The Ever-Changing Priority List

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It’s been a while since we posted. We have been very busy! We have learned over the years that there is always a priority list and that list is ever-changing. Usually during the winter months we focus on equipment maintenance, purchasing and assembling equipment for the year, and planning out what we want to focus on. This year will be a bit different than previous years. In addition to our regular activities, we have to work on repairs to buildings and cleaning up at multiple locations. I thought I would post an update on what we are focusing on now. All the pictures included in this post were taken on Saturday, January 9th.

Seasoning

We are still selling Kenny’s Original Seasoning. The 8 oz. container is $5. Most of our seasoning is sold through people that Kenny works with. I will keep containers in my van for any local friends that would like to buy some. I used to do this regularly, but we don’t get out and about as much. Please let me know if you would like some.

Bees

We currently have 3 hives. We took quite a hit on our hive count. This wasn’t from the hurricanes, but from an ant issue. Thank you to everyone that checks in with us often about honey. Hopefully, we will have more to offer this summer.

Chickens, Ducks, & Guineas

I feel like our chickens are a mess right now. Several of our coops were messed up in the hurricanes. Our biggest coop with our barnyard mix chickens flipped over in both hurricanes. Their fencing, gate, and netting were damaged. Even the wire on the front of the coop received damage and is missing in some places. A tree fell on our trampoline coop and caused some damage to support posts. Our smallest bantam coop was flipped. It took us a few days to find the temporary coop the guineas were in. It was across the yard under a lot of branches. One of our new coops lost its roof. All the coops are livable, but not 100% predator proof. The coops move up and down the priority list as other issues come up.

Land Clearing, Bush Hogging, & Dirt Work Equipment

This time of year is typically a good time to do maintenance on equipment. Of course someone will call for a job as soon as you have everything taken apart. Finding new issues, waiting on ordered parts, and having the time to work on the equipment can drag out any project. I’m glad Kenny knows what he is doing.

There is still a lot of work to do. Buildings need to be fixed. Trees and vines need to be dug up and replanted. As soon as the priority list dwindles down, other items work their way in. Progress is being made and we still love what we do!

National Wild Turkey Federation Field Day

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Kenny and I attended the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Field Day on Friday, June 1, 2018 in DeRidder.  The overall topic was “Methods and Benefits of Native Plant Establishment”.  The purpose was to educate landowners and professionals on the basics of native plant establishment.  Several agencies were represented including NWTF, Roundstone, Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries, NRCS, Forever Quails, Louisiana Beekeepers Association, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, & IFCO.

Some of the topics discussed were:

  • What are natives?
  • History and Production of Natives
  • Applications, Uses, and Benefits of Native Plants
  • Proper Site Prep & Planting
  • Equipment Overview
  • Site Conditions
  • Planting Demonstrations
  • Program Opportunities with NRCS & U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

We appreciated all the hard work that went into the field day.  Everything was very organized, the sign in process was quick and easy, we learned a lot of information from the speakers, and the BBQ lunch was delicious!

We learned a lot about native plants.  They have longer root systems than introduced plants.  The native grasses are more beneficial for quail because they grow in bunches with bare dirt in between.   They are slow growing and more drought tolerant (because of the root system).   They respond well to prescribed burning whereas introduced plants will die off.

Wild Life and Fisheries told us about a 3 day training program available at LSU that you can complete to be a certified prescribed burner.  They talked about the benefits of prescribed burning and the availability of 3 prescribed burn trailers in the state.  The trailers contain everything you need to have a prescribed burn.  You rent the trailer for $50 for the first day and $10 each additional day.  There is a trailer available at the Lake Charles office.

We were able to examine a grain drill and learned how to calibrate it.  We also discussed other planting and cultivating methods.  Seed bed preparation was stressed throughout the program.

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Today is our 1st Anniversary!

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I can’t believe it’s already been a year since we started our business!  Our goal at this point was to have 1 bee hive and a few chickens.  We now have 7 hives and 50+ birds with more hatching every day.  And we have our seasoning.  We are so excited to see what this next year holds.  Thank you to all our family and friends for your support!

BIG NEWS!

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We are very excited to announce that we have our first product ready to go!  We’ve been working on this product for a while and it’s been one of Kenny’s dreams for years.  Introducing….Kenny’s Original All Purpose Seasoning!  I know several of you have a homemade container of Kenny’s seasoning around.  This is the real deal.  It’s the same exact recipe.  For those of you who haven’t tried it, I know you will love it too.

