The bee keeper diaries

[Iowanian]

It's a great time to buy stock in eppy pens.

This thread is a repository for bee keepers or those interested.

A couple of years ago, a couple of friends an my brother started puttering with honey bees. I didn't buy off because, well, I've never been a big fan of bees or getting stung by them. Last summer I tagged along a couple of times to check their hives and to remove honey bees from a house, public building and an old garage.

I realized at the end of the summer when I was helping them process some, that it's actually pretty interesting, and fits into my expanding "grow my own" logic. I'm not full blown hippy but I see a lot of logic in the self sustaining food thing and I'm doing some of that too.

That said, this thread is about bees, honey bees, bee keeping and bee fighting war stories.

I'm taking the leap and plan to get 2-3 hives this spring and maybe build some bee swarm traps to make it cheaper or to make a few bucks.

Join me and I'll share the real life lessons of an ameture bee keeper. I'm sure I'm going to learn some things the hard way.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Honey snack

I've been taking spoons of honey for allergy reasons and I think it's helping.

I've also started watching what I eat and I've figured out a new breakfast snack I like. Toast with peanut butter and a drizzle of honey on it. Honey goes great with peanut butter.

I'm trying to cut way back on soda. A glass of crushed ice with a good drizzle of honey and filled with water is making it easier to drink more water....and the ice with a little honey is a satisfying snack.

I'm working with a local ice cream shop...exploring using honey for their ice cream sweetener instead of sugar and maybe honey lemonade.

Peanut butter and honey is where it’s at man.

What are you allergic to?

[Iowanian]

I've never been tested for allergies, but rag weed has been high lately, so I assume that and I assume I have some tree pollen issues that come up earlier in the spring.




Grove, I'm assuming for the newspaper method, I simply pull the top from the main hive, put a layer of newspaper over it, and place the donor hive on top of it and cover it? They have to chew through to get out and by that time the bees are used to each others' smell enough they won't murder each other? The other idea I've seen is to spray both with sugar water and them dump them together? I know I can still buy a queen, but I"m concerned there isn't enough time left for this hive to build up enough to survive by the time the flow stops.

The only item I'm pondering is they hives are about 20' apart right now. If I did the newsprint/hive blend do you think the time it takes them to chew through and assimilate they would re-orient to the new hive?

Also, I'm going to try to process comb honey this weekend and will take some pics of that to share.

[Iowanian]

The deed is done and went pretty smooth.

I decided to use groves advice and merged the bees I collected the other day with the last swarm I had captured to bolster that hive. Used the newsprint method.

While I was working the bees, farmer came by mowing hay 10 yards from the hive I was in...I was curious how they would react but bees barely took notice of the racket.

Took a little while to process comb because I was trying to be careful and figure out the best way. Went good and I've got 25 boxes of comb honey to sell with about that many more frames in hives left.

....roll that beautiful bee footage. Now we find out if all the people asking for comb honey put their money where their mouth wants to be.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I've never been tested for allergies, but rag weed has been high lately, so I assume that and I assume I have some tree pollen issues that come up earlier in the spring.




Grove, I'm assuming for the newspaper method, I simply pull the top from the main hive, put a layer of newspaper over it, and place the donor hive on top of it and cover it? They have to chew through to get out and by that time the bees are used to each others' smell enough they won't murder each other? The other idea I've seen is to spray both with sugar water and them dump them together? I know I can still buy a queen, but I"m concerned there isn't enough time left for this hive to build up enough to survive by the time the flow stops.

The only item I'm pondering is they hives are about 20' apart right now. If I did the newsprint/hive blend do you think the time it takes them to chew through and assimilate they would re-orient to the new hive?

Also, I'm going to try to process comb honey this weekend and will take some pics of that to share.

Allergies are a bitch.

I took immunization shots for 7 years and they didn't help a lot. Pigweed/Palmer/Waterhemp is the butt****ing devil. It winds me up like a clock.

