Bee Gear Arrived

We are getting ever so much closer to becoming beekeepers!

Today the gear arrived packaged in three large parcels.

We have a new smoker

and a nice gear box that is now filled with 

foundations, handles, brush and scraper and

a couple other things.  The smoker attaches to

the rear of the box so you can carry it all together.

Then there are the hats and veils, gloves and suits, all

of which look much, much bigger than I anticipated.

We followed the directions on the sizing charts

but I am afraid mine is going to be pretty 

long- I'm all of 5' 2" !

My husband got the cinder blocks to level up the hives

so we'll be working on that this week.

He gets the bees the end of April, just a few

days after our Cornish Cross chicks will arrive.

We're also adding meat birds to the mix.

We'll increase the size of their yard, segregating them

from our layers.  I've become increasingly concerned

about the cleanliness of store bought chicken.

This will be our first year to butcher but we do have

access to a whiz bang chicken plucker plus our

neighbors are going to try and coordinate butchering

days with us and set up an assembly line.

We will be pretty busy with the bees, the birds plus the garden.

And work too! 

We still have some nights where it will dip to or below freezing

which means I won't plant too early. They say our last frost is 

mid April but it's not true.  You are really never safe until May.

I have a collection of seeds ready, including this one

for the bees. They will have wild flowers and herbs in 

addition to the zucchini and other flowers that will bloom

in the garden.   I will mix in a few that I purchase from 

the nursery too so they have a head start.