the Homestead Journal

Category: Animals

Chickens, bees, and whoever else has joined the place.

  • Two beehives, one beginner

    Two beehives, one beginner

    We ordered two nucs in February and they showed up in April. By June we had honey. By July we had no idea what we were doing. By October we did. Here is the short version.

    The first inspection

    Wear the suit. Yes, all of it. We have a friend who does not. He looks like a cautionary tale. The bees mostly want to be left alone. They are very polite about it most of the time.

    Smoke is a love language

    A cool steady smoker keeps you and the bees in a better mood. Wet burlap is our favorite fuel — smells like a hearth.

    What we would do differently

    Start with two hives, not one. If one fails (and our first one almost did), you can rob a frame of brood from the strong hive and save the weak one. With one hive, you are just watching.

    The honey is the smallest reason we keep them. The bigger one is that the garden has not been the same since they arrived.

  • Our first year with chickens: what we wish we had known

    Our first year with chickens: what we wish we had known

    A friend with a flock said, “Get six, you will be fine.” We got six. We were eventually fine. The first ten weeks taught us most of what we needed to know.

    We underbuilt the coop

    Every chicken book says “4 square feet per bird inside, 10 outside.” We thought we could get away with less. We could not. We rebuilt in August.

    Predators come at twilight

    Not at night. Twilight. A raccoon does not knock. A hawk is a flying knife. Lock the door at sundown, every single day, no exceptions.

    Feed eats your budget

    Or rather, the chickens eat your budget. Buying the big bag from the feed mill saved us about a third versus the pretty bag at the hardware store.

    Three years in, we would still get chickens again. We would just build a bigger coop the first time.