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This double-row of firewood on six pallets is about a third of the firewood we have on hand for the coming winter.

Autumn Arrives with Last-Minute Chores

Temperatures are dropping as the sun sets earlier, providing motivation to finish our chores and prepared the homestead for winter.
The beehives are behind the garden. Those are green beans in the foreground.

Homestead Injury and Why More Hands Help

There's plenty of work to do on the homestead, but an annoying injury slows Pete down. The garden continues to thrive.
It's been so dry the honeybees gather on the edge of the chickens' water to drink their fill.

Bee Stings and Mustard Seeds

Our homestead requires hard work, a little pain, and a willingness to kill as well as nurture and grow.
The sunflowers are in full bloom. Behind it, the beehives are barely visible and you can see one of the raised beds in our garden.

Summer Projects on the Homestead

Summer is a great time for outdoor work on the homestead. I have to put up with sweat and dodge raindrops, but its a productive time of year.
This cucumber is too big for pickling, so it will end up in a salad or fed to the chickens.

It’s Been a Busy Summer on the Homestead

We've been super busy on the homestead with both planned and unplanned chores. It's prime time for outdoor activities.
Our late spring honey harvest netted 125 pounds of honey, much of it very dark and rich.

Our Spring Honey Harvest is a Big Success

The spring honey harvest is complete, and it yielded some of the tastiest honey Pete has ever produced.
All three hives pictured have double deep hive bodies. The hive on the right has four medium suppers and the hive in the center has three. The smaller hive was split off one of these hives because it was growing too fast. You might think it was split from the center hive, but it is the progeny of the larger hive. This queen is just a superstar when it comes to producing bees and honey.

Bees Thrive as Interesting Weather Patterns Hits the Homestead

We've had unusual weather this year, but it seems to be benefitting both the trees and our honeybees. We expect a record honey harvest.
When covered with a lockable lid or roof, this enclosure will be the bunker where we store our gasoline cans, spare kerosene, and pesticides we don't want in the house.

Bunkers, Bees and Firewood, a Homestead Update

Work on our many homestead projects progresses, despite somewhat whacky weather.
The nuc (left) arrives in a temporary beehive. The beekeepers lifts out the frames and adds them to an empty beehive. This larger hive body gives the queen more room to lay eggs and the bees room to put nectar and pollen,

From Four Beehives to Ten in a Month

The bees are overflowing! Time to create some more splits to prevent swarming. I also add a nuc to bolster my bee's genetics.
I was given these two beehives by a beekeeper who was moving and couldn't take her bees with her.

Beekeeping Grows more Difficult in 2025

Commercial beekeepers have lost between 60 and 80 percent of their beehives in the past nine months, endangering the food supply.