Our Family just got larger!

MEET THE BEES

Our Family just got larger! By  about 20,000 or more. The Bees are here and the "Beekeeper" is in the yard. This is how they arrived.
This picture is of two colonies each with their own queen.  She is in a little cage so the bees can smell her but can't get to her.

MEET "BOB THE BEE KEEPER"

Bob was a bee keeper while in the Navy and has always wanted to resume the hobby but time and space have not allowed it until now.

(Isn't he adorable in his bee "bonnet"??)

These are the new luxury condos Bob built for his Bees to live in

This is the view the Bees have as soon as they fly out of their hives

 Here is how it all starts:

Bob is spraying his bees with sugar water. They eat it and get real calm so that he can go inside  the box and take out the queen cage. Then he removed the little cork and replaced it with a miniature marshmallow.  After he put the queen in the "new digs", he then dumped the sugar laden workers in around her. The idea is that in a few days they will eat through the marshmallow to get to the queen and then begin the work of building a colony.

 There were a few bees left in the boxes but you just put them close to the hive and they can smell the queen so they find their way in from outside.

Bob put lots of sugar water in the feeders so the bees don't have to go far from home to eat.  They get right to work making babies and making cells to hold the honey.  Because we got our bees in late spring, it is important that they are able to make enough honey to get the colony through the winter.  That means no honey for us this year but next year we are golden.

After a few days we noticed the little scout bees coming back with thier pollen  baskets (located on their back legs) full. It didn't take them long to find it and bring it home!

They come to the opening in the hive and the "guard bee" smells them.  If he smells right he is let in and he dumps his pollen and heads back out to find more.  This goes on all summer.  They gather pollen for a protien source and nectar to make honey.  It will take a year for the colonies to get large enough so we can share their bounty so no honey until next summer. 

The Mountain, The Birds and the Winery

Saturday, August 26, 2010


Today's Vocabulary Word : Totsiens OR Vaarwel - Goodbye

My last look at Table Mountain ( or at least where it usually is)

Today we say goodbye to Africa and all that it has and is.  We have loved this trip more than any other we have taken.  The amazing beauty of both the country and the people is something neither of us will soon forget.  Being able to experience all of this with my best friend (my husband) has made it that much more special.   We don't leave until midnight so we have a long day to get through.

After checking out of the hotel and saying goodbye to all the nice people there, we got in our little rented Hyundai and set off for the World of Birds.
World of Birds is the largest bird park in Africa and one of the few large bird parks in the World.

Over 3 000 birds (and small animals) of 400 different species are found here in  more than 100  walk through aviaries. There is a  Monkey Jungle where you can have an encounter with a Squirrel Monkey!

The park is located in the Hout Bay Valley, and the aviaries are  spaced over 4 ha of land, framed by the back of Table Mountain, the Twelve Apostles, Constantiaberg, Chapman’s Peak and Little Lion’s Head.  Although it was the "cheesiest"  and most "touristy" thing we  did on our vacation it did let us see some very beautiful birds.

Here are some of the colorful and interesting birds we saw. I wish I had been efficient enough to write down all of their names but I didn’t so just enjoy their pictures!

These are Mandarin Ducks.  Beautiful!

Some kind of crazy chicken.

They even had Meerkats!

When we finished with the birds, the monkeys and the Meerkats we headed for a working winery we had past on the way. It was over five hundred years old and they had a restaurant there, too. As most things here, it has Table Mountain as a backdrop so how can you go wrong? Since it is winter, there are only vines and no grapes but you get the idea.

You can see Cape Town off in the distance with the foot of the Mountain just to the right

This was inside the restaurant.  They were having a big 21st birthday party next door but once again, we were the only ones at the restaurant.  Another private dinner!  Yeah!

This was outside

There is the mountain creeping into the picture

 (still can’t stop taking its picture)

tree lined path to winery

The building still has a thatched roof

Protea on every table

I had winter squash soup with ginger cream and cilantro

Bob had calamari (of course)

There were several “Dutch Doors” that led outside. They are very nice for quick ventilation.

Bob had a chicken cutlet with  rosemary mushroom gravy, green beans and broccolini and said it was some of the best chicken he had ever had.

I tried the sole with wilted spinach, mashed potatoes and a lemon glaze and it was delicate and perfectly done.










When dinner finished, we headed to the airport (with more than a little reluctance) to await our almost 12 hour flight to Amsterdam. I don’t think I could have made it if we hadn’t broken it up into two days on each end. As our friend Jeff says, “Airports are the home of the walking dead”. It is the truth.  Jeff has been working as a "Sports Scientist" with the Special Olympics at a meet in the Netherlands. Since we will  be there at the same time he will, he is going to meet us at the airport and spend the day with us. It is nice to have a friend to meet in a foreign country.

Love to all,

Christine