Tag Archives: spring

Requeening a Honeybee Hive – Things We Didn’t Know…

By Texas Homesteader ~ 

Hobby Beekeeping is enjoying quite a popular resurgence. Many people are becoming interested in raising their own bees, whether for pollination of their own gardens, that delicious honey, valuable beeswax or just to care for our beloved pollinators.

Today I’ll be talking about requeening our hive. There are many reasons a beekeeper might want to requeen their hives. Maybe their existing queen is older and not productive anymore. Or maybe over the years the bees in the hive have swarmed and requeened their colony so many times the hive is becoming more aggressive, or ‘hot’.

You see, each time the colony makes their own queen, she must make her maiden flight for breeding with the surrounding bees. Oftentimes those are wild bees and some might even have more aggressive Africanized bee influence.

If you have very many generations taking those steps you’ve gotten too much opportunity for aggressive characteristics to be introduced into your hive.

There are several reasons beekeepers like to requeen their beehive. Recently we made a split and requeened two hive boxes. #TexasHomesteader

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Vegetable Garden Planning Made Easy Making A Yearly Planner

by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Are you starting your garden planning  yet? My garden planning method each year is EASY! Come see how I decide what vegetables to plant each spring. I’m quickly able to plan crop rotation, see what I planted and where last year, companion-planting notes, the 3 Sister’s Method and MORE! 

How do you plan your vegetable garden each year? Come see my simple planning method. #TexasHomesteader

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Veggie Garden Update: May

by Texas Homesteader

It was with high hopes in late winter that I planted my indoor greenhouse with my heirloom seeds. Those seeds sprouted into tiny seedlings and I anxiously planted them in my garden immediately after Easter (as is recommended in our planting zone 8 here in NE Texas.)

But the strange spring weather battled with my tender seedlings.

Mother Nature has been fighting back this spring. Alas, I've had to start all over in May. Want to see how it's going? Read on. #TexasHomesteader

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Veggie Garden Update: April Weather Challenge

by Texas Homesteader ~ 

I’ve always heard in our area of NE Texas (planting zone 8) that you don’t dare plant until after Easter because a rogue frost can still swing through & kill your tender plants. Oh my goodness it was so hard for me to wait! So to pacify my need to garden I planted up my Indoor Greenhouse weeks ago. As I watched those tiny seedlings sprout I just got more excited.

Then I sat back & waited (im)patiently for Easter. Then the big day arrived, FINALLY I was able to plant – woo-hoo! Here is my April veggie garden update:

I waited (im)patiently for Easter so I could finally plant. The weather has been a challenge. Here is my April veggie garden update! #TexasHomesteader

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Happy Easter. Glory, Hallelujah – He Is RISEN!

by Texas Homesteader ~

Easter celebrations may look a little different this year. But celebrate where you are! Go ahead & let the kids hunt Easter eggs in the back yard, or even in the house like we used to do when the kids were little and rain hampered an outdoors celebration.

Attend your favorite church service online and praise the Lord! Celebrating shouldn’t be a gathering this year, but it certainly  can and should still be CELEBRATING!

Gatherings may be canceled, but Easter has certainly not been canceled!

For all my Christian friends - what a glorious day today is. Happy EASTER. He Is Risen! #TexasHomesteader

For all my Christian friends – what a glorious day today is.

He Is Risen!

Happy EASTER.

~TxH~

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