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#homestead

16 posts8 participants1 post today

Despite some intense high winds, flooding rains, snow and ice the relocated apiary seems to be doing just fine. I'll be eager to pop in on a warm weather day to check on stores but by feeling weights when lifting each of these I think they're still sufficiently stocked.

All the beekeepers around here really push for getting the hives reduced down to a single box going into winter. After such a cold season I am once again glad I stuck to my instincts and kept them 2 boxes high. The middle has 3 and I know they won't use the entirety of their stores but I can pull from there and give to the other hives if need be. I am adamantly against the regular use of sugar feeding. In an emergency, sure, but not as a management plan. Sugar can't hold a candle to the nutritional value of what they produce for themselves. I want to steward healthy, resilient bees.

Picked up those two fallen birches from the bottom of the road (see previous photo).

No problems getting up the hill despite all the snow this time.

The small trailer is filled up pretty quick, this is just from two skinny birches and I didn't even get even get everything as there's another tree across that I need to pull off.

But I think trying the big trailer might be tempting fate.

Heavy snowfall outside, so I worked on the bathroom a little.

Taking the toilet cubicle apart. We'll leave the toilet standing until spring when the outhouse gets a little less cold. Can't mix concrete in this weather anyways.

For some reason the cubicle was insulated, which makes no sense given that there's no heat source inside, not even a socket for an electric heater.

Some rockwool and thin OSB being reclaimed, and many screws.

Tree fell on the old barn down by the river. It already had a hole in the roof, so now it has another one.

Very rude, so said tree got cut up for firewood.

Couldn't check inside as I forgot to bring the right key. Can't fix it with everything frozen anyways.

Tried getting up the steep hill in 2WD by accident and that showed how right it was to get a tractor with 4WD. Should find something heavy to strap to the front as well.

Paying the heating bill.

Set up a nice firewood station now. The three-limbed stump makes a good log sawing stand.

Also rolled the old chopping block over there, shortened it a bit (it was too tall even for a tall person) and split the logs I collected from clearing the road.

The apple logs were in full sap (result of overly warm January) and frozen hard - the axe just bounced off. They'll have to thaw first.

Could use a slightly heavier axe.

Tricky tree #3 got extricated from the power line eventually.

After dropping the first limb the other day, I hammered a spike in the frozen ground today to pull the other two away from the cable.

This worked and after more saw repair, I got it all chopped up and carted off.

Then the spike wouldn't come out -- frozen into the ground. A little bit of tractor antifreeze (ethylene glycol, relatively harmless) down the hole did the trick and I could lever it out.

We're officially farmers! 🥳

Mostly thanks to @vaviurka who struggled through the paperwork.

Nope, we're not allowed to get cheap green diesel.

But we can declare our wildflower meadow come April and also eventually file a reforestation project for some of the land (more paperwork).

Although we've been immediately warned there is no way back once you plant forest. Perhaps that's why it's so unpopular? 🤷

An old trunk. There's a few of these strewn around the various barns and sheds. They all have one thing in common: They kept whatever was inside dry and safe from rodents.

Perhaps not so practical as a modern closet, but for long term storage (decades I would guess in this case), they're awesome.

No idea why they have fallen out of use.