Urban Garden
Project
Living Studies
Much of our “culture of rest” centers around the study of the Father and His love, connection, and protection for us, as well as our divine responsibility to oversee the things of His Creation with the same Spirit of Love, in connection and protection. The study of nature and its relationship to the Father involves wonder and excitement as we immerse ourselves in the majesty of His handiwork; while we ponder how we fit in to His great plan and larger picture. By taking notice of the seemingly insignificant things in our surroundings and asking the simple question: What does it remind me of? — we never fail to conclude our journeys of discovery standing surprised and amazed, with a million and one questions to research, grand ideas to dive into, important projects to plan. No matter our age—young and old—we love beekeeping; bird watching; playing the role of tropical fish aquarists; planting, growing and cultivating the vegetables and herbs in the greenhouse; tending the flowers; nature drawing, and so much more. In our humble opinion, children and youth of all ages should be continually saturated with encounters of flowers and plants, animals and insects, and as much of God’s wonderful creation as possible. As part of the Charlotte Mason Community Cooperative, all of our Living Studies are performed outside of school hours, Friday through Sunday, in community with one another.
Books Recommended
Honey Bees
The Warré Beehives for natural beekeeping have arrived!
THE BENEFITS OF WARRE BEEKEEPING:
Offering a natural open architecture for bees to build their hive from the top down (top bar construction), according to their inherent wax-building tendencies.
Providing smaller boxes to simulate a more natural setting such as a hollowed tree without frame construction so bees can build out the wax comb the way they want to instead of being forced to build upon plastic template construction frames, as seen in some Langstroth hives.
Making it easier for the bees to stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter due to comb construction, top housing, and thick cedar wood.
Lessening hive opening checks that stress bees out and disrupt interior atmosphere. Bees keep the hive at specific temperature and humidity levels and communicate with one another through certain pheromones which are disrupted by the opening of the hive on a regular basis, making them prone to illness and disease.
Allowing the bees to rebuild new wax combs after every honey harvest helps bees stay healthier, as they are not at risk of being exposed to environmental pollutants that may become embedded in their wax over extended periods of time. In this frequent harvesting process, we are also cultivating whole combs of fresh beeswax for natural candle making!
Studying the bees through glass observation windows placed on the walls of each hive box help us to safely see bee populations, honey stores, and health status without disrupting the hive, which makes for happier bees! Here we are learning close-observation skills by paying attention to their natural habits from the outside versus digging around on the inside when they are in a state of stress and heightened-awareness trying to protect their queen.
Our traditional cedar Warre hive came from Buzzing Rooster. Hive window slidebox photos courtesy of Rebel Beehives Canada, a Warre Hive Maker.
