‘Twas a cloudy, rainy, chilly, muggy May. Although there were a few, at least partially sunny breaks that lasted long enough to get out the mower and tidy the yard up a bit. May is always an odd month. You feel like you want to do a thousand things outside and have them done yesterday. Mulching, getting the garden planted, adding a few flowers here and there and always, always, that new project you’ve had all winter to plan. This year’s project was going be an extension to our four-chair deck so that our growing family (which has exceeded four) can all sit together for weekend barbeques. Unfortunately, the increased cost of wood nixed that plan. Having a family that thoroughly understands me, Mother’s Day brought a few fantastic tools into my life that allowed me to make an adaptation. New garden gloves and a battery-operated weed-eater came with the best breakfast a mom could ask for! That area that was slated for a longer deck became a rock covered sitting area by dinnertime.
BEES- Waiting for the Queen
Looking for the queen
The mean bees of April were on their way to transitioning into the not-so-mean bees of May. The only problem was….the rain. Cool weather and rainy days equal unbred new queens. Finally, by the end of the month our queens were busy building up their nucs with new brood.
About the queen’s big journey- After she is born and beats out her competing sisters, she leaves the hive as quickly as she can to be mated. As in the case of this May, cool and rainy weather kept our queens from their maiden journey for much longer than usual.
Once the queen has memorized her hive and the area around it, off she goes to a Drone Congregation Area. She emits a mating pheromone that increases her chances of being mated. Interestingly, drones avoid mating with a queen of their own hive. The mating area is usually at the edge of a treed area that is used year after year by drones for this purpose. The question is, how does she know where to go? The answer so far is, outside of pheromones, no one is sure. We do know that the only purpose of a drone is to mate. They fly to the mating area several times a day and it is likely that the queen instinctively knows to go to the type of area that the drones congregate. Then again, we are constantly learning more about these amazing creatures every day. Sadly, for the drone, once he mates with a queen that is the end of his life.
Once she is mated by up to a dozen genetically diverse drones she heads back to the hive. Now the second question is, how does she know which hive to return to? Having many identical hives can often confuse a new queen upon her return. Bad weather, a bee eating bird, any number of things could happen to keep the queen from returning home. Surprisingly though, most of the time, the queen makes it back. She memorizes her hive as soon as she emerges from it before going to the drone field.
CHICKENS- The personality packed Silkie
Silkie Hen (Snowball)
*They’re cute, sassy and, well, silky!
*Silkie’s originate from Asia.
*All Silkies are bantams, quite a bit smaller than more commonly owned chickens.
*They don’t have feathers like other chickens, they have plumage, and although you should never hug a chicken if you get the chance, you should pet a silkie (then wash your hands).
*No chicken is a good flyer, but the silkie is a terrible flyer. They can however sort of gain a little air with a running hop, those downy covered wings aren’t taking them anywhere.
*Silkies are often broody, very broody and will give you a solid growl if you try to take an egg.
*Silkies beaks, bones, feet and skin are black.
*Silkies have 5 toes, most chickens have 4.
GROWING- A slow start
It rained. It rained again. And again and again. We’re always happy to get rain, but the 7 ½ inches that fell during the month of May put a damper on getting gardens going. The tomatoes and peppers grew taller and thicker in their pots at the edges of the windows wishing to get outside. However, both really need overnight temperatures to be above 50* and believe it or not, we had many May nights that still dipped down into the 40’s. We still managed to get some beets, peas, lettuce and carrots planted. The last week of May brought the beginnings of a bumper crop of luscious strawberries. Here’s a few fun strawberry facts!
*Honeybees pollinate the top of the strawberry flower and wild bees pollinate the base of the flower.
*An odd shaped strawberry is the result of the flower not being fully pollinated.
*Strawberry flowers pollinated by honeybees result in more brightly colored strawberries.
Makes you a little hungry for some shortcake, huh?
Onto June, the month of heat, weeds and hopefully plenty of backyard veggies!
Audrey L Elder
Fourteen Acre Wood
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