Tag Archives: Nature

My kids, the explorers

March 13, 2012Awesome, Family, Nature, ThoughtsFamily, Nature, Thoughtswarren

I grew up in the woods in Pennsylvania. I really only ever knew the woods as the nearest “city” of 3500 or so folks was 25 miles away. I never saw any real city until I was much older and to me, that very much felt like living dangerously. Cars moved so fast (except for when they didn’t) and then there were the people. People were louder and looked different and talked different. The city was very scary indeed but the woods were easy and safe.

Years later now, my kids are city kids. They see people and roads and city stuff as normal and safe. They like to mess around at our place in the country but they never really stray too far from where Emily and I were. I am always amazed at how they like to sit inside the shell of our cabin and read rather than being outside playing in the stream or rolling in the dirt.

So, the kids were at the place last weekend and, to my amazement, wanted to explore in the woods. “Sure” I said figuring they would take two steps into the tree line and come running back. A neighbor girl came over too and the three of them ventured off.

An hour passed very quickly, so when I looked up and they weren’t back, I was a bit worried. You see, city kids just don’t venture off into the woods for an hour. They were out of sight and hearing range so I didn’t know what they were up to. I waited and eventually they traipsed up the hill with flushed cheeks and big smiles…and mud.

It occurred to me that kids used to be gone all day and the parents had no idea where they were. Emily’s granddad talks about swimming cross the local river (with barge traffic and chemical plants, etc) before he was 10. Likewise, my grandpa hopped trains and rode around as a teenager. I can’t imagine allowing my kids to do that but I am absolutely thrilled that they struck out on their own and acted like kids in the woods should act.

There are many books and discussions on letting your kids experience a little danger. Isaac took me down to their “end-point” and I was surprised how far they had gotten and how wild the area was. There was a little danger for sure and I think they enjoyed the thrill. It worried me a little but they loved it and I couldn’t be happier to see their “country eyes” light up. The city may always be good with them, but I surely hope they come to understand and love the woods too!

Bees…on the flower setting

March 1, 2012Bees, NatureBees, Honeybees, Naturewarren

A little while ago I posted about my discovery of the flower setting on my camera. I never knew I could take macro pictures without buying a lot of special equipment. I think I have always liked close-ups better than landscapes as a general rule and now I can take mediocre pictures in both formats!

Ok, so before you go on, you have to promise me you will click on these pics and get the close-up view…this thumbnail view doesn’t do them justice! Promise? Ok then…

Close-up of honeybees — Two bees are kissing...

So I was home at lunch the other day and the bees that remain at the house (4 hives…only until April or so when I move them to the country) were super active. I put some sugar water on them to feed them a little since there isn’t much blooming yet. Maples should bloom any time now but they aren’t out yet. Anyhow, sugar water always makes them very active (not in a bad way) and the bright sun made it even more so.

As I watched, I noticed that there was a ton of pollen coming in from somewhere. I saw bright yellows and greens and everything in between. Bees flying with pollen are often pretty funny to watch. They can be so packed down that they look like they are a wounded plane coming in after battle, just barely in the air but still making it.

I sat down in their flight path and used my flower setting and took a bunch of close-up pics. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Bee poop and skeeters

February 17, 2012Bees, NatureBees, Honeybees, Naturewarren

One of these things does not belong…well, really neither thing belongs but bee poop in the middle of February is not too uncommon. There are usually a few warmish days here and there where the bees can get out and flex their…guts. It has been a super mild winter for us so the bees have actually had a pretty regular schedule for keeping…regular. I guess it has been awhile though because on Wednesday when it was so sunny (and I was out of town for work), the bees covered my car in yellow poop.

Now I know you are wanting to ask so go ahead and ask – Warren, does bee poop stink? For science, of course, I decided to do the sniff test. I am (not so) pleased to report that I have an answer…bee poop does stink! Now I didn’t take too many samples, but we may have to let other labs verify my results. So, dear friends, you have just witnessed science in action!

In other science news, mosquitoes do not belong.

Also, mosquitoes do not belong outside in February, but just last week as I returned from the great out of doors and a dirty rotten mosquito followed me in the house. I know what she was after. Mosquitoes don’t care a lick for me but they absolutely love Emily. I really don’t mind mosquitoes themselves, but the was they make Emily whine and fuss is my problem. I killed that dang whine-making mosquito in a preemptive strike. I have no regrets. It had to be done.