We picked up our first order on Friday, March 16th.  We are selling the 8 oz containers for $5.00 each.  Our seasoning is a Certified Cajun product made in Louisiana that contains no MSG.  We were blessed to spend this weekend with several of our family members and we proudly shared our first product with them.  Our first official purchase was made by our Bearhead Creek family.  It was a perfect way to kick off this new adventure.

Please let us know if you are interested in buying some of our seasoning.  Unfortunately, we are not shipping the seasoning at this time.  We hope to have all those details worked out soon.  Thank you to everyone for being our taste testers over the years.  We appreciate all of you!

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We’re here!

 

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The kids were not very impressed with me asking them to take a picture out in the rain.  Even though I was the only one getting wet.

 

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His name is even on the box!

 

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Finally!

 

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A dream come true!

 

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Kenny’s Original All Purpose Seasoning

 

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Kenny giving his mom the first container.  And telling her she’s covering up the label.

 

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Kenny’s sister is next in line.

 

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Our Bearhead family made the first official purchase.

 

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Brandi’s mom and Carlene are ready to do a taste test.

 

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Brandi’s dad knows how to advertise.

Heinen Hive

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We removed a beautiful outdoor hive from the Heinen farm on Friday, September 29th.  Everything went smoothly (surprisingly) and we finished up in about an hour.  Our only worry was that some of the bees started moving into the tire as we were cutting out the comb.  We knew we would have a hard time getting them back out.  Luckily, Kenny was able to find the queen and we moved her into the box.  We left the box until after dark.  We went back and loaded the box and brought it home.  We released the queen on Sunday (10-1).  We didn’t stay in the hive too long, but everything looked good so far.

*I don’t have as many pictures as I usually do because I had to help attach the pieces of comb to the frames.

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Shreve Family Swarm Removal

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We did an interesting swarm removal for the Shreve family in Westlake on September 11, 2017.  The bees were in a difficult location.  They were in some vines on a fence.  We tried to cut out some of the vines, but we still couldn’t get to them.  The fence and the vines were sturdy so we couldn’t shake them into the box.  Kenny had to reach in and grab handfuls of them.  They moved around on us a couple of times.  At some point we managed to get the queen in the box and the other bees just marched right in after her.  It was a beautiful sight!  It was getting dark on us and we were afraid we wouldn’t get everyone.  We were very lucky.  We checked the hive yesterday and we were happy to see that they are doing very well.

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Our First Swarm Removal

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On Sunday, September 10th we attempted our first swarm removal.  It was definitely a learning experience!  The bees were located in a pine tree on our road in Fields, LA  (the REAL Bearhead Creek).  The owners of the property, Kristin and Demp Suchanek, gave us permission to remove the bees.  The first thing we learned was that it was a little too windy to try to move the bees.  We had to wait a while for the wind to die down before we finally got them.  The bees also swarmed on us twice.  Just when we thought we had them, they would fly out again.  We did finally get them and they are home with our other hives.   We have so many questions to discuss with our more knowledgeable and experienced beeks.  Our Bearhead bees act a little different than our other bees.  Hopefully this is not an indication of how Bearhead bees behave.  If so, we are going to be in trouble.

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Busy Bees

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We’ve been learning a lot during our Introduction to Beekeeping Class and apiary days.  Kenny and I have also been doing research so we can learn as much as we can about our bees.  Our interest has grown so much that we decided to purchase another hive and to bring them to our house.  We made the arrangements and picked up the hive around 8:00 PM on Tuesday, May 30th.

It was the first time we transported and unloaded bees on our own.  We were like first time parents coming home with a newborn.  Did we put them in the best location?  Did we put them facing the right direction?  Would they thrive like they were doing at their original location?  It was not only a financial investment, but an emotional one too.

I checked on them (from a distance) several times yesterday.  I could easily see them flying in and out of the hive.  There was a lot of movement and I was glad we made it through the first 24 hours.  Today was a little different.  I really couldn’t see much going on.  I told myself that it probably had to do with the weather.  I was hoping the rain was what was keeping them inside more than yesterday.

This evening we decided to take a closer look.  I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to see our girls working so hard.  There was a lot of movement in the hive.  A few of the girls were flying in and out.  And the ones flying in were full of pollen!  It was such a relief to see that they have started to explore and are doing exactly what they should be doing.  Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!

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