for the picture is twofold. To protect the cabinet from scratches and to also protect it from the grease that's all over the bottom of the machine.

Good gravy, what a mess. Apparently some fellow thought, "If a little oil is good, a shitload of grease is better." And proceeded to attack it with a grease gun. Here's hoping the idiot didn't grease the motor or this will end up an organ donor, as well. It looks like it has been plugged in and run recently. Maybe by the same bright bulb? Whoever it was tried to run it in zig zag mode with the straight stitch foot attached (this is the only foot it came with) and broke off the needle.

He then used his manly gorilla strength to over tighten the clutch. So far that is the only glaring problem, but I have yet to plug it in.

One More Try

I have been trying to figure out a solution to keeping my bees out of the top feeders. A beekeeping friend told me she has these same feeders and hasn't had a problem. Which leaves me to conclude that I am too slow, my bees eat unusually fast, or a combination of the two. I need to make these work for my particular situation. I considered using silicone, the kind they use in aquariums, but it is messy and would be a pain to undo if I decided I didn't like it. I thought about using aquarium gravel but I am not fond of the stuff. It's so tiny and gets everywhere. I want something that's easily removed, easily washed, and something that won't harm the bees. I remembered seeing those flat glass rocks at the Dollar Tree. You know, the kind they use in Betta bowls and clear flower vases. I paid them a visit and yes, they had some of those. But they also had these polished river rocks.

Even better. And I got more weight per package buying the rocks as apposed to the glass. I bought 8 bags, 2 for each side of the feeders. Yes, I paid $8 for some bags full of rocks. They're already cleaned and I didn't have to crawl around on the ground looking for enough rocks of a uniform size. I actually purchased these 2 days ago but the weather has been too cold and windy for me to reopen the hives. If there's a baby queen in there, getting ready to hatch, I don't want to risk chilling her. Today it's finally in the mid-70's. The perfect weather to do some hive manipulation. The feeders have been out in the weather since they were removed. I wiped them down with some Star San solution. Then I rinsed the rocks in some Star San.

And divided them between the feeders.

I heaped them up against the wire. I then opened the hives, removed the jar feeders and inner covers, placed the top feeders, filled them with my prepared syrup, shook the bees off the bottom of the inner covers, placed those on the feeders and and added the lids. Here are the containers of syrup heating up on the porch. 

I had forgotten to take them out of the fridge this morning. I don't want the bees getting a brain freeze. If those bees still get inside the reservoirs, I give up. When I removed the jar feeders, the one on the new hive was empty but the one on the old hive still contained some syrup. That's odd. Maybe they were having trouble drinking from my jar feeder? Not to worry, I know for a fact they have no trouble draining these top feeders. While I was tending the bees I noticed I need to pick some raspberries. I see some delicious wine and jam in my future.

That's Better.

She cleaned up nicely. Someone loved her once. Her finish is virtually flawless. And look at all that chrome. You can see my cross stitch picture reflected in the face plate.

Kenmore 148.13022

I rescued this poor thing today. A 148.13022 from 1969. About the same time the Beatles released their Yellow Submarine album. Talk about a blast from the past. It is absolutely filthy. I’m feeling itchy just from carrying it in. The case is cracked and I feared the machine had been dropped and wouldn’t work. But I plugged it in and so far all the functions seem to operate OK. It came with the manual and attachments. It’s missing one of the spool pins but that’s no biggie. I met up with the seller in the Dollar Store parking lot. That's a classy place to meet. LOL. When I saw the true condition (I'd only seen pictures through email) I almost turned it down but I swear I heard it whisper…”help me.” I couldn’t leave it. I’m only human. And for $15 it would be a good parts machine if nothing else. I think this is a good candidate for "before" and "after" photos. I'm sure she'll be gorgeous once she has a bath and an oil massage. If you're squeamish, look away now. This isn't pretty.