Bee Pictures from the Workshop

Chech out the C shaped larvae.

Getting stung and removing the stinger properly. Here's a drone, hold gently by the thorax. Opening and checking the hiveMelanie showing us a brood frame

These are some photos I took at the workshop

Introduction to Bees Workshop

We've had beehives producing honey on our farm for over 20 years and in this time I've managed to pick up a lot of info from our beekeeper David. Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an Introduction to Beekeeping workshop held at Dancing Bee Apiaries and led by the Ontario Beekeepers Association Tech Transfer Team.
It was a fascinating day. They covered most of the information necessary to start up your own hives and I gleaned lots of details to fill in my knowledge gaps.
Some of the session was hands on and I say hats off (better keep that hats on) to Tammy, Les and Melanie as they opened up hives for us to find the queen, see the brood, pollen and honey. Melanie showed us how to be stung and properly remove the stinger with venom pump from your skin.
It must have been premonition but I bought a better veil hat before the workshop started. Glad I did as the bees were not too happy to be disturbed on a rainy morning. Nothing more distracting than trying to listen and have bees crawling across the screen of your veil hat. A bee got inside and as I tried not to panic outwardly in getting it out I still managed to get stung. Can't complain when I hear Melanie tell us how she gets stung on a regular basis, I guess you get used to it.
Here are some interesting tidbits I learned.

• All beehives in Ontario are registered and beekeepers have an amazing backup team of researchers, tech support and regulations to keep our honey source safe and flowing.



• Honey bees are not considered aggressive, they are defensive and will not sting you unless you are threatening their home or them personally. If you are stung without any provocation it won't be from a honey bee.



• I see the honey bees clustered around the rabbits water dish and now know they collect water to cool their hive by placing droplets around the inside and fanning for ventilation. Heat is absorbed with the evaporation. They don't drink the water, they get all the moisture they need from the nectar they collect.



• Honey bees are a social insect with a structured hierarchy and specific roles for the workers, drones and queen. The whole colony overwinters (except for the drones) so they produce a lot of honey, some of which we can have. Other honey producers such as the bumblebee only produce small amounts of honey as only the queen overwinters.



• There are many threats to the bees - disease, mites, insect infestation, predators such as mice or bears, climate change. You have to be passionate about beekeeping to work against the odds to keep healthy, thriving and productive hives.
  
  All in all it was a really interesting and informative day. I've always had respect for the efforts of the beekeepers and a fascination with the bees. Not sure if I have the courage yet to start my own.
  Next time you have a spoonful of honey thank the bees and the beekeeper!

STRAWBERRIES ARE LOOKING GOOD.

What goes better with honey than some strawberries. There are tiny fruit on some of the varieties and lots of blossoms. I could be a good year if the weather behaves. It won't be long before they're ready for picking - approx 1 - 2 weeks for the market, no more than 3 weeks for pick your own. Check around the 10th of June for fresh picked berries.

Did We Celebrate!

Our Celebration of Spring was a busy one. We had beautiful weather Saturday and a good number of families enjoyed the bubbles, the animals, Dairy Farmers of Canada cow Moonica, walks in our Enchanted Forest and more.

• The animals had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and eating lots of treats. Our sheep were sheared and both the sheep and the goats had pedicures, now they're prancing.



• New baby goats born last Tuesday are doing well. One who just liked its mom's armpit has finally found her udder and bottle feeding is not as important for it's survival.



• Sunday and Monday with the unsettled weather offered challenges to our visitors. They were rewarded with seeing the birth of 2 sets of twin goats. One pair was born on Sunday and the other Monday. Thanks to Adam who took the pictures today, you can see some of the action.



• Lisa at Things to do York Region came Saturday and took pictures. Check out her site for lots of info on activities happening in York Region.

Strawberries will be in about 3 weeks. We have blossoms on our plants now in Greenbank. So far it looks like it will be a good berry season.

Can someone turn off this rain?

Sheep Shearing on Saturday

My shearer has been booked to come Saturday around 11:00am to shear our sheep as part of our Celebrate Spring event in Markham.
Looks like the weather will co operate and give us some sunshine.

Celebrate Spring Victoria Day Weekend

We just may see some sun, the forecast sounds better for Saturday than it will all week. We've been getting lots of rain so wear your boots even if it is sunny.

We've got lots of fun planned for this weekend.
This will be our first ever Celebrate Spring event and we've been planning for weeks.

• Dairy Farmers of Canada will be visiting with Moonica for Saturday and Sunday. They've got some fun activities and you can even milk Moonica. Very realistic without the hazard of getting kicked.


• Start thinking about clearing out your freezer to make way for the new harvest. We'll be have jam making demos throughout the weekend. Asparagus is now here, the rhubarb is coming on strong and before you know it strawberries will be here. So much to do, so little time.


• The wind is wonderful at our farm in the spring, just great for kite flying. Our Barnyard Adventure area has no trees or overhead wires, perfect for kites.


• Be creative and make your own bugs.


• Celebrate the sun and plant a sunflower


• Visit our new babies

These activities and more are available at our regular weekend admission price of $6.50+HST/person 2 yrs +.

Don't forget to sign up for our Pumpkin's Journey (details in the market)

Hope to see you this weekend.

Celebrate Mothers Day with our Moms

Hurray, the sun shone for us on opening day. We were blessed to have some triplets born Friday night just in time for the kids to visit on Saturday. A single lamb was born to another mom Friday morning, it needs some bottle feeding to help it along as mom isn't too keen on feeding him. Today we had another set of twin lambs born and mom and babies are doing fine.

Celebrate Mothers Day with our moms. Admission is free on Mother's Day to all Mom's(Grandmas to) who come accompanied by their children. Our ewes would love to see you. Maybe we'll have some newborn goats too, one nanny goat looks really ready.

See you this weekend.

Season opening Saturday April 30th

The date is quickly approaching and we're busy getting ready. The animal pens are cleaned out, the playareas are getting freshened up and Lynda and Eileen are busy getting the market ready. The last few days of sunshine have been a help. Myrna has been busy booking the school tours. We've still got some openings but they're filling up fast. England Trip James, Dan and I have just returned from a week long farm market tour in England. We explored the countryside with fellow Ontario Farm Fresh Marketers visiting farm shops from York south to London. Spring is about a month ahead there; the daffodils, cherry and apple trees along with the spring flowers were all in bloom. The weather was warmer than usual and we had lot's of sun. Denure Tours from Lindsay Ontario organised the logistics of the tour and Cathy, our fearless executive director of Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association researched and chose our stops. We enjoyed lots of sausage, some mushy peas, fish and chips and cornish pastries. With a morning tour of the city of York we were steeped in the history of the land. So many stone fences and hedgerows, lots of sheep and cattle grazing. The Yorkshire landscape was my favorite. We'll have pictures posted on facebook for you to see. What can we apply to our farm? First off you'll see more colour and more gardens. We'll add a few more activities through the season. It will take time to absorb and put into effect all we saw and want to do. One of the best things was getting to know our fellow Ontario marketers better. 4 New Kids in the Pens We've had 2 sets of twins born this week. Mom's and babies are doing well. They'll be in Markham for you to see them. Try to catch the babies springing about their pen. The energy of youth is very evident in the kids. Mother's Day Celebrate Mom's and bring her to the farm for a relaxing outing. Come visit our moms. Remember on her special day we give free admission to Moms when they come with their kids, old and young. Victoria Day Weekend James is organizing special activities this weekend for us to Celebrate Spring. Bring your kites, our barnyard adventure area is great for kite flying with no trees or overhead wires. We usually have a great breeze blowing especially in the spring. See you all soon.