Since we are doing science here, folks, I want to take an opportunity to draw the correlation between bee poop and skeeters. I checked around and 9 out of 10 living creatures agree – both bee poop and skeeters stink! There you have it! Science rules!

Stay tuned dear friends, in our next post, we will discuss the maths!

Can it bee?

January 24, 2012Bees, NatureBees, Honeybees, Naturewarren

We worked on the cabin last weekend but it wasn’t all work. Emily and I took a stroll around the place a little too. It was so nice out that we couldn’t resist. It was sort of like we were on a bus tour for retired folks (Emily does have a significant birthday coming up this summer), stopping at various places along our tour route.

Anyhow, the first place we stopped was over at the bee yard. We are registered with the Department of Agriculture so we are honest to goodness farmers…bee farmers! Most Januaries, the bees remain inside the hives and cluster together (and sort of vibrate) to keep warm. Honeybees do not hibernate. They are cold-blooded of course, so they slow down if they get too cold, but if the hive is healthy, they remain relatively warm inside the hive and do just fine.

Bees flying near the beehive — The best color for a beehive? The color of cheap paint!

So, this January has been super warm as Januaries go so the bees were out when we visited the bee yard! Here is another interesting fact about bees…barring nosema (bee dysentery), bees will not poop inside the hive. So, winter can be a mighty long prospect if there are not nice days here and there. Nice days for a bee basically means above 43-45 degrees so they can leave the hive to…uh…catch up on some reading if you know what I mean.

Click above for a video of the bees flying. If that version won’t play on your machine, try this link

This year, the bees are feeling good! They can poop pretty regularly, they have a chance to break up their cluster now and then to move inside the hive for food, and they give me something to watch! So, my friends, please enjoy my January bees with me for a bit. They are always delightful and especially so in the wintertime!

Some perspective on showers

January 23, 2012Cabin, Land, NatureCabin, Land, Naturewarren

Is it January? It was beautiful today. The building fates have been with us indeed. We finally made it back to the property today and made some more progress on the deluxe shed…I mean deer stand…I mean the cabin. The weather man assured us it was supposed to be sunny and 60 so we headed out early…way before it was either sunny or 60. It still wasn’t January cold but I could have stayed in bed pretty easily. Anyhow, we drove out in the woods and there were icicles on the trees and everywhere else too. We had planned to install soffit and fascia on the sides of the cabin because the wind runs right up under the eaves and gives me the heebie geebies…like it could rip the roof right off and send it down over the hill. I haven’t hugged a ladder so many times as I have this winter as we work in the wind. It is always windy on top of our ridge but I think winter wind is the wildest.

So we pulled up and saw all sorts of icicles starting to melt and drip right down the fascia board where we had planned to work. Time to change plans. I guess it worked out better because dripping water running down my back would be high on the crap-I-don’t-want-to-do list. We cut a several pieces of soffit at a time but I could only work with two pieces at a time up on the ladder. So, every two pieces I had to climb up and down the ladder. That makes for a slow and tiring day.

Emily and I decided to take a short walk in the woods since we were just so doggone efficient at getting work done. It sounded like it was raining with all of the ice melting off of the trees. It was so cool. The only sounds we could hear were from the forest. I love being out there because it always seems to amaze me. At least as many water drops ran down my back as would have if we had worked on the soffit and fascia on the side of the house. I didn’t mind the water in the woods though. Perspective is sort of funny, isn’t it?

See all of the progress on the cabin

On the way to the outhouse

November 30, 2011Cabin, Land, Nature, Thoughts, WVNaturewarren

So, we are building our cabin, right? The land is completely raw so there are absolutely no amenities, if you catch my drift. So, we work hard about every weekend from morning until dark. We drink fluids and nature does with fluids what nature is supposed to do with fluids. Yeah, we have to pee sometimes when we go out to the property.

Last week and this week are deer hunting season in WV. I promise this is related. So, let’s pretend that one of the females who may or may not be my wife, drank some fluids during deer season on a piece of raw land out in the woods in WV. As nature takes its course, such a person may feel a little fearful of being mistaken for a deer….a white tailed deer in that exposed condition, while dealing with…uh…natural things. The obvious solution to such a dilemma is to announce one’s presence in the woods like so: “I am not a deer. I am not a deer. I am not a deer”. So far, there has been no mistake and we have had done very well with this method.

