Yikes! Here on the Backwards Homestead we are being overcome with Cicadas!! They are everywhere! Anyone who knows me is aware that I HATE flying bugs. Well, hate is a strong word, lets say I strongly dislike them, which again translates into have an unnatural paralyzing fear of them.... SO, this return of the Cicada is like my worst nightmare as far as bugs are concerned. I spend my time flailing, flapping and otherwise making everyone around me laugh uncontrollably. Not..Cool!
So, I decided to go out, and try to make peace with the Cicada. Or, at least take pictures of them, with a zoom lens, from a distance. But, there are SO.Many! They are covering the trees, the bushes, the flowers. Their little shells are piling up everywhere, leaving a brown slimy mess when they mix with the rain. Ugh...
Anywho, thought I would share a few of the pictures that we have (Thanks Katrina), and maybe this will at least make them a bit interesting. lol
Wow, how did I EVER fit inside that tiny shell!?
This one has not been out too long, but almost dry and then he will fly away. If he is lucky, he will make it past the chickens! They are having a blast getting full as can be on these things!
Where is the sunscreen?!
This one is still white, he is not ready to run the chicken gauntlet quite yet! Gotta be quick to make it past those snappy chicken beaks!
Too Slow!
He didn't get out in time and dried until he was too hard to exit his shell. He is pretty much doomed. Molting is a tricky process and it seems time is of the essence!
NOT my hand, this is Katrina! *shivers*
This one is still IN the shell, a late bloomer I suppose! He better get cracking! hehe! Otherwise he will be stuck in there forever...
Just in case you ever wondered, here is a bit of cicada information! I always called the Cicada, a locust. It was just what I thought they were actually. But, a locust is basically a grasshopper. Responsible for mass plant destruction, plagues etc. Here, is the Desert Locust. A mighty hungry insect
The Cicada, on the other hand, actually do not eat much at all during their short lifespan. They basically climb out of the ground ( in the nymph stage), find their way up a tree, branch or otherwise, shed their skin (molt), sing a while, mate, lay eggs, and die..Yea, All in three to four weeks. That is how long the cicada has to dig out of the ground, claw out of that shell, make a bucket list, and fulfill it. Wow, amazing really if you think about it!
Fresh out of the shell, waiting for wings to open!
Another interesting tidbit. There are actually cicada that come every year, and then the periodic cicada, which comes every 13 years, or every 17 years. This is said the be the 17year cycle of the cicada. We never notice the annual cicada as much since they come slowly, spread over several months. We hear them in the summer, singing away, but since there aren't huge piles of them we don't give them much thought. The periodic cicada, is way more of an attention getter. Since they have such a large number, that comes in a shorter time frame, they insist on being noticed! Totally different to see a few shells on your apple tree, as opposed to slogging through cicada shells to get to your car! Ok, so I exaggerated! But...it SEEMS that bad!
They're everywhere!!
Well, hope this post was a bit interesting, and here is a link to find a bit more information on the cicada. Cicada. Picture credits to Katrina, she has been diligent in preserving the invasion! Thanks goodness, as I am too busy screaming like a girl to get any good pictures!
It is that time of year again! Can you guess what I am talking about?! Here is a hint!
Do you know yet? Well, here is one more hint!
Ok! I know you are sure by now that I am talking about HAYING season! Time to take all the grass and turn it into feed for the animals this winter. We decided to do a few square bales this year just in case we had to have an animal in the barn. Hard to put a round roll in a barn stall! We just did the small field behind the garden his time, and it was a rush as we had rain coming. We also like to have something small the first cutting because if you have ever worked with an older square baler, then you know that it takes a WHILE for it to start baling the perfect bales that you see in pictures! Well, the same applies with an older round baler, and tractor..and and and!!
So pretty!
Here you go! No telling how many were banana shaped, tied on one side or just plain ugly before this beauty slid out on the ground! It was way too green to be baling really, but the storm was coming and since it was only about 12 bales, we pushed it and went on ahead and baled. Gotta start somewhere!
Pud'nin and his trusty tractor!
