Second Chance & "Bee" Hives Updates July 2017

Second Chance Hive showing increase in population.

I have had people asking about my beehives, especially the Second Chance Hive, so here is the update.

When my beekeeping teacher came to bring the new queen for the Second Chance hive, we looked through it to double check for a queen. He said because of how dark the honeybees were – mostly black bodies, that they were probably Russian honeybees. These Russian bees were quite the workers!! The comb they drew out without a queen was amazing. The unfortunate part is that now this hive is an Italian cross honeybee hive, and they are not working as good. (The Russian bees died.) Oh, how I wished this hive had had a Russian queen still alive and producing brood. 

Young baby bees working to take care of the brood - lots of
capped brood here. What looks like holes are open cells
which have worker bee larva still being fed, and which will
be capped soon.

After re-queening the Second Chance Hive, it was getting so depleted in population, that I had to do something to help, or I was going to loose it. (In the summer, worker bees only live about 40 days, unless something causes their death sooner.) To help this hive, I did what I call - “a jump re-start.” I pulled two frames of brood from my other hive, which is my “Bee Hive” because of the bee decorations on the front. I put those frames into the Second Chance hive to help increase the population quicker.

Close up of capped and uncapped brood. You can see the
uncapped brood - little white larva in different stages of
development. Some cells have a very small white dot.

There was another problem that occurred – I lost the queen in the Bee Hive, but I realized she was gone fairly quickly before the population dropped. That hive was re-queened successfully; and there is a lot of capped brood once again. Still hoping I might get some honey this year from this hive. It would be the first time getting honey since I started in 2013.

Take a Look at Nature's Charm & Critters on Our Small Farm - July 22, 2017

It is really cool when I can get photographs of pollinators on my flowers. I have some to share in this group of photos. In addition, I was able to get two really nice photographs of dragonflies.

Lots of flowers are still blooming, providing food for the pollinators. The summer's heat is increasing, while the day's light is decreasing.

Lastly, my bluebird couple are raising their third group of babies this year, and I captured a photo. Enjoy!

Baby Bluebirds just a couple of days before they flew on their own.

All pictures are copyrighted © to 

Tracey R. Simmons, creator of Paws4Hearts Rescue, 2017.

Hash Brown Egg Scramble

The ingredients for this recipe are for one person, adjust as you need for your appetite, or the number of people you are preparing this meal for:

2 Organic Farm Fresh Eggs

Organic Cheddar Cheese or cheese of choice

Organic Frozen Hash Browns

Organic Olive Oil

Himalayan Salt (Healthier for you)

Organic Pepper

I use an oval shaped cast iron skillet with a cooking surface 9 inches long and 7 inches wide at the middle width.

1.  In a cast iron skillet, add olive oil and *frozen brown hash browns, cook using low heat, stir as needed. (The amount will vary depending on your desires. I fill the whole surface of the skillet, which may seemed to be a lot, but as the hash browns cook, they shrink down.)

*I have tried making my own fresh organic grated shredded potatoes to make the hash browns, but they do not crisp up like I enjoy.

      2.  In a bowl, scramble the two eggs.

     3.  Once hash browns are cooked to your liking - I like them to be somewhat crisp, then pour scrambled eggs over the hash browns.

      4.     Add cheddar cheese, or cheese of choice. The amount will, again, depend on your taste.

      5.     Add salt and pepper to taste.

      6.     Continue cooking on low heat and stir ingredients until cooked through. (I do not like “wet” scrambled eggs, so I cook them until they are “dry.”)

      7.     Serves 1.

(This is my basic recipe, which I like just the way it is, but you could add other items.)

Take a Look at Nature's Charm & Critters on Our Small Farm - July 8, 2017

First, I want to share pictures of my Ameraucana chicks who are a month younger than the Mystery chicks. The first chick is my favorite. I named her Miss Cricket after she made a cricket chirping sound in my ear one day while holding her. She now has the most and coolest feathery face than the other Ameraucana chicks.

Miss Cricket

Miss Cricket's feather face. Too cool!

Five of the Mystery chicks are below, but they are no longer a mystery. There are two New Hampsire Reds, one Columbian Wyandotte, one black star, one red star, and the two not shown are Pearl White Leghorns - which are too flightly to get out and try to photograph.

New Hampshire Red

New Hampsire Red

Columbian Wyandotte

Black Star and the smallest of the Mystery Chicks.

Red Star

 Now for some flowers in bloom.

All pictures are copyrighted © to 

Tracey R. Simmons, creator of Paws4Hearts Rescue, 2017.

Deaf Dog Hope in a Video

I have learned how to make videos using lots of pictures and how to upload it to YouTube. Now I have learned how to take a video, edit it, and enhance it, then upload it to YouTube. I have a video of Deaf Dog Hope - my sweet baby girl, entertaining herself in an empty kiddie pool. Click the link below. I hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqrCgoaG0VU&feature=youtu.be