Archive for December, 2013

Pat’s Stats, 2013, 2014, 2015

Posted in Burley bicycle trailer, Solar, Sustainable living, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 31, 2013| 11 Comments »

Our bicycles are nothing fancy, but they work to get us to the grocery store or post office, a distance of 3 miles round trip.

Our bicycles are nothing fancy, but they work to get us to the grocery store or post office, a distance of about three miles round trip.

Riding a bicycle for errands is a “win, win, win!”  We don’t pollute, we don’t use gasoline, and we get some exercise…gets the cardiovascular circulation going.  Of course we use the bicycle to get groceries and other items like crab shells and coffee grounds, too.  Occasionally I’ll even deliver print jobs from a printer I know.  A few years ago someone on NPR said he was trying to cut down on his carbon footprint by not driving at least one day a week.  We thought that was a great idea, so in 2006 we set out to get at least 51 days without using a car.

The following are the totals  of “Car-free days” per year and rainfall totals.

2006   59/365=16.2%    No rainfall report.

2007   76/365=20.8%  No rainfall report.

2008  134/366=36.6%  No rainfall report.

2009  144/365=39.5% Total rainfall 49.27 inches  (1251 mm)     Avg. rainfall 64.41 inches.

2010  153/365=41.9% Total rainfall 66.1 inches  (1679 mm)     Avg. rainfall 64.43 inches.

2011  186/365=50.1% Total rainfall 39.16 inches (994 mm)     Avg. rainfall 64.91 inches.

2012  162/366=44.3% Total rainfall 54.89 inches (1394 mm)  Avg. rainfall 64.57 inches.

2013  149/365=40.8% Total rainfall 29.5 inches (749 mm)   Avg. rainfall 64.57 inches.  (Footnote:  2013 is driest year on record)

2014  183/365=50%.  HOORAY!! 50% Car-free days, and that’s with 18″ more rainfall this year.              Total rainfall is 47.58 inches (1233 mm)  Avg. rainfall is 64.57 inches.

2015  180/365=49.3%.  I couldn’t quite get my 50% car-free days.  Rainfall for 2015 is 44.89 inches (1140 mm)

As you can see 2011 was our best year at 50.1%.  That works out to be 3.5 car-free days a week.  Rainfall was comparatively low that year, so it was easier to get around.  The next year I started beekeeping so the numbers have dropped a bit since I started attending bee meetings, hanging bait hives, and chasing down swarms.

Yes, I'm proud of my home-made bicycle sign. I figure if I can make drivers smile, they won't run over me. I've gotten many comments on this sign, but the best one was from a man who said he dialed the number and his wife answered.

I’m proud of my home-made bicycle sign. I figure if I can make drivers smile, they won’t run over me. I’ve gotten many comments on this sign, but the best one was from a man who said he dialed the number and his wife answered. 🙂

Lumber loaded on bicycle trailer, barely clears ground.

Lumber loaded on bicycle trailer, barely clears ground.

I can’t remember what this lumber was for, but my little Burley Flat Bed trailer was able to get it (and me) home in one piece.

The point of car-free days is to try to limit our carbon footprint.  We live in a small town so it’s easy for us to bicycle.  If we lived in a large city with public transportation, we would use it.  We feel that it’s important to cut down on our energy usage (and pollution) as much as possible.

Just for the record I want to add the totals from my little solar system…

12-31-13…..5139 Total Kilowatt hours produced from start up in June 2009

12-31-12…..3915 Total Kilowatt hours produced from start up in June 2009

1224 Kilowatt hours produced Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013

12-31-13…..188.1 Total kilo-amp hours produced from start up in June 2009

12-31-12…..143.2 Total kilo-amp hours produced from start up in June 2009

44.9 Kilo-amp hours produce Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013

1-1-14…..Zero’d out the meter today.

12-31-14…..45.6 Kilo-amp hours produced Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2014

12-31-15…..48.6 Kilo-amp hours produced Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015

12-31-15…..1,320 Kilo wt hours produced Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015

12-31-15…..Note to Pat…Did NOT zero out meter…Didn’t remember code. 😦

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End of Year Bee Hive Status

Posted in Hives, Log hives, Natural Beekeeping, Videos, Warre Hive, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2013| 6 Comments »

December 27...Bees in Bee Beard Log Hive have found a pollen source late in the year.

December 27…Bees in Bee Beard Log Hive have found a pollen source late in the year.  Natural comb can be seen in the rear.  In the video, the bees can be seen entering the hive and moving downward in front of the comb.

December 27...Warre Hive is being fed with a dry sugar mix consisting of green tea, chamomile tea, nettle leaf extract oil, and a few other little gems. The sugar was placed on a 2" x 2" frame and positioned between the brood box and the quilt box, then sealed with red tape.

December 27…Warre Hive is being fed with a dry sugar mix consisting of green tea, chamomile tea, nettle leaf extract oil, cane sugar, and a few other little gems. The sugar was placed on a 2″ x 2″ frame and positioned between the brood box and the quilt box, then sealed with red tape.  I’m not real excited about  feeding sugar to the bees.  It’s possible that I won’t do that next year, but that’s what I said last year too.  It’s the only hive that is being fed this year.

December 27...Even this little hive was flying today. The pink insulation is meant to cut the cold wind, but it still lets the hive breathe through the quilt box on top.

