Day 39: Second to last day

This morning, Kwao and I finished building the hive stands. We needed pieces of 2x4's to continue. We drilled holes halfway through the pieces of wood and hammered them onto the rebar posts. 

 After, Kwao and I went down the road to install one set at a neighbor's house.
I also helped paint the bottom house becuase we have a visitor coming:

Day 38: Wicker

I began the slow process of taking out the braids from my hair. I got some help in the beginning, but then was left on my own. It took a few hours and both my hands so I spent that time reading. I had to feel around for tiny braids and untangle them from the mess that was my now-curly hair.

 I went with three of the boys to collect wicker from the bush. We walked down the road into the bush by the ocean in order to search for wicker vines. Then, we cut the vines and bundled them up to carry home. We also went out to the "point" to look over the cliff at the ocean.

 The long vines of wicker that we collected:

Wicker has many uses including covering furniture or making items like baskets or jewelry. We then had to strip the wicker and bundle it up again:

 

My hair when I finished unraveling all of it:

 Visitors:

Day 37: Cooking again

 Did a lot of experimental cooking today, it was lots of fun.

 Caught the boys reading nicely to each other on the bench:

 Baby kittens were born next door, so small:

 I learned how to make breadfruit today. It is a very tasty fruit that has a consistency similar to bread. It tastes unlike anything I have had before, but resides somewhere in between sweet bread and tofu. First, we cut the top and bottom of the fruit:

 Then, they were roasted over the fire to char the outside:

 The charred outside gets cut off:

 Then, the inside is what you eat, but first you take out the heart (some people eat it):

 Breadfruit is one of my favorite things to eat here:

 I also got to see the entire process of how dumplings are made.
 You need live yeast:

You also need flour and oats in a pot mixed with water and the yeast:

You allow the dough to rise during the day, pounding it once. Then, you roll out the dough, cut it into triangles and fry them up in coconut oil on the stove.

 We also made falafal out of chickpeas. It was delicious with garlic sauce.

Day 36: Moving hives Part I

This morning as I walked up to the kitchen, I found Agape cleaning up the small hives and comb savers that we had picked up yesterday from Mr. Hill.They had been in storage and needed a deep clean. Agape scrubbed all the comb savers and washed them, and I helped in re-threading a lot of them. I even got to take one to bring home with me!
You can see the 2 foot hives resting against the wall, as well as their covers:

 The pile of comb savers, I guess you can never have too many. They are an absolute necessity when comb suddenly breaks:

Comb savers are definitely an item that a top-bar beekeeper should always carry when going to the apiary. Any bee book will tell you that there are "essential tools" that you should carry in a bucket with you. Mine (and my Dad's) include: 2+ hive tools, matches, smoker fuel, bee brush, fire extinguisher. Here in Jamaica it has pretty much been the same: knife, smoker fuel, lighter. I would now add comb saver, though breakages are rare here because of the hive dimensions.

Moving hives Part I

We began the process for moving two hives that are on the property down the road. These are the two hives that survived the hurricane but were knocked over by goats. I am glad to add the skill of moving hives to my knowledge arsenal. I am getting really excited about going back home with all of the things I have learned about top-bar beekeeping. The hands-on experience has been the most valuable by far. Anyways, we loaded up two 2-foot hives (top-bar hives that are 2 feet long) into the car and went to the site, baby on board.

We placed the small hive on the stand right next to the hive we were working on, empty and ready to go. We smoked both on-site hives and removed the cover on just one.  We took off the extra top bars in back until we reached comb. Then, we briefly inspected the comb to assess the hive and placed the bars with comb into the small hive. Kwao started from the front and found the queen (very large and more orange in color) so we were sure she was there, though there were signs of eggs as well. Once all the combed bars were in the small hive, the larger original hive was quickly moved away off the stand. The small hive was scooted to where the original hive was with the entrance in the exact same place and direction of the original (very important). Then, Kwao knocked all the bees that were still in the original hive to one side and dumped them into the small hive. We repeated the process with the other hive. We loaded up the two big hives, now empty, and trucked them away. The small hives, in the same place the original hives were, will stay there until all the bees go inside. We can go back and pick them up any time to move them. I'm looking forward to see how they are moved off-site.

When we got back we unloaded the empty hives and reorganized the hive storage area. It is a picnic bench out in the yard. We balanced the two empty hives on the bench, with three nukes on top. We had to put a shim under each in order to tilt them forward. Otherwise, rain would collect inside. The two hives that I built/helped build we placed upside down on the bench because they do not have covers yet (there is not enough tin to build them yet). All of the comb savers we placed inside the hives for storage.

 Sideview:

I am reading five bee books right now including:
Queen Rearing Essentials by Lawrence John Conner
Increase Essentials ibid
Bee photos by Rose-Lynn Fisher (microscopic pictures of bee body parts--amazingly beautiful!)
Basic Health Publications User's Guide to Propolis, Royal Jelly, Honey, and Bee Pollen by C. Leigh Broadhurst, PhD
Also, I finished Les Crowder's video about top-bar beekeeping which was really neat. It is very similar to his book. 

Day 35: Rain

It was a rainy day today so we mostly stayed indoors. 

