I'll name you Beatrice, you're Beulah, and you can be Bea... I'm gonna need more 'B' names...

(c) 2013 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

 We've been thinking about doing this for a while and Mr. Kluges finally talked me into it last September.  We ordered our equipment, put it together, and today, picked up the final and most necessary component to our new endeavor...

That'd be a box full of bees, folks!

We are now beekeepers!  

Mr. Kluges and the girls watched from the back roof/balcony while I installed them into their hive.  To start we got a "nuc," which is basically 4 frames out of the middle of a hive.  They should have an active/laying queen and a bunch of her daughter bees along with eggs/pupa/larvae in various stages, and honey and pollen, too.  All I had to do was carefully remove them from the cardboard box they're in and put them into their prepared permanent home.  I looked for the queen, but didn't see her, which isn't too unusual considering my lack of experience. :)  I'm not too worried (well, not too worried), but I'll look again in a few days and see if I can find her then, or at least eggs, which would mean she's there & doing fine.

Here are some photos of the process.

This is the nuc of bees riding home in the trunk of the car.

After I took the first frame out of the nuc, I showed it to my 3 observers. There are bees everywhere on that thing!

Taking a look at a frame of bees to see if I can spot the queen, observing the capped brood, looking for eggs, etc.

Adding 3 new frames to each side of the hive for the bees to fill with pollen and honey for themselves.

Putting on the inner cover.

Since they're just getting established, I put an empty box on top of the inner cover, then a container of sugar-water for the bees to help feed them until they get going finding nectar sources.

Finally I put on the outer cover and a big ol' rock.  The empty nuc box was placed in front of the opening so the couple of dozen bees still in it could find their way out in their own time.

I retrieved the camera from Mr. Kluges while I was still geared up and took a few pictures.  This circled bee is sticking her rear in the air and giving off the homing pheromone, to help the other bees find the opening and realize that this is now home.

I've already been out to look at the hive quite a few times today because it's just so dang cool.  I even saw a bee returning to the hive with the pollen baskets on her legs packed full of bright yellow pollen (dandelion?) less than an hour after I'd installed them.  The bees seem to have settled in fine, but I'm looking forward to continued observations.  Yay for honey bees!

Cross-posted to House of 42 Doors

Sunday Brunch Visitors

(c) 2013 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Hurriedly finish up brunch-making on Sunday after church, I brought an egg-in-a-basket to the dining room, to plop it on a plate, when this view out the window caught my eye.

Hi! I see you have peanut butter toast crusts out here.  I'm sure the birds won't mind sharing!

Yeah, we had a deer visiting, right outside our dining room window.  I'd known at least one, probably two of our neighbors had been feeding the local deer, but apparently our peanut butter toast crusts, tossed out for the birds (and some greedy squirrels), smelled better.

Then his friend? sibling? decided to check it out, too.

Hey, that toast any good?

  

They didn't seem to mind that by this point we were all in the dining room watching them eat.

They didn't seem to mind when I moved closer either.

Oh, look! ANOTHER one!  This is getting ridiculous!

Hi, guys! What's up?!

So the three of them ate some toast, looked at us watching them, and finally decided to wander off somewhere that had not so many paparazzi.

I fear for my garden this summer. 

Open Letter, 1st Back Porch Edition

(c) 2012 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Dear Laptop,

I know we've known each other for less than 24 hours, but I think I like you.  I think I like you a lot.  Sure, we're going through a few getting-to-know-you quirks, like me learning how to type on your flat little keyboard instead of the ergonomic one on the old desk top, or the fact that I keep accidentally hitting caps lock.  But this touch thingie instead of a mouse is kinda handy, your screen is huge, and it's sure pleasant to be typing away sitting out on the back porch on this beautiful day.

Yup, I think we're going to get along just swell!

