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A Hive Prepares to Swarm, photos show how
I was watching our hives last week, and thought Hive #1 was looking less busy at the entrance. I was thinking it had swarmed. So we opened up the hive, and found our marked queen, which means the hive had not swarmed. ( When a hive swarms, the original queen flies off with half of the honeybees ) But we did find lots of drone cells and 3 queen cells that are being built. We removed the queen cells, but I know we can’t stop them from swarming that way. We are going to do a split to reduce the hive population, and remove any more queen cells.
We just received the queens we ordered from Jennifer Berry, so we have to do this quickly. Its best to do splits in May, I understand, but this being early June I think we’ll be ok.
Our original queen is still in the hive, so it has not swarmed yet. The queen is the bee with the blue mark. 
the beginning of a queen cell among drone cells 
here are 2 queen cells being built at the bottom of a frame -
Don’t confuse people with silly theories : GardenFork Radio
This week we learn that Mike is a hockey fan, and he is not pleased with the NHL Network on Cable. And we talk about bees and beekeeping, and bee swarming and why you want to avoid swarms in your hives. Then we digress into many tangents. Like earthquakes and basement insurance, back up sump pumps and more.
Our song of the week is Sweet July by Natalie Gelman. You can hear more of Natalie Gelman’s music on her site, www.nataliegelman.com, and order her CD . You can follow her on Twitter here http://twitter.com/nataliegelman Find her on Facebook here Watch her on YouTube here Find her on MySpace here AND buy her music on iTunes here
The sardine recipe that started Eric eating them is from Mark Bittman’s Minimalist column here
You can learn more about WREXLabs, Reverse Engineering Experimental Labs Where we take things apart and see how they work!
The Beer Cooler Sous Vide recipe for steak can be seen in this video on GardenFork.TV
Eric’s Carbonara Recipe Show is here, and you can see why carbonara is easy and tastes great.
To learn how to repair the power cord on your power tool, watch how Eric does it on this video
photo from morguefile.com http://mrg.bz/fSBAf7 -
Repair the power cord on your power tool : GardenFork.TV : power tool repair video
Here we make a video on how to repair the power cord of your power tool. Don’t just wrap it in tape; here Eric shows you how he repairs the power cord on his circular saw. You can do this, watch the video and then repair your tools .
DIY power tool repair is within the grasp of your average person, if i can repair my drill, circular saw, or other electric tools so can you. This DIY video shows you how to fix a circular saw, but this can be applied to other tools as well. Basically anything with power cord can be fixed , just watch here and learn.
Its important to match the wires correctly when re-attaching them, you want the polarized plug to work properly and safely. And be careful when soldering wires, the soldering iron is hot, learn from my experiences…
And pay attention to where the power cord is when you are using a power tool, after we shot this how-to video, I proceeded to cut the cord of this saw yet again, and i repaired it yet again. Not unusual in my world.
Do you have a good way to repair the power cord on a power tool? let us know below!
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My Low Tech Green Roof Project
Green Roofs are a great thing. They shade the roof a house, thus lowering the cooling bill, and add greenery to the city. But they are a lot of work to install and can be costly.
So here is my low tech green roof project.
The idea is to place large planters around my flat roof in Brooklyn, drill holes in the bottom of the planters, and plant vine vegetable plants in the holes. I have a water timer and soaker hose system that will water the containers. Then plants will sprawl over the roof and shade the roof while lowering our cooling bill. And we get food from our roof at the same time. neat. Here are some photos to demonstrate the low tech green roof idea.
Large Planters are placed on rubber roofing material 
I use a hole saw to open up the bottom of the planter 
Here are some winter sqash and cucumber plants I started. 
This is the start of about 6 large planters on the roof. Manhattan is on the right in the background. -
Pork Butt is not the rear end of the pig : GardenFork Radio
Monica joins Mike and Eric to talk more about beer cooler sous vide, grilling, food & meat safety, $1 cookies at the farmers market.
Our song of the week is from Abi Tapia ( @abitapia ) The Easy Way from The Beauty in the Ruin
Working Class Foodies can be seen on Hungry Nation here
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Why I own a @fordtrucks F150 : dirt
my raised beds seemed to have lost about 1/3 of their soil. Not sure why. It may be when I weed them some soil always comes with the roots of the weeds, or the soil is settling slowly.
Getting garden soil can be a logistical pain. And expensive. You have to order it and have it delivered, dumped onto your driveway, and then you move it.
BUT, if you own a Ford F150, you just drive down to the gravel yard, pay them $22, and get a huge load of soil.
The GardenFork.TV F150 gets a load of soil 
The front loader operator but a bit too much dirt in, so we're looking like a low-rider 
The bedliner makes it real easy to shovel out soil and gravel -
Foods we don’t like : Erica Wides on GardenFork Radio
Today an interview with Chef Erica Wides of the Institute for Culinary Education.
We talk about fermenting foods like cabbage, sous vide cooking,
Chef Erica Wides what its like to work in a kitchen, sharpening knives, and the foods we don’t like.
Chef Wides has a weekly radio show, Why We Cook, on the Heritage Radio Network,. You can learn more at her site, ChefSmartyPants. The food education program Chef Wides talks about is Streets International
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Washington DC Botanical Gardens
My step mom and sisters were in Washington DC on Mother’s day and we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was just perfect! From what I hear, Chicago was a little cold and damp.Not the bright and beautiful day DC had.