December 27…Even this little hive was flying today. The pink insulation is meant to cut the cold wind, but it still lets the hive breathe through the quilt box on top.

Status of hives one year ago

This short video shows the bees bringing in gobs of orange pollen.

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Leaf-Cutter Nesting Tubes Attract a Mysterious Green Visitor

Posted in Leaf cutting bees, Videos, tagged , , , , on December 18, 2013| 3 Comments »

Building nesting tubes for solitary bees is easy…

A hack saw works real well here. Cut near the node, so one end is sealed naturally.

A hack saw works real well on the bamboo. Cut near the node, so one end is sealed naturally.

Cram the tubes into some protective covering.  In this case the down spout of a gutter, works well.  Different sizes offer choices.  I thought the large diameter tubes would too big so I was pleasantly surprised to see them sealed up.

July 27, 2013...Bamboo nesting tubes, NOW OPEN!

July 27, 2013…Bamboo nesting tubes, NOW OPEN!

July 27, 2013...Last year's tubes (on top) have two tubes filled.

July 27, 2013…Last year’s tubes (on top) have two tubes filled, chewed up leaves are evident.  These must be leaf cutter bees.

Sept. 1, 2013...Two tubes filled with visitor

Sept. 1, 2013…Two more tubes filled.  They are sealed with mud.  Maybe these are mason bee tubes.          A blue-green visitor decides to investigate.

While I was waiting for a solitary bee, this insect strolled in. it's either a cuckoo wasp or a Blue-green sweat bee.

Sept. 1, 2013…While I was waiting for a solitary bee to fly in, this curious little insect strolled up. it’s either a cuckoo wasp or a Blue-green sweat bee or Osmia aglaia.

I asked a couple of knowledgeable people if they could give me a solid “Bug ID” on this insect.

Marco at My Biodiversity Garden  …says “one of my acquantances told me it could well be Osmia aglaia but she was not 100% sure as it looked more like a wasp to her – to be continued :-).”

“The other person gave the following ID “looks like a green sweat bee to me”. Some cuckoo bees look very similar but of course they won’t have any device to carry pollen (compared to the female bees) as they don’t collect pollen to feed their young but simply deposit their eggs in the nest of a normal bee.”

Celeste says, “I think it is a Cuckoo Wasp–good heavens, it’s beautiful!”

Bug Guide,  “It might be a chrysidid.

I’ve taken a short video of the Osmia aglaia/green sweat bee/cuckoo wasp for you to decide for yourselves…

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Check this out: “Midway” Film about the Great Garbage Patch

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on December 16, 2013| 1 Comment »

This was brought to my attention by Emily Heath, a fellow beekeeper in Great Britain whom I follow. George Menbiot states the situation much better than I. (I’m a printer, not a writer)
Think about this the next time you are tempted to buy that useless gift.
Before you leave the house to go shopping, take a re-usable cloth bag. Don’t buy plastic gifts that will end up in the garbage in a few days. RECYCLE AND RE-USE as much as possible.

naïve to cultured

Ah humans. So superior to the Mother Earth which puts up with us.

Photographer Chris Jordan is doing a fantastic work on Midway Island in the Pacific. It’s so easy to consume something in a plastic container, throw it in the trash can, put it out for collection, and COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT IT FOR FOREVER.

Meanwhile, this plastic can’t be easily disposed of. So it’s thrown in the ocean by bad businesses and governments and collects mainly in the Pacific where it is creating quite a disgusting and embarrassing problem. We should be very embarrassed. We should be apologizing profusely. But who we are really hurting are animals who can’t call out to us, who can’t hurt us, who we don’t even think about EVER.

Please do your part. RECYCLE and REUSE when you have to buy plastic, but do NOT buy PLASTIC if not necessary!!

Please see Chris’ documentary…

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He Built the Brewery…Now He Brews the Beer

Posted in Brewing beer, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on December 9, 2013| 9 Comments »

After working on this project for about a year and a half,  scouting out equipment that could be bought cheaply, getting the permits and inspections satisfied…everything has come down to this day…the first batch of beer.

Half empty or half full?

Half empty or half full?  It doesn’t matter…it looks good and tastes good.

What goes into a bottle of beer?   According to Wikipedia, “the basic ingredients  of beer are water; a starch source, such as malted barley, able to be saccharified (converted to sugars) then fermented (converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide); a brewer’s yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring such as hops.”

Jim, my son-in-law was hired to consult on a small brewery in a nearby town.  I was never the chemistry type, but I was curious what kind of equipment was needed to brew beer.  He gave us a tour of the plant.

Since funding was an issue, some of the equipment was used.  The grain mill was one of those.  It didn’t have a drive motor.  Jim was wondering how to get a motor.  Puzzling over the problem he happened to notice the old crane that was still there from the time when the building housed a foundry.  He thought he saw an electric motor that might work.  He called Brian, his brother-in-law who helped him remove the motor and get it cleaned up for mounting on the mill.

Old crane that was used when the building housed a foundry.

Crane that was used when the building housed a foundry.

Old motor gets a new purpose in life.

Old motor gets a new purpose in life.

Moving the wort

Moving the wort to the kettle

Sampling the ale that as yet must be named.

Sampling the ale that as yet must be named.

How did the first batch of beer turn out?  A resounding success.  It was kegged and delivered to enthusiastic customers.

Jim shows us the brewery.

The first Bottling Day

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