Sincerely,

The Typist

Dear Hawks,

I miss you.  I know your nesting tree was blown over in that big storm that happened on the second day of school, but the sheer number of chipmunks, rabbits & squirrels we've got around here is just crazy.  Back when you were raising your young right next door, they certainly weren't so prevalent... or so BOLD!  Heck, the chipmunks just keep foraging around in the backyard when I hang up the clothes on the clothesline!  And don't get me started on the bunnies.  I mean, it was cute when I found that tiny hamster-sized baby one when I was mowing (fortunately for us all, he was hopping out of the way, but still...), but I do have a garden to defend.  

Also, I prefer your predations to those of the neighbor's cat (presumably), who likes those baby bunnies, or at least their heads, and leaves their decapitated little corpses next to our playground.  

Sincerely,

The cycle of life says how 'bout you cycle your way back over to our neck of the woods?

Dear Hubs,

This back porch you've reconstructed sure is pleasant.  Sorry you have to be stuck at work on such a lovely day!  'Course, if you were here, you'd likely be pounding/cutting/smashing/building... and I'd be seeing not quite so much wildlife.

Sincerely,

Your Wife

Dear Hawks,

Do you eat woodchucks?  'Cuz I forgot to mention our neighbor has a family consisting of at least one parent & 5 little 'uns living under his shed.  Little woodchucks are kinda cute, but I really don't think we want them deciding this area is great for an extended family paradise.

Sincerely,

Yum Yum Groundhogs! 


Dear Stupid Across the Street (often drunk) Neighbors (most likely),

June is not July.  I know fireworks are legal in this state, but c'mon. Every night?  Last night was a Sunday night & you were shooting them off after 10 pm.  That's not cool.  Knock it off.  I will come over and politely ask you to stop.  Then, if necessary, I can politely call the police & ask them to ask you to stop.  How 'bout you just get a little more polite re: 10pm is quiet time & we'll all be happier, mmm'kay?

Sincerely,
Seriously, have you no clocks?

  

Open Letters, Wildlife Can Be Annoying Edition

(c) 2010 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Dear Not-so-baby-anymore Hawk,

We get that you're not all that pleased with being kicked out of the nest. That you think Mum & Dad should still be providing you with food. I think they probably still are, you big beggar, since you're still in the habit of crying for food. Particularly every morning at about 5 am.

Now, we're big fans of the wildlife around here, especially you gorgeous birds of prey. But c'mon. You redtails are KNOWN for your distinctive piercing cry. It's cool and all, but not over and over and over and over and over and over again when I'm still trying to catch some shut-eye, capiche?

Sincerely,
A Later Sleeper Than You


Dear Bunnies,

We've asked you to stay out of our garden. We've hacked down a bunch of your cover. You've been pretty good - my bean plants are actual real-sized this year, instead of the (still remarkably productive) stubs they were last year.

But you've been getting bolder.

We see you in our lawn.

We've seen you hide under the big bush right by our dining room window.

I've chased one of you out of the garden this past week.

Heck, the 3 year old now runs to the window or out the door and starts yelling, "Naughty bunnies! You stay out of our garden!" whenever she sees you.

So, I'm not going to be crying any tears once Redtail Jr. actually steps up to the plate and starts learning how to feed his own dang self.

Hasta la vista, bunnies.

Sincerely,
It's MY garden, dang it!


Dear chipmunks,

Cry danger all you like, I'm still sitting at the computer. I don't care that you love that pile of wood right outside my window so very much. _I'm_ not going to eat you up.

Sincerely,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever


Dear wasps,

First you try to build on the front of the garage. So we repeatedly knock down your still-very-small nests until you stop showing up.

Now you're trying to build homes on the sidelights right next to the front door and also by our dining room windows. It's not gonna work. We're not going to stand for aggressive, stinging tenants right by the entrance to our home.

And you bunch who started under the dining room windows. That was clever. We usually look for your nests a little higher up, so you had time enough to get a pretty decent-sized nest going. But you were found. And Mr. Kluges took away your home. (Used it to show Pumpkin some of the stages in insect development, too. Now it's even at summer school.)

Then you sneaky little buggers moved over a couple of feet so you were partly hidden by some lilies. But we're on to you. And so Mr. Kluges again knocked down your abode.

