Bees need water, too.

I checked on the bees today. They're doing great. The honeycomb is getting heavier with nectar and honey, brood, too.

The entrance, just before inspection. Lots of bees, going and coming, heavy with pollen.

Looking down into the hive, you can see nectar glistening. A beekeeper at the fair told me the bees will let the nectar evaporate until it reaches 17% water content. Then they will cap it. That's when the nectar becomes honey.

This is the first time I have seen drone brood in my hive. It's kind of hard to see with bees everywhere and the camera focusing. The cells that are sticking out like tiny yellow hard-hats are drone cells. Drones are males. I think it is good that the bees are making drones, although I have seen people on YouTube killing drone cells to prevent swarming.

Here is the Queen. She is easy to spot with the white dot painted on her.

One of the frames was attached to the side of the hive. When I removed it, a tiny section of honeycomb broke off dripping honey. These two didn't waste any time cleaning up the mess.

You might notice the zip-lock bags in the bottom of the hive. They contain sugar water. I place them down there and then cut a small slit with my pocket knife. The sugar water comes out as the bees land on it. Eventually, they push out all of it. For me, it's like turning sugar into honey.

At this point, I wonder if it is really necessary to feed them. But, I do it anyway. Just a few weeks ago, the hive was light and dry where I hadn't been feeding them as often. Coincidentally, about that time, we sowed some grass seed back there and started watering every day. Ever since then, they have been putting on the weight. I think it has more to do with daily watering of the grass than it does the sugar water.

UPDATE:
The videos above aren't working, so I put them all together on YouTube.

We went fishing today. Look at what we caught.

The weather was great, for February.  59 degree F.  Breezy.  Compared to the subfreezing temps of this winter, we thought Phil was right.

On the advise of an avid fisherman friend, we tried a new spot. It was under the bridge near the Ft. Loudon Dam, on the Maryville side.

I couldn't be sure, but it looks like Tilley was fishing for tweeters. 

Watch this video to see what Asher caught.  

In addition to the three above, Tucker, Riley, Kk, and Jack, were on the rocky banks with us.  They were all so excited to go fishing.  It would have been fun to catch some real fish.  But we had a good day regardless.

If you are able, take your kids fishing.  I know you may have important things to do.  But, you'll be glad you spent time with your kids instead.  Be sure to take along a camera.  Take pictures.  And celebrate even the smallest of catches.

God bless,

Dadofmykids

Water-flavored coolaid.

Looking into the cabinet where the coolaid mix is usually stored, one of my boys asked what flavor of coolaid we should have. But, there was none left. So, I said I would make “water-flavored” coolaid. Some of the older kids just grinned, but Asher wanted to know how I make it. I said “You have get the right mix of ice to liquid” while filling a glass with ice water. When I passed the glass to Asher, I asked him if it tasted like water.

He said, “Yes, it's good.”