Exercise time!
This is my haying time view, lol I usually walk behind the baler keeping an eye on things, giving a thumbs up, or a thumbs down, to let Pud'nin know how things are going. I usually get plenty of exercise during hay season. Now why am I not skinny!?
Finally!
I know it is a pain in the booty, but I sure love the look of old equipment. But since we are not rich I guess I better get to liking the looks of it anyway! But...I really do, and the sound of it clicking along is actually relaxing. When it is going smoothly that is!
GRRRR!!
Pud'nin was not a happy camper here...This is during the "adjustment period" Only one side tied, Boo! Another thing that is no fun is this..a shear pin breaking always makes Pud'nin frown!
Boo! Not a happy sound!
Miley Girl!
Miley is helping me keep an eye on things! She is never too far from my side these days, and is really starting to wiggle her way in my heart. Stay tuned for an update on her too, things are looking up!
On another note, the bees are still toodling along. Doing great. Here are a few pictures of them one warm day.
What a Big bee!
I am thinking that large guy there in the center is a " New Bee" hehe. :) He is all fuzzy and cute and was spending his time preening, then just flew off to do whatever bee job he was born to do!
Here is a short video of the bees keeping the hive cool. Pretty ingenious!
The ones just standing there flapping their wings are the ones cooling the hive. The rest are just coming and going, busy as..well BEES! Sometimes they land right on the ones flapping, and nobody even misses a beat. They just go ahead, doing their jobs like nothing even happened!
Today it is pretty rainy here on the Backwards Homestead. which is great! The garden has not had ONE drop of rain since it was planted. We have been packing water to the plants so they would not die, ugh! So I am pretty happy about rain! Yay!
So dry!
See! No change at all! Hopefully after the rain, we will start seeing some seedlings making their way out of the dirt. I sure hope so! I just LOVE gardening and putting all the food up for winter.
Hope you enjoyed the update, and leave me a comment if you stopped by! Until next time, be blessed and may life be gentle!
We finally got the garden in! Yay! Well, actually three gardens. I swear that I better get something out of all this work, or I am just going to move to town and live in an apartment! Not really, but sheesh, all that work is hard to do when the year goes to heck in a handbag and you barely have anything to harvest!
Pud'nin always makes sure that everything is ready when I need it and I sure am thankful! There is NO way I could even have a small garden without him and his trusty tractor! Thank you Pud'nin!
Now, I will say, a communication snafu created a bit of a mess! I had Pud'nin move an old bale of hay by the garden to use as mulch last year. HE thought I meant I wanted it spread ON the garden and tilled in...So, off he went and it tangled all in the tiller. We had to spend a while getting it all pulled out and things running smoothly again! Well, live and learn! So, always tell your Pud'nin EXACTLY what you want..hehe!
This is the smallest of the three gardens. I have some lettuce, tomatoes, squash, kale, peppers, peanuts, onions, and two kinds of beans planted here. Basically the same things as in the bigger ones but in smaller amounts.
This is the big garden that Pud'nin made me last year because the one we had used for so many years was just so cloddy and filled with clay! It is MUCH better! I did plant the potatoes, cucumbers, and popcorn here, along with the usual. I am super excited to see how the popcorn does. I have never grown it before!
Here is the cloddy beast of a garden! This year it is totally planted in corn. Well, except for two rows of Cream Peas. So, basically 4250 feet of Ambrosia sweet corn! It is just nothing but clods, it is awful and I get so aggravated whenever I have to plant here..
We have also been working on cleaning a few frames for another bee hive. It is a hand crampy job! But in the end it is nice to see that you can actually take something that looks like this...
And make it look like THIS! Much better. Now only what seems like a billion left to clean!
Well, that is a small look into what has been going on at the Backwards Homestead these days! Coming soon, Strawberry Jam and then Blackberry cobbler! Yummy! Leave a comment so I know you stopped by! Till next time!