So today, when I took a look and saw you've moved over another foot, but are still persisting in your misguided attempts? Yeah, you just wait. That nest is not long for this world either.

Sincerely,
My brain is bigger than your brain, even though I don't have a stinger

It's like Wild Kingdom around here

(c) 2009 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Today we've seen, while going about our normal business...

• 3 deer, while on our way to school
• 1 hawk, sitting on a sign at the stoplights
  
• 2 hawks, sitting in the oak tree in our backyard - 1 of which I can still see looking out the office window as I type this (I wish I had my camera back!)
  
• a woodpecker
• a blue jay
• several other normal brown-ish birds, like a mourning dove, maybe some sparrows
  
• quite a few squirrels, including two who were running around in the road in front of our house and I could have easily squashed with my car
• a few chipmunks, or at least, in some cases, their tails sticking up above the leaves
• several skeins of geese

Oh, and the neighborhood black cat, Zipper.

Open Letters to Wildlife

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Dear small, scratchy, crawly whatever living in the office walls,

I was willing to ignore you when I heard you all summer and early fall when you'd do your little scratchy noise at about 10 or 11 every night. I figured you were that little bat that we'd seen sitting up high on the back porch. You eat mosquitos; I'll cut you some slack.

Then we got tired of the bat poop on the back porch and Mr. Kluges caulked it up. The little bat found a new home.

...

But somehow there is still/again scratching around 10 pm.

Mouse, or whatever you are, you are on notice. We've not seen hide, nor hair, nor poop of you in our house itself, but if you dare show one whisker outside of the walls, BAM! The traps will be coming back out!

Sincerely,
Wishin' mouse poop counted as insulation, 'cuz there's probably an icky, icky amount in the walls



Dear owl pair,

I think you're really cool. I mean, how many couples have such lovely, long conversations. And they seem very amiable - lower voice hooting to higher voice, who replies politely. Loud, rambling conversations they are too, since we can often hear you inside our house. You even let me see you - well, your shadowy shapes, anyway - flying through the trees in back a few weeks ago when I was out shoveling at night. And Mr. Kluges got to see you tonight. You're cool.

Now, can we talk about two little things? One, would you mind helping us out with the scratchy wall-dweller? If he ever ventures outside, do you think you might find him tasty? I bet you would! Two, once summer comes (as I keep telling myself it will), would you mind reducing your volume? 'Cuz if I can hear you so well now, through the closed windows and storms, I can't imagine how wake-up-y-loud you're going to be this summer with the windows open.

Thanks!
Your non-feathered fan


Dear squirrel(s),

You know that snow bank you've been frequenting, looking for the bread crusts I occasionally throw outside to supplement your mysterious acorn shortfall? (And I totally agree there is one, 'cuz our first fall ('07) we were seriously considering wearing hard hats in the backyard to protect from the acorns falling tens of feet from our two huge oaks. This past year ('08), nada.)

Well, now that it's nearly the end of January, I finally finished putting the last of the holiday decorations away. Like, today. Yay for me!

Which matters to you why? Well you see, that gingerbread house we made? Is now in your snow bank. Happy sugar rush to you.

Sincerely,
The people who watch you out the window and laugh when you get your nose full of snow

Some random Friday thoughts

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

After mowing the lawn this afternoon (pre-forecasted-rain), the nicest things I can say about it are that it is large... and biodiverse.

Penguin is going through an "I don't NEED to nap" phase. Which is utterly, utterly wrong.

Her hair is now long enough to do one of those silly-looking straight-up ponytails in the front. Which looks hilarious, but she doesn't take it out like she does clips and it keeps her hair out of her eyes.

Pumpkin loves science videos. A lot. And it's fun when she talks to us about them and uses terms like "Archaeopteryx." (FYI, I just asked her, "Hey, hon, what's the name of that dinosaur bird?" "Um, Ark-ee-op-tricks." Smartie! Yay!)

She's also going through a rather whiny phase. That's not so "yay!"