Now let’s say that a guy who may or may not be me also had fluids while working on a piece of raw land out in the country in WV. Now for a guy, the world is pretty much a fair target. Oh yes, it is all about the challenge of a good target. Anyhow, with the world as a man’s urinal, the concern over being confused as a deer is less pressing. Instead, a man is able to take in the sights in Nature’s lavatory.

It seems very late for mushrooms, but the whole point of this story is to lead up to how a guy who may or may not be me, found a really cool log that had the most exquisite collection of mushrooms growing on it. I like to touch mushrooms. Is that weird? These mushrooms were silky and really fleshy and difficult to stop touching. That’s weird I know, but I think it is fascinating that there are things in the woods that keep the place cleaned up but still look so delicate and soft. I mean, they were chewing up a log for goodness sakes! I have been making far too much contact with wood as I build this cabin and my head is suffering greatly from how hard wood is. These beautiful mushrooms eat the same wood for breakfast!

Even in the most basic of times in the woods, I am continually amazed at the power and beauty that is around me all of the time. I like to pay attention to these things, even on the way to the outhouse.

Solved: The Case of the mystery prints

October 24, 2011Cabin, Land, Nature, WVCabin, Land, Nature, WVwarren

Awhile back, I mentioned that we discovered some large hoof prints in our field and we couldn’t figure out for sure what they were. People have animals in our area but all of them are well fenced. I had suspicions that we had a cow on the loose but there was no evidence beyond the prints. If you know much about cows, you know that they leave evidence.

We went up to the property both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. On Saturday, we found the evidence. Only one marker turned up so I figured we had a single wild cow on the loose that was roaming the wilderness looking for greener grass to eat, living the life of a free bovine.

On Sunday morning, we pulled up and noticed a small herd of cows. So much for the single renegade cow. It was a herd that was on the loose! I figure one got loose a few weeks ago and tasted the sweet grass over our way and finally, on Sunday, convinced all of her girlfriends to bust out and enjoy a wild day away from the field…on another field. Anyhow, the group of them left many markers so I am certain that this was the first day they had all come.

10_23_2011 052 — Tails in the air means big fun is about to erupt!

We drove up slowly thinking that the girls would spook but they were calm standing under our cabin-to-be. Isaac wasn’t too interested in petting them but he was interested in figuring out how to claim them for his own. He said, “why don’t we just build a fence around them? Possession means everything, right?” I suppose we could have rustled some cattle but I don’t think it would have lasted long. Their owner came riding by on a 4-wheeler and tried to herd them home. Having no luck, she ran back home for a bucket of feed and the ladies traded their freedom for the elusive pail-of-promises.

I am sure they will always remember fondly that day they all made a break for it and lived the life of care-free cows, not a care in the world, the wind on their udders and sun on their hairy backs. Ah, yes, those were the days!

We were framed

October 20, 2011Cabin, Family, Land, Nature, WVCabin, Family, Land, Naturewarren

We only got a chance to work on the cabin on Windday…I mean Sunday. We framed a lot of the walls when my family was here last weekend so we started putting them in place this weekend. Our plan was to attach the OSB sheeting and then set up the walls already covered. We sized the walls so we could lift them with OSB already in place. The wind, however, said differently. We started to set up the first wall and nearly flew off the back of the platform. I don’t know what the wind-speed was officially, but it was ridiculous-miles-per-hour by my reading.

So, Plan B…We decided to set up the walls sans OSB just so we can say we made progress. There is a fair chance we will regret that later when we have to go back and hang the OSB, but doggone it, we have walls up! Emily’s granddad came up to help us. He’s been around the sun 86 times but you would never know it. He was a huge help in getting these walls in place and we couldn’t have done it without him!

10_19_2011 126 — Poppaw...86 years old and we couldn't have gotten the walls up without him!

You may notice that these walls look a little different than most walls. Good eye! We are roughly following the Advanced Framing Technique. What that means for us is that we are building with 2×6 boards rather than 2x4s. We are also building on 24 inch centers (the space between boards) rather than the more typical 16 inch centers. You can read the details on the link, but we are excited about the potential savings in materials costs and the potential for improved energy efficiency. That and we like the weird looks people give us. It sort of flies in the face of traditional house framing which makes it all the more appealing.

Building a wall…and the view out the front door!

Abigail surveying the scene…that’s as far as we got!

So, anyhow, we got the hardest walls set and plan to work more this weekend on getting the remaining walls up. We will need to get the OSB started too. I figure we will set up some elaborate pulley system to get the wood in place so we can start on the roof. If we get wind again this weekend, I am going sailing. Let’s see, I will need to get that old washtub and some sheets…what else do I need to build a sailboat?