The last post was about getting the hives ready, and the bees arriving. Now we are going to get the bees off my kitchen table and out to their new homes! I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about taking the bees, who were tucked away in a little screen box, and releasing them into the hive. I mean really, if you believe what you see in the movies, all bees will instantly attack and turn you into a lumpy, bumpy, calamine covered mess!
But, Dad said no, that that was not going to be the case, lol My bees were going to love me, and I was going to love my bees. He was right of course!
Eat up little bees! I made sure they had a little more sugar water before we took them outside, They were so hungry!
Eat up little bees! Big things are on the way!
After they had a snack we took them out in the yard. The packages were attached by two wooden strips and we needed to separate them so we could put them IN the hives. If you have never met my Dad, let me tell you, he does not mess around! He is like Sonic the Hedgehog, zipping here and there, so I did not have time to be scared! I was too buys just trying to keep up with him!
Prying!
Dad and his trusty pocket knife! I swear I thought he was going to lose a finger! Those cages were really stuck together, but I guess you would not want them coming apart in the mail. Yikes!
Prying some more!
Finally!
And with a crack! It happened, the two cages were separated and we were ready to take them to the hives.
The Bee Whisperer!
Here is Dad packing his box to the hives. Dad is so gentle with the bees, and they just ride along buzzing softly! He really is the Bee Whisperer!
Here you go little bees! Home sweet hive!
Here we have walked out to the hives and now we open them up. I am starting to get a bit nervous. After all, we are about to release thousands of bees.Dad is cool as a cucumber! For me it is a normal reaction to start slapping and slinging when a bee lands on you, but Dad says that is bad, lol That we need to move slowly and gently, and they bees will not get upset. They just want to check us out!
Yikes! Look out! That is one sharp knife!
Here is Dad with his knife again,! That thing s a multi purpose tool I tell you! I will say, he did end up bleeding just a tad. We were glad that bees were not like sharks, and go crazy over a drop of blood, lol
Tada!
We have the cage open, and now you can see the can of sugar water included to keep the bees fed while they are in transit. We will also leave it in the hive for a while so they can have easy food while they build their combs and learn the best places to forage.
Easy now!
Now, how DO you get that can out?! Dads knife of course! What else?
Here is a video of us taking the jar out, and also the queen in her cage. A little warning, I look terrible, AND, I talk really fast. Especially when I am excited! Ok...so I talk REALLY fast all the time..
See! How cool is that!! So after that, we put the lid back on the top box and wait for them to get out of the package. Then they will get busy and liberate their queen! It took three days for both queens to be freed and get to work laying eggs. Here they are down in the frames pulling out the wax out to make combs. I imagine the queen is somewhere in there busy laying eggs. Yay!!
Aww!
I go out and check on them often to make sure all is well. Then a few days ago I took the top box off the one hive, gave them an entrance feeder, and now they are doing awesome! They are out foraging so they can bringing back lots of pollen and nectar. Here are a few of them returning to the hive!
Landing gear down!
Incoming!
The other hive was a bit testy when I checked on it about noon. There was a small hole in the top box and they decided that was the entrance. So instead of coming and going out the front, they were buzzing in and out the hole in the back of the hive. Dad came by today to check on everything and make sure all was well, and I was so glad!! He took the top box off the testy confused hive and we installed their entrance feeder. They were so thrown off that a bunch of them balled up where their "entrance" used to be and were looking around all lost. BUT, Dad assured me they would find the right door, and they did. When I checked them before bed they were all tucked away in their hives doing what bees do at night! Maybe watch B movies?. Hehe
Well, there you go! I am so enjoying my awesome Beeventure and I hope you are finding it as cool as I am! I will definitley keep you updated with their progress. :)
Early June we will be getting a nuc of bees. Yea, that is 5 frames filled with all stages of bees! Woo Hoo! Of course I will bring you along with me for the experience! So keep an eye out, we have some exciting summer plans here on the Backwards Homestead!
Shout out to Katrina for taking all these awesome pics and videos! Her, Pud'nin and Joy were all there cheering us on during the process. Quietly of course! LOL!
Also, Leave a comment and let me know you were here, I love hearing from anyone who happens to stop by!. :)