Mr. Kluges is on notice that he is NOT ALLOWED to peel paint in any more rooms until he finishes doing it in the entryway and the bathroom. Which means LEAVE THE DANG GUEST ROOM ALONE! I don't care if it does come off easily in nice long pieces - LEAVE IT ALONE!

The baby Cooper's hawks are now big enough that they're learning how to hunt for themselves. We've seen two large ones (presumably the parents) and two smaller ones (presumably the young) in the neighbor's tree. There has also been a lot more calling, more droppings, and more feathers around.

We were lucky enough to get two packages in the mail this week! Thanks to both of you senders!

I can finally hang up clothes outside again. We've got a female mulberry tree in the side yard that fruited recently. Even though it wasn't right over the clothesline, it was near enough that the birds liked to eat some mulberries, and then sit in the oak tree above the clothesline and POOP! @#$%^@%@# So I declared a moratorium on eco-friendly clothes-drying and used the dryer for a while. I'm glad to be able to get back outside with them again.

Happy early birthday wishes to my mom! Love ya, Mom!!!!

Also good... that it's the weekend. Yay, weekend! I hope you enjoy yours, too!!

Look who was visiting our tree this morning!

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Want more? Go to House of 42 Doors where Mr. Kluges wrote about it and I posted a few more pics...

Up Close and Personal

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

The hawks were outside again today, so, holding Penguin (hence some camera shakiness), I went out with the digital camera to try to get some clearer close-ups, and maybe even video of their "kek kek kek" call.


I'd post the first video I got...

...but I happened to capture an
"Animal Planet" moment
between the two lovebirds,
I mean hawks...

...which wasn't quite what I'd intended to film. ;)

But I did manage to capture their call after all.

Call of the Cooper's Hawk

P.S. Also, this is the female one. The more "pigeon-y" looking one in the photos below is the male. Trust me, I know this now.

Name This Bird (Please?)

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

(Cross-posted at Musings & Mutterings and the House of 42 Doors)

**Edited at the bottom with our best guess.

Loved the weekend we just had. Well, other than the cold I'm developing that looks fair to knock me on my tuchus. Had a college friend contact us Thursday to say he'd be in the area on Friday and could he stop by. So we very much enjoyed visiting with him, and since he didn't have pressing plans the next day, he stayed over and went to the wonderful book sale with me on Saturday. I must confess *cough* that I got even more books than Mr. Kluges. In my defense, I went to both the sale he went to PLUS the kid books one. Even so... now we've got to find a lot more bookshelf space....

But to get back to the title of this post, we've noticed a fair amount of birds of prey in the area, and recently have seen them around by our house and neighborhood A LOT. Like, all the time. And now it appears that we've got a pair of ... hawks? falcons?... building a nest in a tall conifer right across the street from our House of 42 Doors. And there's one tree at the front of our driveway (right in front of our sign) that is apparently a favorite perch of theirs. Which is cool because we were able to get THIS CLOSE today....

(Click on the picture to see it bigger.)

...but on the side of the cons, we've (and by "we" I mean Mr. Kluges) already had to clean up what was left of either a squirrel or a chipmunk from underneath on the driveway. Yuck.

We're not exactly sure what they are, so we were hoping somebody out there would have an idea. Here's what they look like.





They make a very loud "kek kek kek kek kek kek kek kek kek" (or "kak kak kak" or "kuk kuk kuk" or some sort of hard to spell vowel sound combination thereof). Like I said before, they appear to be making a nest in the tall conifer across the way and eat small mammals. We've seen them fly and do sort of a mini-swoop in mid-air that was cool to watch.

Trying to find out on-line, they sort of resemble Peregrin Falcons (but the nesting habits don't seem to match up) or Cooper's Hawks or Northern Goshawk or ???

So, can you help? Any ideas?

(On a side note, this counts as about as cool as those deer!)


**Edited Monday afternoon:
Ok, after doing more research, and with Mr. Kluges finding the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on-line, (I love teh internets!), we're pretty confident that they're Cooper's Hawks. They look about right, and the area is about right and the sound of the call is dead-on with what we've been hearing all the time. Dissenting opinions or further discussion still welcomed in the comments though!