They’ve been a slog, bees. You get a hive, you lose a hive. You get a hive, you lose a hive. And you’re never sure quite why, or how to do things differently next time. This is our fifth colony of bees, in our third year of beekeeping, and, glory be, last week we harvested [...]

It was about two months ago that I wrote about being cautiously optimistic about our bees. The colony seemed robust and contented, and there were signs of actual, genuine honey in the two supers we’d added to the two deeps. I will emphasize that my optimism, as it always is with bees, was cautious. But [...]

Something very strange is going on with our bee hive. This is our third year with bees, and we’ve gotten used to the way beekeeping goes. You get a hive in spring, and it looks good for a while. You open it up, and there’s some spotty brood, enough to keep the colony limping along. [...]

So far, our bees have been nothing but heartbreak. Two years ago, we got our first two hives, neither of which survived that first winter. Last year, we were on the receiving ends of two hives that had been removed from houses, but we got them late in the season. Despite heroic measures and expert [...]

Since we left New York, Kevin and I have undertaken more new projects than two fifty-year-olds have any business attempting. And it is with surprise and gratification that we have seen most of them go well. We’ve raised chickens, turkeys, and ducks. We’ve designed and built coops, pens, and a hoophouse. We’ve grown a whole [...]