Archives for July 2013

~ Let There Be Light ~

Getting the right lighting for pictures can be a challenge, especially inside.  Our  house tends to be a little dark, so I don’t take too many inside shots.  That really has begun to be a problem having a blog to post on now.  And winter in New York can be very long!  I need more than outdoor “snow” shots from December to May.  I was talking to my sister-in-law (fellow blogger) about this, and she came across a blog with some help with photo lighting. Check it out HERE.  So we showed this to the Beekeeper and he made a list and worked his magic.

photo lightphoto light

The first shot is with what natural light I had in my kitchen (notice the shadow).  The second is with my new photo lights.

vintage camera/vintage jewerly

Here’s a close up shot.

photo lights

This is what the shot looked like with the lights in place.

photo lights

And these are the lights that my hubby/handiest man that I know/”The Beekeeper” made for me.  He made them a little bit sturdier than the original one in the above post, ’cause that’s the kind of guy he is and I wanted to be able to move them around a lot without concern.  Thank you to Bob and Carlene for a great idea.

P.S.  The little vintage camera is the latest addition to my “pop out” camera collection, see the others HERE.

P.P.S.  And the bracelet made with vintage brooches, I made to wear to a family wedding HERE.

~ Bee Removal ~

As promised in my “~  Catchin’ Up ~ ” post….here is the bee removal post.

Bee removal

The Beekeeper uncovers the hive.  At this point we aren’t sure how big.

Bee removal

Bee removal

So he vacuums and removes some comb.

Bee removal

And begins tying the comb into frames.

Bee removal

and places them into the hive box.

Bee removal

Bee removal

Then to cut into the next section of the house….

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lots more comb and lots more bees!

Bee removal

A little smoke…

Bee removal

some more vacuuming.

Bee removal

Time for a lesson…

Bee removal Bee removal

more tying in comb.

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Queen cells

Bee removal

drone cells.

Bee removal

This is where the bees go when vacuumed.

Bee removal

A successful removal. There were so many bees ( four cages ),  that we decided to divide them into two hives ( they already had lots of queen cells to make a second queen from).

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Both hives are doing great!

~ Time To “Jam” It Up ~

Berry season is upon us, so I started with strawberries.

strawberry jam

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Then moved on to currants ( these I actually had in the freezer, mine are just starting to ripen now, so I’ll be picking those soon).

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I have to cook these some first and then strain through a berry bag to get the juice.

currant jelly

I do end up with a lot of scraps for my compost pile.

currant jelly

Then back in the pot to cook with the sugar and pectin.

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Strawberry jam and currant jelly….time to get the store stocked back up!