This past Tuesday at the monthly meeting of the Somerset Beekeepers, we hosted Gary Fish from the Maine Board of Pesticide Control to talk with us about “Pesticides and Pollinators”. We are a small group, so I’m always grateful that any knowledgeable speaker should come to Skowhegan to share their knowledge with us, and I…
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1st beehive moved to the new farm-site!
It was a family affair yesterday morning as we moved the first of our hives to what will soon be the new home of the Runamuk farm. Currently we have a total of 6 hives. 4 reside at Medicine Hill, an organic farm in Starks–just 6 miles away, and 2 have been happily situated in…
Splits & nuc-making workshop at the Runamuk Apiary
I am excited to announce that Runamuk will be hosting it’s first-ever workshop! Sunday, May 19th 11am – 3pm Splits & Nuc-Making Workshop This Sunday I will be leading local beekeepers to the Runamuk apiary at Medicine Hill for a workshop on how to make splits and nucleus colonies (otherwise known as “Nucs”). My only…
Advertise with Runamuk and sponsor beginning farmers!
Runamuk invites local and green businesses to advertise with us on this blog-site. This site showcases Runamuk’s agricultural business with info about our farm, gardens, apiary, and beeswax products. But it also focuses on sustainable living, organic farming and gardening, pollinator and wildlife conservation, beekeeping, even homeschooling and the communities of central Maine. Therefore we…
Growin’ good!
These are the lettuces I planted a few weeks back. They’re looking really great. Here you can see the soaker hose I’d laid in this bed for the day, to give everything a good watering. And if you look closely, you can see the new lettuce sprouts I planted between these heads to ensure a…
Hardening seedlings in a mini hoop-house
After the devastation of last year’s seedling fiasco (read about that here), I was more than a little anxious about hardening off my seedlings this year. My mini hoop-houses (more about that here) have been working so well this spring that I decided to construct something similar to protect my tender tomato and pepper seedlings…
Sustainability through the family garden
I managed to set up 2 mini hoop-houses and planted a number of lettuce seedlings, yet April was a cold and windy start to the gardening season that left me longing for more. So far May has made up for it in spades! I’ve been out in the garden practically every day for the last…
Saving the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee
Bumblebees are the gentle giants of the pollinator world, so big and fuzzy and mellow that you just want to pick one up and give it a big hug! Like other pollinators, bumble bees are in trouble. According to recent surveys, populations of bumbles have sharply declined since 1997, and none are so rare as…
3 trees that offer early season food sources for Maine bees
The early spring season is a very difficult time for bees and beekeepers. When the temperatures start warming the bees begin increasing activity, rearing brood, and flying on warm sunny days. This is a tricky time for bees because there is not much available to feed the growing population. Many beekeepers feed sugar-syrup or candy,…