Adventures in Bee Keeping in 94608

Today was a beautiful morning to go through the hives.
Hot, but not too hot.
Birds were chirping, and hopefully the tomatoes are growing.....we are slowly seeing signs of progress and ripening.....

Here are the hives: Hive A (left): super active   Hive B (right): mellow hive

It has been a month since we have looked through the hives. It takes about an hour each hive, and most beekeepers go through them every 28 days.
We are excited and ready.....

Here are the basic tools you need:

A smoker: Scott really likes this tool. It is hot and requires fire...and the smoke makes the bees sleepy, and has a calming, mesmerizing effect on them.

A brush: assists in many different situations; primarily when you are re-stacking the boxes and need to encourage the bees to get out of the way...

A hive tool: Is akin to the common pry bar. It has two important functions: helps pry open hive boxes that are stuck together due to built up propolis, and the hive tool helps to scrape off any excess sticky parts.

Gloves: These pictured are a bit thick and awkward, but there have been occasions when we have been stung on the fingertip and the finger swells up so significantly we have decided to always have our hands protected....latex gloves also work well.









Here we go...............................Hive A........

Checking things out in the honey super.......

Using the hive tool to clean and then pry....

That is a lot of bees....our hives probably have 30,000 bees in each of them......

Today our goal was to find the queen in each hive and clean out the drone traps.....

Here is a drone trap clear out:

Much more humane to place it in the freezer and then compost the comb.....

And for more excitement watch this:


http://vimeo.com/15313140

Scott Day Snaps

For 25 consecutive days I photographed Scott at 7am.
I used the Hipstamatic Iphone app with the John S lens.
At that time of day he is sleeping and dreaming and preparing for wake.
Below you can see some of the images:

Ramen&Slides......

........What could be better?
A night of feasting and looking with loved ones at Aileen Street.
All in celebration of Scott.
Yum.


What is Ramen?
David Chang from Momofuku restaurant in NYC describes Ramen as "broth with noodles in it."
Every Ramen shop has its own distinctive style and recipes. How thin they slice the pork. Some add a heave dose of soy to the broth.....some add much more fat to the broth....... You could fill up notebooks and notebooks with jottings on ways to create a Ramen soup.......

We prepared for a week:

And the lists were long......

We had no idea what we were getting into...........

This book became our bible, and we were totally in awe:

Sunday night we began making the pork buns. Steamed. Then frozen for Friday.
Monday night we began the broth -  that simmered for 9 hours. We then contained it......

Tuesday night we pickled. Beets. Cucumbers. Onions. And got the memma (bamboo shoots) ready...

Wednesday night we chopped and prepped.
Thursday night was the roasting of the pork belly and pork shoulder.

And Friday was the party.
People gathered.
Sake was served.
Pork buns were re-steamed. Hoisin sauce, chopped scallions, and picked cucumbers sandwiched pork belly.
Yum.
Then the Ramen was served. Hot broth with noodles. People dressed it as they wanted. Poached egg??
Fish cake? Two pieces of nori? Sauteed collard greens with corn?
Yum.
Mochi was then served.
The slide projector turned on.
Images floated towards us. The selections inspired oooohs and ahhhhs.........
Bellies full of love.
Nothing better.
The love is on.
This was the perfect sight this morning: Remnants left on the porch:

We Love Oakland.......

The Oakland Museum of California: 

A museum for the people: Over 1.8 million objects in the collection: 

A space to go and learn, wonder, wander, connect, and reflect.............

this is what life should be.........

shadowplay....shadowsnack.......

Ruth Asawa is a graceful presence in space....

color and light

playing with reflections.....

more play.....

you make the call.....

what do you see?.....

like a halo around two beautiful ones......

collections of things......

a secret surprise....a diorama scene...magical.....

We will return............

MayDayGardeningBliss.........

It is May.
Time to get out the bikes....
and the blooms are bursting.....
The pups are starting to take over....
And the garden is a delight.
We spent all morning digging, weeding, tending, and arranging...now we leave it up to nature to do its thing.....
Here are some images......

Shadow Play

Most excellent garden puppy

Supersonic Seed Bombs: Plant and Run

Garden Hose composition

Succulents growing

Lettuce!

Artichokes!

One tired puppy.

                  Bike repairs

Bike fun