Curiosity Killed the Bee?

So I'm super curious to see what's going on inside my beehives, especially during the winter.
And being a tech nerd, I bought a USB mini camera. Kinda like this one, but the camera part is a bit smaller.   Then I went all McGyver on it and rubber banded a small flashlight to the side, and took it and my laptop out to the hives.

 I was thinking I could just feed it into the front of the hive, and get a good look at what was going on.  It didn't turn out as good as I thought.
But it's still interesting.




Here's the videos I got.




I was using my Macbook, and it seemed like there was a problem recording with Quicktime... I might try it again with the Cowgirls PC laptop...

Spring is almost here, and I'm getting two new hives. 

Ron

Frogger! Who turned on the frog switch?

So I got home tonight and was feeding the dogs when I noticed a very loud drone of frogs. I don't remember them last night. It's almost like someone flipped the "frog" switch for them to all turn on tonight.

Here's where I need your help. How does one get a good look at some of these frogs? I pulled this picture from wikipedia - supposedly the North American Bull Frog should be in my area, but I really have no idea what frog is back there.

I don't really want to capture any frogs, but I would love to take some photos or video.

Any one know how to do this or what kind of frog would be in Maple Valley, WA?

Thanks

From City Boy Starts Farmin'

My Nieces started some blogs...

So I was visiting my sister this weekend and my two nieces started blogs.

The first one is Hannah... she's quite the crafty person. She shows kids how to make things.

Her blog is here.

Very cool stuff. I already bought a bracelet.

My other niece is Mackenzie. She has a blog about living her life with Crohn's. You can check out her blog here.

See you next time..

Ron

Long time - no posts...

Hey everybody.

It's been forever since I've posted on the blog.
But it's actually for a good reason. My beekeeping website it really taking off.

It's www.worldofbeekeeping.com - a website for beginning beekeepers. We have almost 700 people that have joined the forum.

We've sold hundreds of my Basic Beekeeping DVDs. So, that's been taking up most of my free time.

And speaking of bees, I'm going to adding 2 new hives this year, and I want to plant a bunch of "bee friendly" plants.

Before I can do that, I need to clear out a bunch of wood that was left on my property from the previous owner.

So I rented a log splitter and got a few guys to split wood all weekend. And while I should see all this wood as a blessing, it seems like it just keeps multiplying on me. I must have bucked at least 25 cords of wood out of the back of the lot, and there's still more to go. Ugg.

But I made some good progress over the weekend.

So up next, I get a soil test done, then meet with a master gardener, and start planting some clover... That's what I think I'll do first.

See you soon.

Ron

Swisher Predator Update... FAIL

So I may have spoken too soon about the ol' Swisher a few posts ago. Everything was working great, then...

I've had several maintenance issues since then. First off, the blade would not engage every time. My buddy Dan and I figured it was probably a worn belt or that little spring thing that pulls the switch that engages the blade.

PROBLEM #1: Swisher Parts Line.
I called the Swisher parts people, because it was impossible to get the correct part number from the manual. I told them my model number, and said I needed the belts and this spring. The one the engages the blade. And of course, they send me the wrong spring. I was willing to pay the excess price to guarantee I got the right belts and where else was I going to find this spring. So to get the wrong spring in the mail was quite disappointing.

We switched the belt, and were trying to go through grass about this high, and the blade would bog down as the tall grass wrapped around the shaft. This is exactly the stuff that my John Deere Riding Mower has problems with. Grass like this is the main reason I bought the Swisher in the first place. So now I need to pay for service.

PROBLEM #2: Where do you service a Swisher? I thought it would be pretty straight forward to get this thing fixed. It's just a lawn mower on steroids, right? Well not so fast there buddy. You need to have an authorized service provider. So I call Swisher for the second time to get the ones nearest me, and that's were we stand right now.

My industrial mower got clogged on thick grass. My initial enthusiasm has waned a bit. I'll keep you posted on how much it cost to get it back up and running.

See You Next Time.

Finally Got My Beekeeping DVD Finished...

For over a year I've been working on a DVD for beginning beekeepers. When I started Beekeeping, it was hard to find a DVD that just covered the basics... so I decided to make my own.

You can check out some previews (and buy it if you want) at www.beehelp.com

I've also got it on Amazon for purchase or you can stream it for $1.99.


I just figured out how to place an ad on Google, and so far I've got 2 sales... So far, so good.

See you next time.

Ron

Review: Swisher Predator 24 - 11hp Brush Mower

Well, I got a new piece of gear for the ranch. A Swisher Predator 24 - 11 hp brush mower. I needed something to handle the tall grass in the fields and small saplings around the property. In a perfect world, I'd have a big 5 foot brush hog and a tractor big enough to pull it for the main part of the field, and this brush mower for the areas where the brush hog doesn't fit. But until I can afford to get a new tractor (my little tractor didn't seem to have enough juice to power a brush hog that I borrowed a while back) I thought this will be a good stop gap. It takes a lot longer to cover a big area than a brush hog, but is a lot less than a new tractor.

Swisher Brush Mower Review from R. Upshaw on Vimeo.

I've used it much more now, and for the most part I'm pleased. If you can pull out the saplings, it makes things much easier. I actually got a Brush Grubber (that I'll review later) to do this part of the job.

The problem with going over it with Swisher is that you leave a little stump behind. It works as advertised, but I don't like all the little stumps. If you're OK with that, then full steam ahead. I've been much happier to pull out the saplings, and be able to mow without the little knobby stumps. I feel like it's a losing battle at this point... It's hard to keep up with everything. I keep telling myself that once I get all these saplings/stumps out, it will be easy to mow! But for now, I'm pushing that rock up the hill.

See you next time!

From City Boy Starts Farmin'

Coyote on the loose.

We've got a couple of coyotes on the loose out on the ranch. I was startled by one in the back of our property when I was doing some work...
I caught it on video the other day when the dogs were going nuts.

Coyote on the Loose. from R. Upshaw on Vimeo.

They were coming in so close to the house that I went and got a pellet gun to try and scare the coyotes off.
I haven't had the chance to get a shot off yet, and they are showing up less and less. I think since we have two dogs, and the next door neighbors have two pit mixes... maybe that scared them away.

I'm hoping they don't get the cats or the neighbors chickens.

I'll keep you posted on any new action.




See you next time.

From City Boy Starts Farmin'

Why did you not use the birdhouse?

So last year I made a few birdhouses for the property. So obviously, the birds this year make their nest inside the barn resting on the plastic vapor barrier. Oh, and thanks for ripping the screen that's suppose to keep birds out of the barn.

What Bird House? from R. Upshaw on Vimeo.

So I guess I'll wait till they are gone, and repair that screen. I wish they would have used the birdhouse...

Maybe I made the wrong style?

See you next time...

From City Boy Starts Farmin'

Very Sad Day...

I want to dedicate today's blog to a good man who died suddenly last week.

His name was Loren Elliott. He mentored me as a beginning bee keeper, and then became my friend. Loren was always there to help you when you needed it. He was kind, honest, and decent. He always knew more about most things than I did, but always approached with humility.

Loren served in the Air Force, and was given a full Military Funeral today at Tahoma National Cemetery.

Two weeks ago we got together to film a basic beekeeping video, and now he's gone. A lot of people are going to miss him.

Rest In Peace Loren Elliott

1945-2010