bees and other stuff
Today Jan and I walked 4 miles at Lake Wilhelm. The sun even came out. Nice and warm - didn't even need a jacket. Afterwards I drove to Franklin and took the trike on a ride to Oil City and back. On the way back it started to rain but not that bad - it was still warm. I saw 4 other riders on the trail - 2 bikes and 2 trikes. Trikes are becoming more common all the time.
Lake Wilhelm still has ice on it.
Lake edge.
Near Oil City - I had just turned around to head back. I got off so I could get my phone out of my bag and take some photos. I was really pleased with the trike. I went faster than I usually do. Usually I go about 8 mph and I went between 9 and 11 mph most the time today. Not that I care about going fast but it was just nice to know I could do it. Also usually at the 2.5 mile mark and at the end of the trail at 5 miles I always want to get off and take a rest. I had no need for a rest the whole way today. I think she's a keeper. I still need to ride her around Lake Wilhelm and all the hills there - I hope I like her as much after that. If I can do that easier I will be very happy.
Back in the saddle.
The river is very high right now. The ice in the middle is gone, washed away, but it is still clinging to the shore where trees have trapped it in place.
When I got home Dave greeted me by saying we have a problem. I could hear a buzzing sound on the chicken coop baby monitors, very loud. While I was gone a swarm of honey bees started to cover the coop and get into it. The chickens were wary and huddling outside in the run. Dave had been checking on them while I was gone and it seemed the bees didn't want to bother the chickens, and the chickens didn't want to bother the bees. The chickens had gone inside to lay their eggs but they didn't want to hang out in there otherwise. I brought them some water outside and they all drank. I think they were afraid to go in to drink or eat. There was probably a couple hundred bees inside and outside. I looked up a bee keeper on the internet and Dave called them and asked them what they thought we should do. The bee keeper said that probably the unseasonably warm weather we had today made the bees set out to find flowers but there are none. Bees will eat cracked corn if they can't find anything else to eat. There is a lot of spilled feed which has corn in it inside the coop so they were drawn to that. He told us to wait and in the evening the bees would all go back to their hive again. I figured we could clean up the coop totally tonight and then tomorrow the bees would not find anything to eat there - problem solved. It was very annoying to think of the bees out there. Dave wanted to take a drive up to Pymatuning Lake to see if the ice was melting so I went with him and Andy. It was good to get my mind off the bees.
Fishermen at Pymatuning.
I liked how the trees were mirrored.
Came home and we did a big cleaning of the coop. I had hoped to put that off till later in the spring. I have worked hard at keeping the chicken manure picked up daily but I hadn't considered that fallen grain would be the reason that it would need cleaned! Dave helped me and it wasn't too bad of a job - done in about 30 minutes. I really like that the coop is raised off the ground and there was no stooping involved.
Lake Wilhelm still has ice on it.
Lake edge.
Near Oil City - I had just turned around to head back. I got off so I could get my phone out of my bag and take some photos. I was really pleased with the trike. I went faster than I usually do. Usually I go about 8 mph and I went between 9 and 11 mph most the time today. Not that I care about going fast but it was just nice to know I could do it. Also usually at the 2.5 mile mark and at the end of the trail at 5 miles I always want to get off and take a rest. I had no need for a rest the whole way today. I think she's a keeper. I still need to ride her around Lake Wilhelm and all the hills there - I hope I like her as much after that. If I can do that easier I will be very happy.
Back in the saddle.
The river is very high right now. The ice in the middle is gone, washed away, but it is still clinging to the shore where trees have trapped it in place.
When I got home Dave greeted me by saying we have a problem. I could hear a buzzing sound on the chicken coop baby monitors, very loud. While I was gone a swarm of honey bees started to cover the coop and get into it. The chickens were wary and huddling outside in the run. Dave had been checking on them while I was gone and it seemed the bees didn't want to bother the chickens, and the chickens didn't want to bother the bees. The chickens had gone inside to lay their eggs but they didn't want to hang out in there otherwise. I brought them some water outside and they all drank. I think they were afraid to go in to drink or eat. There was probably a couple hundred bees inside and outside. I looked up a bee keeper on the internet and Dave called them and asked them what they thought we should do. The bee keeper said that probably the unseasonably warm weather we had today made the bees set out to find flowers but there are none. Bees will eat cracked corn if they can't find anything else to eat. There is a lot of spilled feed which has corn in it inside the coop so they were drawn to that. He told us to wait and in the evening the bees would all go back to their hive again. I figured we could clean up the coop totally tonight and then tomorrow the bees would not find anything to eat there - problem solved. It was very annoying to think of the bees out there. Dave wanted to take a drive up to Pymatuning Lake to see if the ice was melting so I went with him and Andy. It was good to get my mind off the bees.
Fishermen at Pymatuning.
I liked how the trees were mirrored.
Came home and we did a big cleaning of the coop. I had hoped to put that off till later in the spring. I have worked hard at keeping the chicken manure picked up daily but I hadn't considered that fallen grain would be the reason that it would need cleaned! Dave helped me and it wasn't too bad of a job - done in about 30 minutes. I really like that the coop is raised off the ground and there was no stooping involved.