The Giving Tree Farm
Contact Us:
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • 4.9 Honeybees
  • Recipes
  • Resources and Ideas
  • Pasture raised chickens

Changing Seasons

10/23/2016

0 Comments

 
Ahh October, my favorite time of the year! I love the colors changing, the warm days and cool nights, when you can finally break out that favorite sweater. The animals seem to be enjoying the cooler weather as well and have more of a pep in their step. The last cut of hay is done and the winter garden is doing fairly well. I just hope I get peas before the first frost.

We got the hives ready for winter last weekend and found that we had lost two more and one was weak and needed to be combined with another to make it through winter. We are back down to five hives and just can't seem to make forward progress growing our numbers. I dread the impact of winter on the remaining hives. We got a meager harvest of about 10 frames of honey or around 35 pounds. Most beekeepers harvest after the spring nectar flow and again if the fall nectar flow is very productive. We harvest just prior to closing for winter to ensure we don't take too much and to protect against lean summers.

This is the time of year were things finally slow down a bit and we can shift our attention to the long list of projects we have been wanting to get started on, which have taken a backseat to the daily chores and immediate must dos. We are looking at fencing our next pasture and possibly getting a few calves in the spring so we can offer grass fed, grass finished beef that people have been asking for.  

We hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather!
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Ellie
    Resident beekeeper, gardener and farmer.

    Archives

    October 2022
    August 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    January 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.