So this is beekeeping, and I can not get enough

Alright, I feel like 2 posts in one day is enough for starting a blog but I just really want to do one last post. I have started beekeeping after returning from France and seeing the wonderful life of bees on the farm. I have read as many books about organic beekeeping I can, read as many blogs, and watched about as many documentaries on beekeeping as there are out there. I have to admit that I am fully obsessed with beekeeping, If I could I would visit my hives every day, I would. Yet, keeping with organic beekeeping, I think they should have some time to themselves. I have posted some pictures of my hives which I keep up in Riverwoods, away from the noise of the city. I would like to start some more hives so let me know if anyone is interested!

I do not use wax foundation. I want them to make their own comb, this is another organic practice. They bees like it better and so do I. Just after two weeks look at the progress they made. A few of the frames were already fully drawn. I am so proud of my ladies.

Close up on some freshly drawn comb and some beautiful honey already hanging out. Looks like it is lunch time, they are all taking a lunch break for some honey.

This is a bit of an older photo but I wanted to include it. I was changing from the 10 frames hives to 8 frame hives. It was when I was still wearing gear and I was super hot in 90 degree weather in my long sleeves and jeans. I love this photo surrounded by the forest. It is my true sanctuary.

Nice close up on the ladies. They really are wonderful. The sound alone of humming bees is a gift enough. Keeping with the organic way I will be leaving most of the honey for them for the winter since I got a late start this year. The queens are doing great and despite it being hot and dry they seem to be loving life.

Me checking out the frames. I think I had located the queen in this photo and was trying to show my dad. It is always a rush when I see her. I just noticed in the photo a bee flying towards my face, well good thing no stings that day. The little ladies are too good to me.

Started my worm compost bin!

So after covering both porches in veggies and herbs and I figured I better get a worm compost bin to turn my scraps into food for the plants and turn my urban garden into a full circle sustainable model. Essentially plants need nitrogen to grow which the natural way is through compost or using aquaponics, which I will also be setting up soon, so watch out for that post. Anyway, I ordered my worm compost bin from Woodland direct, I got the VermiHut 3 Tray Worm Compost Bin, which was about $75 with shipping, and then got my worms from uncle Jim’s worms farms, about $25 bucks with shipping and both arrived within the week. It was not too much investment but this means no more buying compost. So for the fun of it, I have documented what I did to get these worms started. I am on day three today and after lifting up some of the newspaper, the worms have already stated to chow down on the food scraps I tossed in there.

So first you put a piece of fabric under the first worm tray to help keep out some of the compost from getting in the worm tea and clogging up the spout. (worm tea is amazing for nitrogen source and as a natural insecticide if sprayed on the leaves of the plants). Then I put the first media tray on the fabric and put coconut shells in the bottom of the tray. The fabric and coconut shells came in the package I bought (good deal!). You let the coconut shell soak in a bucket for 10 minutes and it will expand and have lots of bedding for the worms. Put a layer of the coconut shells down and then put your worms in. I literally just poured them out of the bag in the photo above. You can see they are all clumped together, but they soon will wiggle away to get out of the light. I also should mention I have them on my porch. I will probably bring them inside during the winter, but now I have them on my porch in a shady place and they are quite happy I must say. Make sure to put them in the shade, they do not like to be baked in the sun. Okay next, after you put your worms in put some more of the coconut shell or if you don’t have the coconut shell, newspaper or dirt works. I put the coconut shells and then more newspaper on top of the soil and coconut shells. Make sure to put a good amount of newspaper and mist it with some water to keep it moist. You will want to keep this newspaper moist and not let it dry out so check on your worms every once and a while.

There you go, you have your worm compost bin started. Once they start working on this first tray and turn it into worm castings (compost for your soil), you can add another tray above it, add some soil or the compost they made from the first tray and some food and they will migrate up to the food source.

Please let me know if you have any questions about worm composting. They eat about double their weight in a weeks time and are the best pest you will ever invest in.