MOB HONEY

04/07/2026

Some little plants started for the garden. I’m doing a very small CSA program for a few families. It will basically cover the cost of seeds and soil so I can keep this new passion flowing and growing. The little guy sure likes it… I think?

04/06/2026

We have quail!!! Kelly hatched and brooded them at her home and school where she teaches her students all about sustainable agriculture.

They are cotournix and will lay blue eggs. Not sure the ratio of female and male but each female lays 1 egg per day. We have 11 un-sexed birds. If I get a lot of eggs I’m considering selling the eggs by the bucket! $25 for 8 dozen buckets.

04/03/2026

Queen rearing nucs I made that I don’t need anymore.m and honestly never used because I got overwhelmed.. So I’m repurposing them as bird houses or possibly bumble bee nests. Cuties.

03/29/2026

Truly, no better way to learn than through abcbees.ca

03/27/2026

03/27/2026

Here I am in 2026 and my entire apiary has died, again! I’ve battled varroa mites, viruses and everything under the sun with bees. They keep dying. I know I’m not alone in this but it seems the commercial beekeepers who use synthetic pesticides and miticides in their hives experience less loss. I’ve always rejected the use of anything that wasn’t organic. New studies have proven my concerns about them; mites are building resistance to the synthetic chemicals and the residue stays in the wax.

After having Townes my body has been having a difficult time enduring the backbreaking hive management labour of 50-100 hives. Hell, 10 hives is a lot of weight to be incorrectly lifting!

I’ve always had anxiety in the bee yard because yes, I am deathly allergic to bees. Anxiety never stopped me before — I’d layer on the PPE, puff extra smoke around me and even cranked up my headphones so I couldn’t hear their defensive buzzing and slammings into my veil. Between the reoccurring catastrophic losses and my allergy, I think anxiety management is getting to me now. I’m even taking stuff for that! So what do I do? To protect my peace, I must take a step back to really evaluate my actions and next steps.

03/19/2026

Literally cleaned the sh*t out of the coop.

I’ve got my trusty compost thermometer ready to go. There’s a lot of nitrogen in chicken and horse manure, wanna make sure it doesn’t get too hot and combust!

Finally put the compost in the chicken run. The hens will help turn the compost, aerating and adding more fertilizer in the form of manure. I have a hose hooked up to water the compost instead of hauling pails in or dragging a hose.

Need me some gutters on the big tin roof to capture rain. Another project for another day… I’m POOPED!

**p

03/05/2026

What am I making?!!

A) cat-io
B) dog house
C) quail coup
D) bunny run

01/10/2026

Do you see her? Watch for movement right on screen.

Did not see one gopher last year thanks to the fox. 🦊

01/10/2026

C’mon outside ladies!! Daily, these sweet hens get snacks from our scraps. And Cleo the cat has her own run and heated house where she can come and go as she pleases.

Potential for this tunnel frame to support either some vining squashes or house some polly for a little hot tunnel to process compost?? Undecided.. maybe both 🤷🏻‍♀️ The hens will appreciate either.

01/09/2026

Moving sticks around 🤠

We hired some local folk to take down a tree and trim one up. I said leave the limbs and debris, I intended to burn the small stuff for char but had a new idea 💡

The chicken run is semi protected. It would be easy to fortify against wild birds. So.. I decided we’re going to build an orchard with small permaculture guilds around each tree inside the run!

Our composting system will move to the chicken run as they are superior composters.

The space is going to have layers of deep mulch along the pathways between each fruit tree guild.

Each fruit tree guild will host a number of fruiting bushes, comfry, strawberries, herbs and flowers that are chicken safe.

The mulch floor I’m building now will take years to compost but imagine the fertility I can add the gardens and for the soil health of each guild.

🐝 Honey bees love visiting the chicken run for water. I’ll build a separate bee pond for the little aviators so the hens and forager bees don’t have to compete for 💧

Great exercise too.. I’m sweatin’! 😅

01/07/2026

Finding things to do until Spring finds me soiled in dirt and sticky in honey…

All of these screws were in one container 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🤩