Ivory Silo Farm Stand

Open Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 11-3! Farmer philosophy, flowers, herbs, greens! with more coming every weekend.

Herbs and Flowers on Ivory Silo Farm

Buckwheat and Oats

We walked down to take a look at the bee hives passing a field resting in cover crops.

Sunchokes

 

After seeing the activity at the hive entrances(its no wonder with all the forage) we couldnt ignore the Sun on the Jeruselum Artichokes and Kiwi poles visible behind.

Yarrow

Bill and Dee 's crops and plants look so healthy.

Snapdragons and more

Snapdragons

These flowers were being sold at the farm stand this weekend.

White Clover

This clover reseeds itself and creates a sweet setting for the farm stand as well as more forage. This is where I saw the most bees.

St. Johnswort

Blooming during the longest days of summer for our nerves.

Nasturtium

And my Nasturtium and Mint in wait of our lunch salad.

Checking in with Bees...Does the Split have a queen?

Yes it does, but she is not in the picture. She wasnt laying yet at the time of this photo but we saw her. I wonder if the last time I went in on May 25th, she was out on a mating flight because I couldnt find her and the queen cells were already empty. On May 14th, Tony and I split his hive by taking 3 frames of brood and honey with queen cells. This photo is a detail of a larger photo Ed took of most of a whole frame of bees. He was trying to get a picture of the queen. He missed her, but this section showed the bees buzy storing and/or capping their honey. This was the weekend of June 4th.
The next weekend I was available was June 18th. I not only saw her, but I saw her laying eggs with her attendants following her. I was by myself so I did not get a picture and I did not want to disturb her. This weekend we looked in but did not disturb the hive to pull out any frames because it was obvious they were building up by their numbers and activity-six weeks from the split.

Tools

Farmer with Scythe

This tool is not easy to use the first time, but I was going into the hives and didnt want to disturb the bees with the mower. Ed was much better at it since he used it as a boy.

Tools for Hay

Soon the hay beyond the hay rake will be picked up for cows. For now its part of our landscape to enjoy!