Everyone was "bundled up" which meant long sleeves and hats. It didn't feel cold to me because the air was still warm even though it was raining. I think I'm just used to more chilly rain.

Enoch staying warm:

 The yard in between rain showers:

 Some jackfruit picked before it was swept away:

 Dinner was really good (as always). It was garlic mashed potatoes, lentil salad and peas. Yum!

As a treat, Agape showed me how to make coconut balls. Coconut and honey cooked on the stove, delicious:

We also made chocolate tea as a sweet treat. Grated chocolate balls (made straight from cocoa), coconut milk, ginger. Amazing:

Day 34: Outing

Kwao, Agape, the two youngest boys, Peter, and I all went on a trip to Annotto Bay today. We piled in the car and set off for the library, some shopping, and a trip to Mr. Hill afterwards. I met Kwao's sister in town and hung out in the car while errands were run. Agape tried to use the computers at the library but unsuccessfully. I went to a little souvenir shop in town where I got some gifts. We stopped by a banana shack but I don't know why. I kept the kids busy long enough so that they wouldn't notice mom was no longer in the car (especially the two year old).

We drove up a country road to the residence of Mr. Hill, a friendly beekeeper that has a pretty massive operation. I met him at one of the trainings as he is a part of the local association of bee farmers. He has 230 hives on his farm. They are all on a hill, a sea of boxes. It was amazing to see. He also had lots of other animals that we looked at. Pigeons, chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, cows, sheep, pigs of a huge variety. He also plants thousands of banana trees, ackee, and such. I got to help feed a calf! When we were visiting the animals, the calves were being bottle fed so I got to help out with one. It was really fun and the babies were super cute. Kwao asked a lot about how things are run, all enthusiastically answered by Mr. Hill. It was very nice of him to show us around. Tiring ride, though! I took an accidental nap when we got back.

Day 33: Relax

Today was a day off so I pretty much just relaxed. I did lots of reading about, what else? Bees and beekeeping. It is convenient to ask any questions I have to Agape or Kwao. I am learning a lkot from Michael Bush's book. No kidding when he titled it The Practical Beekeeper. He basically has a conversation with the reader, answering questions based on his 25+ years of beekeeping experience. It stands apart from most bee books becuase he does not answer questions with explanations or descriptions of bee behavior. Most books go into the biology of bees, the history of beekeeping, and the basics moving into a "philosophy" on beekeeping. With Michael Bush, there is no fluff. Just straightforward answers. Sometimes, I find that I do not understand or follow certain terms (such as "dipping equipment") but eventually figure it out. So far, I have liked reading about alternative methods to beekeeping such as top entrances and using essential oils.
The internet went out yesterday which was interesting. Inconvenient for those that had to send e-mails but  also a relief to stay away from Facebook I have to admit...Back online, anyways. The past three nights it has rained with thunder and lightning. It has jarred me awake and frankly scared me. When I told Kwao this in the morning, he told me that this was nothing and laughed. The rain is good for the crops and the soil here.

Day 32: Building hives

We got a lot done today! I finally got to build my own hive, something I really wanted to accomplish while I was here. 

Giant green lizard (considered bad luck by many here):

 We planted pineapple tops today. Any time they buy pineapples, they save the tops to be planted on the farm. Many have already been planted, but we pulled up any that died or were rotten. We replanted the new tops among rows of sweet pepper. We did it today because the soil was nice and soft after the rain last night. Necessary items are a bag to carry the pineapple tops in and a cutlass to dig the hole:

 Here is a close-up of a pineapple growing on the farm:

 Me planting the pineapple top into the ground:

 Kwao helped me build a hive today. We marked up two boards for the two sides and two faces of the hive. I learned how to get the right angle for cutting out the faces (60 degree slant). We used a skill saw and a table saw, both of which I learned how to use safely.

 Once we cut out the sides and faces, we put them all together. It is a little tricky to hold up the face to the side and get the nails in at an angle. We pre-drilled the holes that the nail would go into and it made things a lot easier. It helps to have another person as well to hold the face and side together at the corner.

 Nailing the side to the face was easier after the first nails were in:

 Here one side is attached to the front and back face (upside down):

 We used top bars to prop up the hive as we nailed it. You can see the entrance of the hive cut out in the closest face:

 Kwao holding it together as I drilled the holes:

 Lots of marking was needed so a square was a very useful tool to have:

 The finished hive! I used pieces of wood instead of one long piece for the bottom because it is what we had:

 I also nailed pieces for the bottom of the tin-sided hive that we put together last week:

 I'm really glad that I got to put together an entire hive, from beginning to (almost) the end. We still have to make a cover and top bars. But, I learned invaluable tricks for the carpentry and for assembly. I went with Kwao and a handful of boys to gather mangoes across town. At the end of the day, we had a fantastic dinner. Mangoes and dinner:

 Me and my "constant companion" Enoch who never fails to ask me to read him a book, play cards, or take a picture of him any time he sees me:

 Dinner was rice, coconut milk with sweet and spicy pepper, salad, broccoli with garlic sauce, and avocado pear. Absolutely delicious! Also, there was chocolate biscotti "camping style" for dessert. Yum!