photograph by Winky Lewis text by Sharon Kitchens Dear readers, I have fun news regarding the chickens. Almost all 11 girls are laying big brown eggs. The local market, who is giving me vegetable scraps for them, offered to sell some. Cool! They asked me to slap a label on them, so that meant coming […]

photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens My wonderful bee mentor Deborah, without whom I’d be lost as a new beekeeper, invited one of Maine’s own “Swarm Team” Keith Kettelhut over for the last inspection before tucking the hives in for winter. I’ll have him back in the spring** for another inspection when Deborah and I […]

photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens The eggs have arrived!  After 21 plus weeks just as I was beginning to wonder would these ladies actually lay eggs, they did – well some of them anyway. I actually saw one of the Australorps lay an egg this morning! Plunk and it was there…and in the nesting box not the […]

photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens Here’s what my bee mentor Deborah and I found this time… Queen cups found at the bottom of one frame Festooning (bees hanging onto each other in chains is called) Drone brood. Drones are male honey bees, they are larger than worker bees (so much so they can be mistaken […]

photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens The girls are seventeen give or take a day or two.  Here are a few pics from the past week… Field Trip! I open up the door to the run and every time four (Dorothy Parker, Isak Dinesen and two others – not sure which ones but Buff Orpingtons) […]

photograph by Sharon Kitchens Editor’s note: Sharon is documenting her entire Birds & Bees experience on her blog Delicious Musings and The Maine is pleased to repost some of her adventures and mis-adventures in raising chickens and keeping bees for the first time. See more photos from the twelfth and thirteenth weeks here and here.

photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens I decided to keep chickens, because (a) I want the fresh eggs (great nutrition) and (b) they were a much simpler alternative to larger livestock i.e. pigs. The fact that my new (old) farmhouse came with a chicken coop just made the decision that much more obvious. Hey, you […]

photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens This past Saturday I ventured on a mini road trip to pick up my beekeeping equipment and supplies from Bee Pride in Lebanon, ME.  Owners Peggy and Brian have been incredibly helpful and calming during my intro to beekeeping, explaining what I need (what I don’t), which hat and veil […]