Bee Class and Independent Projects Day 1

This morning we met with Jen to learn about bee diseases and then take a look into the health of the beehives here at Maggie's Farm.

Diseases of bees: (photos and details to come)

Inspecting the hives  (photos and details to come)

This afternoon we had our first "Independent Project" work time.  I went to Sentinel elm to set myself up in the orchard.  While I was waiting for the children to return from a walk to see the lambs and piglets at Maggie's, I watched Justin set up his forge.

Justin, forging ahead on his independent project

When the children returned, I took them up to the orchard to go over the basics of pruning.  They marked branches that fit  the D criteria (dead, diseased, damaged or disoriented) and then we went around pruning them.  They helped to remove suckers --roots shooting up new branches-- and then we collected the trimmings.  I returned to the orchard and continued to prune and clear around the trees.  The new trees should show up this week and we'll plant them with the next group.