Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

Hi @Ribh, this video appears to be set to private.

Thank you. You tube has changed stuff again. I screw up every time they do this. It should be fixed.

 

[Shadrach]

As you know, I too am interested. Please add me to the list.

I'm doing yours at the moment. I've scrapped two so far.
It's not unusual. You take a bit of a cut somewhere and wallop; a crack or some defect appears....
I think I scrap about a third of those I start.

 

[Shadrach]

The man weighing the new hive before setting it in its new home.
View attachment 2114908​

Hmm, they are super small hives. I'll take some pictures of the hives here.

 

[Ribh]

Hmm, they are super small hives. I'll take some pictures of the hives here.

They are super small bees.

 

[Shadrach]

They are super small bees.

Do you collect the propolis?

 

[Ribh]

Do you collect the propolis?

Not yet, Shad. We are very new to this. We've had one hive for maybe 8 months & are about to do our first induction. This new hive looks close to being ready to split also so I guess we're about to get some experience...

 

[Shadrach]

This was the last swarm I took pictures of. I was sitting in the house when the bees came over the sheep field above and behind my house. All I could hear was buzzing. It was incredibly loud. When I went out to look there was a massive cloud of bees streaming over the house. What you see in the pictures is a small proportion of the bees that decided to move home.

 

[Ribh]

This is Morrigu.
She is odd ~ even for a Campine.
She's a screamer ~ but relatively calm ~ for a Campine.

There is a fair bit of jockeying @ dinner time. Those @ the top of the pecking order move leisurely between the available feeding stations. Those lower down flock round me, though even so the pecking order determines who can eat from my hand first.

Morrigu has a problem. She came into the flock as an established laying hen, though I have no idea how old she actually is. She was also a top order hen in some previous life. However she is a very small hen, smaller & lighter than my bantams, who are little roly~polys. She came into the flock thinking herself a top order hen & claiming a top bird's rights & position. It went down like a led balloon & she was very firmly put in her place. Hepzibah was so miffed to find Morrigu in her nesting box there was a serious barney & it will be some time before Morrigu grows her breast feathers back but I appreciate her. She's not one of my chronic fence hoppers. Aoife, who could be a serious contender for a lead bird some day, holds that dubious honour.

But she has some odd quirks. Today she grabbed Medh's tail & hung on for dear life so that the food stayed just out of Medh's reach! Poor Medh couldn't gain traction no matter how hard she tried. She doesn't like the Aracaunas & they stay well out of her reach. The big girls tend to bully her off her dust or sun bath for no other reason than that they can & for a long time it took her ages to roost because the pecking was vicious Morrigu was not only last into the coop but getting frantic as well~ but flocks are very adaptable. She is almost always on the top roost these days. Patricia, who is lowest of the big girls, is often forced to roost alone on the 2nd bar. She is too big to squeeze into no space @ all the way the Campines all do. Lavender seems happy to tuck smaller birds under her wings. Morrigu is sometimes there. But her size & attitude seems to be causing some confusion about her status.

She looks bantam sized ~ but is not a bantam. I suspect she is molting, so is probably a more mature hen. Her eggs are small ~ bantam sized. As a laying hen she does have extra status. The other Campines don't seem to consider her a Campine. They are all bigger than her. Ha'penny could easily make 2 of her & the silvers are developing into bigger birds. For a while I thought she wasn't going to fit into the flock & be accepted but happily the flock seems prepared to tolerate her oddities.

One thing I do know, & I don't know what her previous daily life was like, is that she loves her life here. She is a deeply content & grateful bird. That she is happy to stay within the confines of the run foraging suggests she has more freedom now than she did & she makes the most of every moment!​

 

[Ribh]

This was the last swarm I took pictures of. I was sitting in the house when the bees came over the sheep field above and behind my house. All I could hear was buzzing. It was incredibly loud. When I went out to look there was a massive cloud of bees streaming over the house. What you see in the pictures is a small proportion of the bees that decided to move home.
View attachment 2115174View attachment 2115175

Did you manage to encourage them into a new hive? Your guys sting so I'd be a little leery of such a large swarm.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

That is a very interesting question.
Much to my annoyance, I'm going to have to open some kind of bank account.
This isn't as straightforward for me as it is for most. I won't bother with all the beurocratice details. I think I've got it sorted though but it's going to take at least a month.
I have four that I am doing bit by bit for others. If you are still interested in a months time and the couriers are up and running again I'll get a postage price and you can roll around the floor laughing.
I'm never going to make a good salesperson am I.
I had this ideal that I would like to meet the people I sell my work to; a bit like I won't give chickens to people I haven't met and approved. Of course you get full approval.
Up until fairly recently I've only posted as far as the UK or people have bought at fairs or come to my house.

I am honoured by receiving your approval (I need a "bowing" emoji)

When you had the pictures up before the one that had two bits of wood kind of twisted around each other really caught my eye. I know it won't come cheap, there is a lot of work in them, and posting to Australia from anywhere is really expensive. I will start saving my pennies in anticipation. ☺

In the mean time, do you suppose you can post a photo or two of your work again? (begging hands...not clapping )