Recent Posts

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Follow the Bloom - 2024

« Last post by .30WCF on Today at 07:33:51 pm »

Blackberries are blooming pretty heavily here.


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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 07:20:18 pm »

I inspected 4 colonies today, two of which are very small and struggling.  The one is coming off a supersedure and was starving, so I gave them some honey frames and reduced them down to a single box.  The other is this swarm that didn't have a laying queen.  I didn't see any queen cells in there last inspection, but today I found 2 being torn down on the original donor frame, so maybe I just missed them before.  They still had some open brood so I decided to wait another week and see if they are just waiting for a queen to be mated.  My favorite queen Snow White got an additional box.  For some reason, the brood pattern in her bottom box wasn't very good, but in the second box it was stellar.  I did a sugar roll and their mite counts were low, so it's not that.  They were a little low on honey as well, so maybe that was the culprit.  I put two honey frames in their new box.  I also found eggs and very young larvae in the colony I split her from, so I named that new queen Cinderella.  Unlike everyone else, they have a full honey super.  This colony has always been better at foraging for whatever reason.         

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Follow the Bloom - 2024

« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 07:09:36 pm »

The black cherry is starting here, and I saw open tulip poplars in Cherokee earlier in the week, so ours should be close, if not also open.  My poplars are so large I need binoculars to see the flowers.    Hopefully we'll get some nectar coming in soon.  I had to give two of my small colonies some extra honey today.  Pollen is fine though, I took a pint out of my pollen trap after less than 24 hours!   

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EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS / Re: Today I Made

« Last post by BeeMaster2 on Today at 07:08:30 pm »

Thanks Les, I will be checking out Lightburn. Let me know about engraving the lids.
Jim Altmiller

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DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING / Re: Varroa in the subtropics

« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 07:04:37 pm »

Jim,
"holes" from the product?

Formic acid is highly corrosive, so it can eat holes through mesh.  You shouldn't set the bare pads on metal lids either. 

With  10 hives the cost start to add up...but cheaper then losing hives.

I don't treat every hive every year with FormicPro, only hives that are performing very poorly where varroa is concerned.  Hives with moderate infestations get OAV, because it's less hard on the bees and less hard on my wallet. 

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by FatherMichael on Today at 06:12:33 pm »

Drove through the yard to see how the two hives are doing and check on the swarm trap.  All's well.

Mesquite and American Basketflower in bloom.

We stopped to watch a tom Turkey court a hen.  He was puffed up with bright red wattle and tail all spread out.

A Blue Heron flew over.

Saw a deer earlier this week and a beautiful red fox.

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OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FORUM / Re: Gold prospecting using a metal detector

« Last post by Lesgold on Today at 05:28:17 pm »

I didn?t own a mobile phone until I retired. People at work used to give me a hard time about it and that was a bit like a red rag to a bull. I didn?t get one just to annoy them. I used to say that none of them were worth talking to anyway, so why purchase one.

The sad part about dropping the phone is that I had to go back and look for it. Thought it would be where we took off our waders and detecting gear so I picked up my detecting buddy and headed back to where the ute was parked. Joe got out of the car and saw it straight away. What a relief. It would have taken quite a bit of gold to cover the replacement cost. We decided while we were there to put in a few hours detecting. Joe found a beautiful nugget and between us we ended up with a dozen pieces and just over 3 grams for our effort. We decided that the phone should be dropped on a regular basis.

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EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS / Re: Today I Made

« Last post by Lesgold on Today at 04:16:29 pm »

Hi Jim,

I use Lightburn as it seemed to be the best one out there from what I read. If you want to design complex graphics, other software packages can be used and the drawings can then be imported for burning. I have never tried engraving onto a lid. I think a black metal lid could possibly be engraved. I might have a go later and post the results. Not sure if it would impact on the inner seal or make the lid prone to rusting. The idea is worth pursuing.

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DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING / Re: Varroa in the subtropics

« Last post by max2 on Today at 02:48:08 pm »

Max,
Bee careful with this product. It bought it in 2012. I did a test run with one of my empty hives. After just one day I had a big hole in the screen top board and the screen bottom board.

If this was 2012 that you had this experience, Jim, then that wasn't FormicPro, it was Mite Away Quicks Strips.  MAQS was the precursor to FormicPro and had a different formulation.  I used MAQS the last year it was available around here, before it was replaced by FormicPro, which I think happened in like 2020, and MAQS was much less nice of a product.  Also it now says on the FormicPro instructions not to use screened covers during a treatment, although screened bottom boards are fine as long as the entrance is fully open and the insert is in.  I have mostly screened bottom boards, and I've never had any trouble with it.   

How many hives do you have?

       
I have 10 hives.

Does the product come as a bulk pack ( looking for savings )

I think I have seen bulk purchasing available on their website or from big bee suppliers.  I don't know what the deal with shipping to Australia would be, but I'm sure you could find out.  The company that makes it is called NOD Apiary Products, here is their website.  https://nodglobal.com/

With  10 hives the cost start to add up...but cheaper then losing hives.
I'm already starting to get orders for Spring nuc's.
varroa has not arrived at my door as yet but I'm considering my next move during the "quiet time".
thanks

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DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING / Re: Varroa in the subtropics

« Last post by max2 on Today at 02:44:56 pm »

Max,
Bee careful with this product. It bought it in 2012. I did a test run with one of my empty hives. After just one day I had a big hole in the screen top board and the screen bottom board.
Also when I called to order this product, I asked how much the shipping cost was. The girl said that she didn?t know. At that time, it was $60 for the chemical and then I found out that they changed me $60 for shipping hazardous material.
If they tell you they don?t know, cancel the order.
Jim Altmiller

Jim,
"holes" from the product?