See all of the progress on the cabin

Solar Powered Electric Fence

September 12, 2011Awesome, Bees, Land, Nature, TechnologyBeekeeping, Bees, Nature, Technologywarren

Part of moving the bees to our place in the country is so they can be out of town and away from people. Of course, getting away from people means getting them closer to good old mother nature herself. For anyone who has read Winnie the Pooh, you know that bears like honey when they get a rumbly in their tummies.

09_07_2011 014 — Bears don't read very well...

Not much will really stop a hungry bear, but the official recommendation is to enclose all “country bees” in an electric fence. When a bear attacks a hive, the bees always come out in great number to ward off the attack. Bear fur is typically too thick to present a problem. The only sensitive place on a bear is apparently their nose/mouth area. While my electric fence is a little more “juiced” than a bee sting, most folks agree that a bear has to learn about the fence with their mouth or nose. I’ll talk more about that another time, but it makes sense that an electric fence properly set up should deter all the Poohs out there.

So, you may be wondering how solar power can deliver enough juice to make a bear even notice it was there. It turns out that the people who make electric fence controllers make a version that runs on DC (i.e. deep cycle batteries, not house current which is AC). The controller I bought is designed to power up to 25 miles of fence. All told, I have maybe 1000 feet of wire strung on a few poles, so the charger will deliver a good shot when it fires. I won’t bore you with the calculations about the capacity of the battery but it is roughly the size of a car battery just for perspective (a car’s starter battery would not work here though…this application needs a long continuous draw on the battery rather than the quick hit when you start a car)

09_07_2011 015 — The battery, fence controller, and charge controller

The instructions show that the fence will run for 2 weeks on a fully charged battery of the proper specs but I do not want to have to worry about whether the battery is still charged if I don’t make it out there for a few weeks. Instead, I bought a solar panel and a charge controller to keep the battery full.

09_07_2011 012 — See? It's pointed south

I pointed my solar panel south and angled it to the optimal angle to get direct sun. Output wires from the panel go into the charge controller which regulates the power going into the battery. The charge controller makes sure the power is the proper voltage and that the battery does not get over or under charged. The charge controller also has a “load” connection so I connected the fence controller to that connection and we’re off and running! All of the charging/controlling/shocky-shocky stuff is inside a beehive surrounded by my other beehives as a sort of a theft deterrent.

Oh, by the way, without thinking I tried to use a regular household switch at the gate to turn the power on and off. Of course, the fence controller pushes somewhere around 10,000 volts which didn’t even slow down for the switch rated for household current of 110 volts. If you want a switch, make sure you get one rated properly…same with any wire you may need to use (I only used fencing wire which handles the charge nicely)

So, I hope some of that makes sense. So far it is alive and well. Let me know if you want more details…

Change of address

September 7, 2011Bees, Land, Nature, WVBees, Honeybees, Land, Nature, WVwarren

Etched in my back…er mind…is a picture of a bad interaction with the bees last year. It was shortly after that episode that I decided that if I was to continue to have bees, they had to be away from people. We bought property out in the country early this Spring and one of its main purposes was to be a bee yard. After this weekend of labor, I am happy to report that the majority of the bees have been relocated to the new bee yard and seem to be doing quite well.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? As you might have guessed, it was anything but. Of course, any test of one’s mettle always makes for a good story if nothing else. To ease the move, I decided we would mostly enclose the bees with screen and other stuff the night before. To enclose the bees the morning of the move would only stir them up and make the process miserable. Each hive got the screen treatment except for a small access ares for the bees to come and go. The plan was to screen that final access point, throw the bees in a truck and go.

My father-in-law and I started before sunrise to carry the bees from his back hillside to the truck. So, we grabbed ahold of 150 or so pounds of bees+hive+honey and prepared to stumble down the hill, guided solely by the sweet glow of the…yeah, it was dark. We tried to carry a heavy bunch of bees down a hillside in the dark. FAIL. Oh don’t get me wrong, gravity works and we got the bees down the hill and into the truck but it wasn’t fun. Luckily, the first one took us so long that it was daylight before we got to the next ones and they all went pretty smoothly.

We finished the electric fence of doom a week or so ago so hopefully any bears, raccoons, or bee-lovin’ dinosaurs will find that my bees are not on the menu. I still have 4 more hives to move but it was such a relief to get the first batch moved to their new address in the country!

My Home Among The Hills

Life in WV!