Those arch ways made with coir baskets were in the front of the building. They had sprinkler units through out, but no plant yet. So I don’t know if they will be filled with flowers or food.
There was a beautiful display of orchids. One room was dedicated to orchids which had a small fountain and faux fallen tree. There were so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Some had smooth petals and some ruffled. It was just amazing.
There was a children’s garden where kids could water some Gerber Daises and run through a small bamboo grove. It was very sweet for the kids.
Oh Roses. We have a wild rose that I pull out all the time. All the thorns and fickleness just don’t do it for me. But when I see a Rose Garden that is well put together, I just mush. I love them. These pink pretties smelled just what you would expect from a rose.What we did not see was a vegetable garden. There was a section of medicinal plants that consisted of mostly herbs and edibles. Like this little pineapple.
I did expect to see a vegetable garden. Especially for kids. At least there was a display for kids and it wasn’t all formal gardens. There was plenty of places to rest and reflect on Mom! I really enjoyed it.
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Queen has been released in our newest beehive
The worker bees have released the queen bee from her queen cage which you can see in the lower right of the photo
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Chicago, you are cleared for planting… GardenFork Radio
This week Mike and Eric talk about Eric’s appearance on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Mike’s Farmers Market Report, Tyler’s Weather Predictions, and more
Mario Bosquez, my host on Living Today -
Hiving a bee package into our new beehive
We’ve added a third hive to our beehives, and our package of bees arrived on Saturday. The weather was not great, cold and windy, so we thought we’d wait until the next day, Sunday. We kept our bees in the basement to keep them from overheating.
Sunday arrives with wind and 32F. Not good. But we waited until 1 pm and the temperature rose above 50F, and it was time to hive the package. Hiving the package went really well. The worker bees stayed close to the queen in the new hive.
You can watch our video: How to hive a package of bees here.
The bees in the package are surrounding the queen cage and the sugar feeder in the box 
Opening the top of the package reveal the queen cage and the sugar feeder can 
Removing the queen cage from the bee package 
This is the queen cage, the fondant on the left is pierced with a small nail and the worker bees will eat thru this to release the queen once this is put into the hive. 
Two bent nails are inserted into the queen cage, with the fondant candy facing up, this queen cage then sits between two frames in the middle of the new hive 
After the queen is placed in the new beehive, the bees are added to the hive by shaking the hive package 
You have to move the package back and forth 
The worker bees cluster around the queen cage that was placed in between the frames. 
I tear open the screen of the package to allow the last of the bees to exit to the hive. 
An entrance reducer allows the young hive to defend the entrance from robber bees and yellow jackets. I did not have one of those wooden reducers, so I used a mouse guard. -
Beehive lost to nosema?
I went over to a friend’s house yesterday to find he had lost a hive recently. There were few dead bees in the hive, but here was a ton of what I think is nosema in the hive, evidenced by the amount of bee droppings in the hive. Nosema is an intestinal ailment in honeybees, it gives the bees diarrhea.
And bees normally don’t poop in their hive, seeing bee poop in a hive, i think, is a sign of something wrong.
Both of our hives have signs of nosema, and I have been treating them with Fumagilin in a sugar syrup, spraying the hives once a week for 3 weeks.
You don't usually see comb spotted with bee droppings and in the frames with honey, there was what looked like crystallized honey in some of the comb. Again, not sure what this is all about. Anyone know?
Crystals in some of the comb -
Why did I do that dumb thing? GF Radio
Today we talk about dull knives, Mike’s weimerauner dogs, Mike’s travels to the farmers market, The Steamy Kitchen Caramel Strawberry GF TV show, how to sharpen your lawnmower blades, and more. Listen and tell your friends about the show.
Here are Mike’s pups:
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Honeybees and Blogging on Martha Stewart Radio : GardenFork Radio
Naomi and Mario, of Living Today on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM, asked me to come back on their show and talk about blogging today. Here is a clip of our conversation. A big Thank You to Naomi and Mario. If you are interested in Sirius Radio, you can get more information here. Below is the video tour I did of the Sirius Studios in Rockefeller Center for the Ford Fiesta Movement
The Sirius Radio in my Ford Fiesta -
GardenFork.TV is featured on iTunes. WOW.
how cool is this? a big thank you to the iTunes podcast crew!
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Salad Coffee Table
I love this. It turned out so much better than I thought it would. Jim found this melon crate at one of his stops. As soon as he saw it, he thought small, raised bed. When I saw it, I asked for more to share!Jim screwed some 8 inch legs from left over lumber on the bottom of the box. I lined the box with a new product I’m trying out. Hydro cloth. I got it from Gardeners.com. Then came the fun. We planted marigolds, lettuces, radishes, basil, and a cherry tomato that I hope cascades down from a clay pipe.
Most importantly, and what makes it a coffee table as opposed to salad table, are five “tiles” made from a broken ceramic pot. Each one big enough for the largest of cups or bowls. I’m hoping that in a few weeks, all the plants will take off and this little table will just be the jewel of our back yard paradise.
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How to move a Beehive : GardenFork.TV Beginning Beekeeping
We decided to move a beehive, so I learned how to move a beehive, and now we’ll show you how we moved the it. Moving a beehive is not hard, watch this Beginning Beekeping Series video and learn how.
Have you moved a beehive? Please tell us below: