Bee hives dressed for winter in December

Today is mid-December...the 15th.  I checked on the bees yesterday, preparing to give them more fondant.  But the fondant I gave them before is not all gone yet so I think they have another few weeks before they need more.

I also took out the electric fence yesterday and put it in the basement for the winter. I sure hope there are no more bear out there foraging.  In some ways, I wish I had a fence that could stay up all year so that I didn't have to worry about it.  But so far, they are save.  I actually didn't have the battery hooked up for over a week and nothing bad happened.  I didn't dare wait much longer because I was afraid the ground would freeze and I wouldn't be able to get the posts out.

Beehives in mid-December 2012

In the beehive on the right, the bees are at the very bottom...I'm told they are clustered in a little ball.  I saw zero activity so I removed a few frames and put my ear right down into the hive to see if I could hear any activity down there.  Thankfully I did...at least in the big hive.  I'm not as sure about the small hive.  We'll see if that survives the winter.  I'm tempted to put the little one in my greenhouse for the winter where I think it would have a better chance but will see how this winter goes and learn from the experience.

Yard chores during mild December

The conditions were right yesterday, December 9th, to get outside and do work typically saved for spring cleanup. That's because in mid December, it's usually too cold for "spring cleanup".  But yesterday was a mild 50 degrees here in Southern Vermont so I took advantage of it. I began cleaning out an area of my yard that had a lot of downed branches and a few small scraggly trees that fell during excavation and storms.

Here's what the area looked like before the cleanup

Here's the area after cleanup

I burned brush for hours.  This particular area looked especially ugly because it was loaded with the brown, dry remains of ferns.  A metal rake soon had them pulled out and what a difference it made to the area.  I just cleaned out the dead wood and raked up the dead ferns.  Naturally I pulled out rogue wild raspberry or blackberry plants and there was and still is a lot of poison ivy in the area.  I pulled up a lot of it but there plenty more. That's a job I will tackle another day.

I have a lot of Japanese barberry, an invasive plant.  I pulled some of it out earlier this year and am cutting down more in this cleanup. It will be difficult to keep up with unless my neighbor also removes it from his land but I will try my best to keep it at bay on mine.

I may not get another chance this year to work in the yard like it was spring.  I really had the best time..it was so nice to just spend the day outside.

I have plans for the area I'm cleaning out.  It is at the top of my driveway and is really the first thing I see driving up.  I'd like it to be attractive.  I want to move a beehive into that area with some herbs planted around it and line the driveway with lilies or other hardy plants.

Also, there is a lot of shade between the parking area and the area where the beehive will go.  A pathway through the wooded area with shade-loving plants tucked here and there would be lovely.  I'd like to begin that project in the spring.  It would be fun to use just native plants that are sure to thrive. I can't wait for seed catalogs to arrive so I can begin growing plants for this area. Perhaps I can find other native plants from the area and transplant into this area as well. 

It's all part of the fun.