Fighting the Carpenter Bees

This time of year the carpenter bees are everywhere.  In the past two years I’ve had ‘Bee Gone’ insecticide applied, but I could still see bee activity.  This year I’m going a different route by putting up traps.  After two days they seem to work pretty well, I’ve order three more so I can have them on all sides of the house.

Carpenter Bee Trap

Carpenter Bee Trap

Guineas are Laying Eggs!

The four guineas have been busy this spring.  They’ve laid a total of 23 eggs in the barn.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get the hen(s) to sit on them, in fact they laid them in random places all over the coop.  After about two weeks I took all of them and put them in an incubator, we’ll find out soon enough if they are fertile, they should hatch around the 20th of May.

In the incubator!

In the incubator!

I put them all together in the barn but they refused to sit on them

I put them all together in the barn but they refused to sit on them

Stocked the Big Pond

Purchased a whole load of fish from a Zetts up in West Virginia, the containers took up the entire trailer and pickup truck.  The fish included:

  • Large mouth bass
  • Blue gill
  • Yellow perch
  • Channel catfish
  • Fathead minnows
  • Crayfish
  • Shiners
  • Giant tadpoles
  • Koi
  • Large snails
  • Daphnia – water fleas

Maddy & Patrick helped me spread them around the pond.  Keeping fingers crossed that they will take.

Picking up at Zetts

Picking up at Zetts

Came in bags like this

Came in bags like this

At the pond with my helpers

At the pond with my helpers

Putting them in the pond

Putting them in the pond

Snails are huge!

Snails are huge!

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Pond is FULL!

Finally finished filling and now is draining from the overflow pipe.  Looks big!  Thin layer of ice covers most of the pond in these photos.

Normal outflow from the overflow pipe

Normal outflow from the overflow pipe

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Pretty happy that this 2 year saga is done and its looking pretty good!

Pretty happy that this 2 year saga is done and its looking pretty good!

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Almost There

Very close to being full, but the apparent rate of filling really slows from here on out.

I didn’t know it at the time, but sadly this was also the last day I would see Tom Bledsoe over at the farm.

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Back to the road for the first time

Back to the road for the first time

Family Hunting Day

Great to spend some time with the kids.  Emily’s boyfriend Erik ended up snagging a buck!

Pond is almost full

Pond is almost full

Boys ready to move out!

Boys ready to move out!

Patrick was determined

Patrick was determined

It was cold!

It was cold!

The crack of dawn

The crack of dawn

Good eating!

Good eating!