Corn pollen to a lesser extent but there is so much of that shit that it's pretty much a shit day if I have to walk pollinating corn.

[Groves]

Looking good on that comb honey! Charge accordingly!


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[Iowanian]

I had intended to pull honey supers and process today but family obligations prevented that. This week or next Saturday will tell the tale.

Different story today.
I decided to mow before the Chiefs game. I was mowing around a little used kids sand pile. As I turned the mower I felt some burn on my belly and head. It f ing happened again. 150 yards from my bee hives, I bumped a railroad tie full of bumble bees. I smacked a couple off of me but ended up ejecting from the mower. I was half way across the yard karate fighting the team of bumble bees that would not kicking my ass. That's when the wife and a kid come out onto the deck laughing at me before realizing what was happening.

They were in my hair hammering my scalp. They were on my shirt putting pin holes in my belly.....and the sonnabitch that stung me up inside my left ear hole. I hate that bastard. They basically stung me until I slapped them to the ground with my hands. I've got at least 10-15 lumps on my scalp, a few on my belly and one in my damn ear hole. The ear I see still a terrible place to get stung.

In a fit of rage I put on my bee suit, a can of hornet spray, grabbed a torch and a can of gas. I sprayed them out of the air, I tossed a burning rag near the area they were coming,out of the ground and then tossed a few cups of gas on them. I split the tie apart saw the nest, raked out the eggs and dumped more gas on it.

What are the odds of getting my ass kicked two years in a row by hives of asshole bees ing own yard......I do t care if they are pollinators. Bumble bees can all go to hell.

[Iowanian]

The tale of the tape 2019


I pulled honey supers and processed this weekend. For those keeping track, 4 stings. One got down my boot, one on the wrist and one on each cheek.

I always have higher expectations going in. This year I ended up with 8 boxes of frames ready to process and 4 that weren't ready so I removed those and let the bees rob them back out.

I ended up with a little over 200lbs of honey and about 50 pieces of comb honey to sell.
I am trying some different sizes and styles of bottles this year. Some 2oz for purses or kids or sporting event pick me ups, and some fancy murth jars with comb to upsell to soccer moms.

I did find some mites in a couple of drone larvae I inspected and I put treatment strips in yesterday.

We bottled about half of it yesterday and I've got the comb in the freezer for another day and am ready to sell and make a little cash for the summers work. I'm going into fall with healthy hives that I hope make it through the winter. I've targeted 2-3 as ones I want to split in the spring.

[Groves]

Those Muth jars are the only ones I use. Gorgeous.


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[Buehler445]

Nice work boys.

[Groves]

Began harvesting on both my hives. On one I used a bee escape to clear bees. On the other there were so few bees in the box that we just took it.

We crush and strain instead of extract. I’ll start that the next few days.




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[KS Smitty]

Groves, are you concerned at the lack of bees on the one hive? Also what's a bee escape? It looks like there's a lot of honey there.

[Groves]

Originally Posted by KS Smitty

Groves, are you concerned at the lack of bees on the one hive? Also what's a bee escape? It looks like there's a lot of honey there.

Not concerned at all. The vast majority of the bees are lower in the hive.

A bee escape is essentially a “one way” door for bees. I used an 8-way, but there are many other styles. It’s one method of emptying a box of its bees so that you can return them to the main part of the hive with little fanfare.

I reckon there’s 30lbs per box. Our hives are smaller than typical langstroth hives.



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[Iowanian]

It's interesting to see the difference in the type of hives you run, the comb..

I d be I tersted to see some pics of your crushing and bottling process.


This week I was talking with a news reporter who inquired about doing a story on hobby bee keeping and would like to follow me around a little next year.

[Groves]

https://www.facebook.com/grovesthegr...1008632410129/

If you’re wanting to see that process, here is a harvest from last year.


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[Groves]

Here’s what a 40-45lb tub of honeycomb looks like before it’s crushed and strained.


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