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Author Topic: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?  (Read 59829 times)

Offline NigelP

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #380 on: January 31, 2023, 12:59:42 pm »
Another "toy" to play with today. Although this is far from new....it's a Polish Potato boiler ideal for cleaning queen excluders and removing the wax left behind in the frames used for heather honey.




Holds about 100 liters of water and boy does it clean up queen excluders and frames.
Below is before and after dipping half of a queen excluder, literally took seconds to melt the wax off. Managed to finish off cleaning all my heather frames, that was 30 supers in total and around 25 queen excluders...all before lunch!





Offline Lesgold

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #381 on: January 31, 2023, 03:49:37 pm »
Love your high tech gear Nigel. I use the same method. It really is quick to clean the excluders this way.

Online Ben Framed

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #382 on: January 31, 2023, 11:20:46 pm »
Nigel in my location propolis is produced in abundance.. I assume 'both' propolis and wax will come clean from the excluders by your method? If so can the two melted products be separated when recovered?  I am assuming propels will float? New ground for me concerning the questions.

Phillip
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14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline NigelP

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #383 on: February 01, 2023, 04:16:19 am »
Not sure ....but when it's all cooled down  the floating wax is very dark....possibly because it also contains propolis....but don't quote me on that.

Online BeeMaster2

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #384 on: February 01, 2023, 05:13:25 am »
Ben,
When you melt wax and propolis in water the wax is on top and then right below it is the propolis. If you remember from the old skep videos, the senior beekeeper would sit down with the blocks of wax and shave the dark layer of propolis from the bottom of the wax.
If you had enough of it to you might bee able to remelt it and spoon off the wax until you had only propolis.
One way to clean propolis is to melt it in alcohol.  Filter it with fine cloth and then dry it out, leaving behind only pure propolis. I have done this, it took a long time to dry out.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
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Offline Lesgold

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #385 on: February 01, 2023, 02:43:13 pm »
As Jim said, the propolis will settle to the bottom of the wax. When the excluder is hot, there may be some propolis that remains on some of the flat surfaces of the excluder. A quick scrape with a paint scraper or hive tool while everything is hot and the soft propolis falls off. The dirty wax that comes off the excluders is just mixed with other wax from from old frames etc and processed as normal. The propolis is easily removed at that stage.

Offline beesnweeds

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #386 on: February 04, 2023, 09:24:24 am »
Its -30F/-34C here (without wind-chill).  Ill skip doing anything in the bee yard today.
Everyone loves a worker.... until its laying.

Online Ben Framed

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #387 on: February 04, 2023, 10:25:55 am »
Man that cold!!! I don't blame you, I would not either!!  :wink:

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline paus

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #388 on: February 04, 2023, 10:54:29 am »
We have had almost a week of winter weather, and the bees also stayed home so I used a tractor front end fork to move a heavy double deep hive that was sitting on a  very rotten "treated " hive stand.. I moved them about 60 feet.  I have never done this as all the hives I ever moved went on a truck or trailer.  Just a tip for those that need to move a topbar hive, I have been successful by standing the TB on its end and then push it over, upside down, into a PU or trailer.  The temp is supposed to get to almost 60 degrees today so I plan on checking them out this PM.  Time to start putting out traps in NE Texas.

Offline paus

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #389 on: February 04, 2023, 07:06:10 pm »
24 hours later, the move was successful, they are working and no bees at the old location.

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #390 on: February 06, 2023, 08:11:16 am »
Bees were flying yesterday.  It was 54 F.
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Offline Bob Wilson

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #391 on: February 06, 2023, 09:09:12 am »
68 degrees and sunny today. First inspection of the year this afternoon.

Offline JurassicApiary

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #392 on: February 06, 2023, 12:54:05 pm »
Supposed to reach 78 here today.  :tongue:

Wishing you all (especially beesnweeds in frozen NY) warm weather and happy bees!

Matthew

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #393 on: February 06, 2023, 05:27:00 pm »
I started cleaning up the apiary today in preparation for the new season.  I removed some fallen branches and some thorny weeds that grow everywhere around here; I think they are really called greenbriar, but we call them Mick Jaggers.  :cheesy:  Our dogs also tend to use the apiary as their own personal restroom all winter, so there was that job to do.  :oops:  When I was up there, I noticed one of the hives had a ton of bees out front, and the entrance was very congested.  It's still too cold to inspect, but I'm worried about them thinking about swarming, so I slapped a box of drawn comb with a little honey and pollen on top of them, and tomorrow morning when it's still cold out, I'll open a few more holes on their mouse guard.  My bee suits are in the washer right now, since every year I seem to only get them washed just in time to get them dirty again.  :grin:  I also put my mason bee straws, which I had in the garage for safe-keeping over the winter, back outside in their can, and I helped my sister tattoo one of her goat kids.     
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline NigelP

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #394 on: February 09, 2023, 02:29:39 pm »
I think bees get bored during the winter and need to do something......
I checked a couple of hives where I'd added about a kg of fondant 7 days ago that they really didn't need (insurance as expensive queens).
All gobbled down.
So added more.

Offline G3farms

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #395 on: February 09, 2023, 08:55:20 pm »
big winds all day long, sooooo......you guessed it put outer covers back on a couple of hives.

I did do the third round of winter patties the other day and a chunk of pollen patty for all.
So far got 31 hives coming out of winter, fingers crossed to keep them all till blooms pop.

A pretty mild winter here so far, with the exception of about 3 or 4 days that never got above 20*F (no need for you northerners to laugh), was about 67*F today. I look for a bunch of swarms this spring followed by a bunch of cut outs LOL.
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #396 on: February 10, 2023, 05:03:32 pm »
Hi Folks,

South-east Massachusetts here.

Last Saturday, Feb 4, 2023: Low of -10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Today: 64 degrees Fahrenheit from 10 AM til about 3 PM.

Bees out, looking for something to do. Rolling and picking through my compost, paying close attention to the wood ashes and coffee grounds, harassing the birds at the feeder, and checking out whatever in the garage (door was open for me all day).

I pulled mouse guards and cleaned the BBs. I put some olde comb chunks with honey out to keep them occupied and away from the garage. They end up in the windows.

It has been overly warm here this winter, and forecast is pretty much the same.

OA vap later this month. Today could have been a good day though, but it was supposed to rain. I wasn't prepared.

Sal

Offline AustinB

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #397 on: February 14, 2023, 04:58:33 pm »
Just under 60 F here today. Just took a walk through the apiary and everyone is active, lots of pollen coming in.
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Online The15thMember

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #398 on: February 16, 2023, 05:18:57 pm »
67F today.  We went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park this morning for a walk in the woods and saw a river otter hunting and eating crayfish and mollusks in the river.  First time we've seen one in the Park.  When we got home I checked on the hives.  A few needed some insurance sugar and their moisture quilts changed, and I opened up the mouse guards a little bit on some of the hives that were looking congested at the entrance.  Only a week or two until first inspection, if the weather cooperates!   
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline Lesgold

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Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?
« Reply #399 on: February 16, 2023, 06:22:04 pm »
Gee Reagan, I would love to see some cooler temperatures. Should hit 90 today and about 100 tomorrow. Just finished inspections, alcohol washes and final extraction of honey at the home site. Only 6 more to do tomorrow and I?ll be finished for the season except for one more round of inspections. Bring on the cool weather.