And so it begins...

[addy1]

lol I have worked them without anything on, THEN we ended up with a queenless hive, unknown to us, we had just gotten back from florida and were checking on them. Luckily I had put my bee outfit on, ..........we were swarmed, they came out in droves, I looked down and had 10+ on each ankle trying to get to my skin, one did. And they chased us over 100 feet to the front door, and patrolled for a few days. I am on my 12th bee sting, a few my mistake a few not. Use some stuff called unkers makes the sting and swelling gone.

So now suit on anytime we open the hives, I do check the feeders without suiting up.

They love the slow flowing areas, like to land on the pea gravel and sip water. They are around 60 feet or so from the water sources.

 

[beerfish]

Just a quick update... I had a pallet of PA fieldstone delivered and got a decent amount of it around the pond. The aquaponics filter is hooked up and has a ton of rock in it. We picked up some plants to get it looking like a pond, and we picked up a couple of fish (shubunkin and comet) and tadpoles to slowly start introducing animal life. The waterfall is on my project list for this weekend and hopefully then I'll be able to finish the stone work and work on hiding the plumbing.

If we have any of the fieldstone left, I'm going to extend a section from the waterfall and turn it into a raised planter for shade perennials.

Anyway, here's a recent picture.

 

[Lisaebetten]

I'm going thru the most northern strech of PA while reading about your PA stone now. nice work on your pond!!!

 

[beerfish]

Lol, thanks! The stone really makes a big difference. I was going to use more of the stones I dug out of the ground and the owner of my pond store suggested getting the fieldstone. It was a little expensive, but I love the look, and the wife is happy with it as well. She was skeptical of the pond when I started it, but once she saw the stone around it, she fell in love with it. She's out there watching the fish with me now when I get home from work.

Once the pond is done, I'm planning to build a bench and end tables with logs as the legs. We're going to get a couple of tabletop tiki torches that match the ones in our yard for light and mosquito control... At that point, I may never come inside.

 

[Big Lou]

Looks really good!

 

[addy1]

Love the field stone, it stacks well and looks great. Good job!

 

[j.w]

Your pond is looking quite nice and love the stones

 

[beerfish]

I had a little time last night and got the waterfall plumbing in place and tested it with some lighting behind it. It looks great, but I need to secure the lining around it. I woke up this morning and there was a LOT of water out of the pond. I shut it off while I'm at work, refilled the pond and I'll work on it more over the weekend when I can be home to monitor any water loss. Lesson learned. Don't do any new plumbing without giving time to monitor it.

In any case, since the look of it won't change much, here's the waterfall and a bit more rock to cover up some of the plumbing.

 

[beerfish]

I still haven't finished everything, but I did get a nice shot of my water hyacinth and lily blooming.

 

[sissy]

It all takes time and you will never be finished because you always want to tweak it a little or a lot .I keep saying I am done by done means something else to ponders

 

[Lisaebetten]

your pond looks so nice. i like the lights.

 

[beerfish]

Thanks! The lights were a bit small for using underwater like I had planned, but I'm going to buy a nicer set next year that will go in the pond and have some cool features. These small ones will remain my waterfall accent lights.

 

[j.w]

You have blooms and they looks so pretty. Plants really add a lot to the ponding addiction. Actually when you create a pond you can end up w/lots of addictions..............frogs, fish, plants, rocks, and that urge to tweak everything a bit when you are sitting out there trying to relax and enjoy it all

 

[beerfish]

It's true. We actually bought a dozen tadpoles and put them in about a month ago. I've seen a few, and saw one frog jump off a lily pad as I approached, it was pretty awesome. I need to "finish" construction in the next few weeks so I can enjoy it before I have to shut it down for the winter.