Feeders, watering, little chores

For my lunch yesterday I went to Lowe’s to get a piece of plywood so that I could work on making the syrup feeders I had been shown by Sherry – the one who helped me recapture the swarm Saturday. I liked the design. It is far less invasive to service than anything I have now. The issue I had after I cut the plywood to fit the hive was that I had nothing to cut the holes required for the quart jars which serve as the reservoirs in the feeder. Four quart jars are required per feeder. I tried a hole saw I had, but it was too big. I tried twelve times to use a RotoZip to cut the circles but each one as either a little too small or just a fraction too big. I cut over a dozen holes in a scrap piece of plywood trying to get it right, but I could not get it to cut a consistent hole that would fit the lid of the jars properly. I liked the way the RotoZip cut the holes, but it was not designed to cut a hole as small as I needed.

After the twelve failures and two broken bits I finally gave up. Today I will buy a hole saw the size I need to cut the holes and buy the extra small mouth jars to make up the twelve I need to make the feeders. It was a bit frustrating to be so close and not be able to get it done.

After I gave up on the feeders, I cleaned out under the chicks in the birthing center, now the nursery coop. It was a mess. It was a couple days overdue, but it did not take long to gather the sodden chips and manure under the cage and dispose of it properly. Then I started watering the garden. As I was engaged in that chore, a storm was brewing just to our north, but I could not be sure it would make it to us, and the plants and trees were desperately in need of a drink. Some of the plants Mama put out have died off in the heat. I watered them just in case there is a chance for them to recover but it was probably a wasted effort on my part. Others are doing well adapting to the heat and direct sunlight. I was out in the garden until just before dark. The storm was a lot of thunder, lightning, and high winds but not a drop of rain for us.

I had one little chore left on the hives. I still needed to reset the corner block on the pallet holding the hives. I had left that corner supported with a shovel handle wedged on a cinder block. I had not replaced the block we pulled out to remove part of the swarm. So, just at dark, I put on the jacket and hood bee suit and took the time to put the block back in place and secure the pallet. My concern was that the dogs or some other animal could hit the extended handle of the shovel and knock it loose, letting the pallet fall at that corner. That would not have been good for my rehoused swarm in the hive on that corner of the pallet. I got the block back in place without incident in spite of the small swarm of bees on the outside of the hive. They are there every night. About one hundred or so bees. I do not know if there is not sufficient room in the hive or if there are an abundance of guard bees in the hive. So far, the swarm is making the hive their own, but those bees spend the night exposed. Now I just need to get some feed to them to help them along.

I finally got inside at 9:15.