Bees 2024

It's only April and there has already been bee drama!  In mid March, we split the hive on the far right because it was packed with bees and when that happens, it can cause them to swarm.  Splitting it means taking a few frames of eggs and almost hatching bees and moving them to a new hive.  In the process, we leave the queen in the old hive and expect that the new hive will make a new queen.  We watched the hive closely and found evidence of queen cells, which was a good sign.  But after a month, there were no eggs which means NO queen!  We don't know why but it could have been any number of reasons, including she couldn't get out on a mating flight because of bad weather or she was killed while on her mating flight.

So we had to quickly pivot to plan B: purchase a queen.  Jim went to Half Moon Bay to buy a mated queen and he installed it in the hive.

These are pics of us checking on her on day 2.  She is still in her cage and we removed a cork which allows the bees to eat thru a marshmallow blocking the entrance and release her.  This slow introduction gives the best chance of the hive accepting her.

We have a good number of bees in the hive but they are getting old and will be naturally dying off soon.  So we need to get some eggs laid asap.

The last two pics are of the cage that the queen is in.  You can see the bees on the cage, which is a good sign that they are interested in her and caring for her through the holes in the cage.   In the below pic you can see the white marshmallow in the entrance tube to the queen cage.  The bees will eat that (its sugar, which they love) and she will be released and start laying eggs.

 

Wilderness First Responder

Grace got a great job over the summer as a manager of interns for the John Muir Conservancy.  She will be a roving manager going in and out of the forest to assist where needed. But first she needs to complete a wilderness first responder course.

So this week, she is in class with a bunch of doctors, nurses, EMTs and nurse practitioners.   She said she is the youngest and most recent college grad.

The class is in the North Bay and instead of getting a hotel, which costs a lot of money, she is camping!  

She sent these pics to me of her first nite at the campground.  That is a bobcat below.  Bobcats are quite elusive, so that's a super cool creature to spot.  And who doesn't love a good newt!?

 

Dashcam

Over the weekend, I swapped Astrid for Dash!   Dash is Astrid's half brother and he loves to come over to our house.  And Margaret, Dash's mama, loves to have Astrid over.  So a swaparoo was born.   Jim loves to call him "Dashcam" which he now responds to.

Easter 2024

We celebrated Easter 2024 with brunch at my folks house.  We were missing G, Sam and Jack.   Kaylene was there but not in the picture as she was the photographer.  We had delicious: strata, homemade sourdough, carrot cake cupcakes, gluten free quiche, homemade strawberry lemonade, fruit salad, etc.  My friend Margaret even made Grandma Anna a gluten free carrot cake!  It was a good day to hang out and teach Grandma Anna how to play wordle.

Bees

 I love a new pair of shoes - especially when they have bees on them!  I can't wait for the weather to stabilize so I can wear them to work!

Kokedama

                                                 G and Bug and I did a kokedama class at Dig!

Germany - Lake Tegernsee

In March 2024, I went to Lake Tegernsee, one hour south of Munich for work.  It was a beautiful lake at the base of the Alps.

 

Hollywoods

                                                Lydia and Oak in their "Hollywood" glasses!

 

Home Sweet Home

 While we are at the cabin, my neighbor sent this pic of the house with beautiful clouds in the sky.

Sweet Lydia

Sweet Lydia was supposed to be a service dog but she was just not made out for it.   Instead, she is a pup who is living her best life of hiking shenanigans as evidenced by this video.

Sourdough

Our whole family, thanks to Uncle B, has sourdough starter.  G and K have been making sourdough bread but I have never tried.   This is my first attempt!  It went very well!

 

Wildflowers and Dogs March 2024

Jim and the kids went skiing at Dodge and I had a houseful of dogs by myself.  So what do I do?  Load them up and go on a hike to see wildflowers!

 

Ahi

Ahi turns 16 this month.  And she is getting super old.  She has a kidney failure and dementia.  She does a "walk about" for a couple of hours each night after dinner.  It's part of the dementia symptoms.  But she still enjoys a daily walk and attacking the labradors.

 

Big Bend National Park

In February 2024 I went to Big Bend National Park in West Texas with my backpacking girlfriends, Susan and Shannon and our hiking friend, Liz.

We flew into El Paso Texas and then drove to Terlingua Texas where we stayed in a little house along the Terlingua Creek for a week of sight seeing.  

Highlights were a river float on the Rio Grande, hikes in canyons, including a slot canyon, exploring the ghost town of Terlingua, being in a wind/sand storm in Boquillos Canyon and a mural walk in El Paso.

This was a slot canyon that we had to be careful that we would be able to get back up the ledge before we went down it.

 

These were murals in the barrio in El Paso.  We did a walking tour and loved learning about the culture and community.