1st year

August marks the end of our first year living here.  So much has happened since then! 

In the past month, I've watched a honey harvest, and winterized a few beehives.  The small colony that was cutout from someone's house and put in my yard returned from the mountains with very little resources for winter.  My mentor decided to we will put them into a Nuc (small hive) that we will feed over winter, and in Spring put them into a colony.

The chickens are well, the 2 new girls are well acclimated. The Speckled Sussex is laying, but the Buff is not.  She was infested w/mites, so I treated her. She hasn't started up since then. I suspect it's b/c she pulled some of her feathers out due to the mites, and she needs the protein to regrow the feathers.  Which brings me to another issue. All of my original 4 girls just completed their first laying year, and are due to molt this winter (meaning no eggs while their bodies devote protein to regrowing feathers).  It will be their  (and my) first molt. Chickens look pretty sad when their feathers fall out. 

I ordered my beehive, so over the winter I will be putting it together, and painting it. Also, over winter, I'd like to reorganize my chicken and bee area of the backyard.