The bees have been doing orientation for several weeks.

 My "pink" hive doesn't save as much honey as the "blue" hive...so we removed a super.

 I have 2 deeps for brood nest...the bees in the pink hive made another entrance.

 you can see several bees hovering around the entrance. They do this to learn where their hive is..each day they travel further.

 Looking in the window of the pink hive.

 Pollen coming into the blue hive.

 There is a deep orange pollen and a light yellow.

 Inside the blue hive...these bees are much darker than those in the pink hive.

 This was my first hive (blue) so there is no window in the bottom deep.

 The pink hive has windows in each box.

I never go into the brood nest boxes...I can check on them with the windows...

Moved the trap behind the pen

 The picture above is what it looked like before we moved the trap.

 This is what it looks like now.

 View from the trap door.  The little gate is to let them into the pen.

 Trap is ready...

 3 little pigs....love the one with his tongue sticking out.

 We built a copy of Lucas's trap door.  It is in the end of the pen and once all the pigs are gone we'll cut the wire and get it ready to go....then we'll have 2 traps.

The Robins have been coming in for water. Big flocks of them...they sit in the bushes and take turns...sometimes it's an hour before all have a drink.

Jim put a water line to it...I keep it on a drip. The squirrels...raccoons...birds all use it.

Wild Hogs

 Our friend, Lucas, loaned us this hog trap....we then built a fenced pen behind it so we could trap more hogs. We leave them in the trap for a day till they settle down....then release them in the pen.

 Here are 6 hogs that we caught....

We believe they are from different litters....3 are all black and 3 have brown on their faces and bellies.
They caused so much damage in our yard. We will keep trapping as long as someone wants them....

Wild Hog damage 9/30/16

I have coffee each morning out on the screened porch...about 2 months ago I spotted at least 6 big wild Hogs. As soon as I moved they disappeared. Yesterday they tore up a small spot...Jim fixed it...this is what they did this morning.

 They just roll up the sod...

 looks worse from this direction.

 You can see the sod laid back in this picture.

 Not sure what they are looking for....but we are going to put up a motion light....maybe that will scare them off.

 Jim went to work on it and this is what we have now.

If the motion light doesn't work ....we'll find someone who wants a hog or hogs for the freezer.

PepperBush is blooming.

This is probably the biggest bloom before the Red Maples in Dec.

 The Pepperbush is a very invasive plant...but the bees need all the food they can get so we don't cut them back until after the bloom.

 There is a bee keepers just down the road so I don't know if these are his or mine.

 Just look at all the flowers..you cannot see them but there are bees all over it.

 These little gals work harder than most people.

 My "blue" hive is working on drawing out wax in the 2nd super....the other two are both full. I don't know why but the blue hive always stores more honey than the "pink" hive.

 Beautiful little bee

 These bushes are about 20 ft tall

 this is looking down our road...they have almost grown it closed....After the bloom Jim will be cutting it back.

That is all Pepper bush and there is more on down the road and surrounding area.

Bringing in the babies 6.8.19

I have a hole in the ground here...I put all my biodegradeables in it.....makes for a lot of worms and the Raccoons dig them up.

 I had just put cucumber peelings in and when I looked out this little Mommy was there with her 2 babies....first time I've seen them.

This is the only picture I got...once she saw me she took them back in the woods...
Last year when the babies started coming in....the Mothers didn't let any of the other Raccoons into their territory.

First little one of the season. 6.5.16

I have been watching this little Raccoon for awhile. It always looked thinner than the rest. I thought she might have a little one somewhere. It is about that time of year.

Today she brought it out. I couldn't tell if this was the only one but they ventured a little from the tunnel and no other little ones followed.

 What a little cutie...I tossed them a couple of dog bones.

 Now the little one sees me and hides behind Mommy.

The Mother is used to seeing me and doesn't run off.

 Bones are gone...guess it is nap time for the little one.

 There is a tunnel through these weeds...sometimes I see her lying just inside....probably waiting for me to toss her a bone.
 Last year there was a Mother with 4 little ones...one with 3 little ones ...another with 2 and another with only 1. When the Mothers and their little ones came here on a regular basis....no other Raccoons dared to show up. Anxious to see how many other little guys are hiding out there.