Things are "Buzzing" at Fox Hill Farm

This is an exciting weekend at the farm---a package of new bees arrived to join our apiary!

Here they are in their cage upon arrival:

This is the Minnesota Hygienic Queen in her private quarters. This container is blocked with a cork on one end, which is removed and replaced with a small marshmallow. The queen's container is placed in the hive, and the worker bees proceed to eat the marshmallow and release the queen.

Adding the bees to their new hive. . .

. . .a few reluctant bees refused to follow the rules.

Into their new English Garden hive with their feeder. . .

Ready for spring and the first flowers!!!

. . . and the Return of Spring

We're happy to report that the weather has taken a turn for the better. Today is partly sunny and 73 degrees, the snow is virtually gone and we're glad about that!

The Red-winged Blackbirds are nesting in the maple tree in our front yard. They have been gathering grass all day and are working industriously on their new nursery. Hopefully soon we'll be seeing many little baby Blackbirds. :-)

The new digital camera arrived today. . . but that deserves its own blog post. . . Check back soon for details!!

The Return of Winter. . .

We woke up to a blizzard this morning---so far we have eight inches of snow and it's still coming down very hard. Walking outside is next to impossible, but we were still able to turn the ponies out in the pastures to play. Of course this resulted in a great photo shoot for Dan. . . Here are a few scenes from his camera today.

Featured Photographer!

Check out the May 2009 issue of Dog Fancy magazine! Dan is the featured photographer in their "Our Contributors" column.


(Photo of Daniel Johnson courtesy of J. Keeler Johnson)

Warmest Day of 2009... so far

The weather forecast this morning is promising sunshine and 65 degrees-- a first for 2009! Beautiful weather certainly makes outside chores a lot more pleasant, so we're off for a busy day.

We saw the first Blue Jay on the garden fence this morning, and the ducks and grounds squirrels have returned as well.

The ponies have been enjoying their new spring paddocks and have been kicking up their heels and playing. Even the older ponies have an extra sparkle in their eye and a spring in their step.

A belated Happy Easter from all of us at Fox Hill Farm, and also from Miracle Minute Maid (photo taken on Easter, copyright Dan Johnson).

The Sap is Running. . .

Maple sugaring season is in full swing here at the farm, and we just brought in another collection of sap this afternoon. We're getting ready to boil down the sap tomorrow. Here are a few photos, courtesy of Dan, that show a bit of the fun we've been having.

Look who's here!

We're very happy to see this little arrival at the farm!

Giveaway!!

Acreage Magazine is giving away five copies of How to Raise Rabbits! Check out this link for info on entering to win:

http://www.acreagelife.com/giveaway.cfm

Good luck and have fun! :-)

The latest "buzz"

The new bee hives are being painted this weekend, getting ready to add them to the others we already have in the orchard. They are really pretty hives complete with copper roofs, they look like old time English Garden hives. Besides being a "super" home for bees, they'll make great photo props this summer. These hives came from Brushy Mountain....I love them!

Excerpt from "How To Raise Rabbits"

Check out the Spring 2009 issue of Out Here magazine, as there is a review of Samantha and Dan's new book, "How To Raise Rabbits" in it. Also, there's an excerpt from the book on Out Here's website: http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/WcmDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10551&catalogId=10001&contentName=/tractorsupply/magazine/current/spring_09_how_to_raise_rabbits

if you'd like to take a look!