Recent Posts

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

« Last post by Lesgold on Today at 02:15:51 am »

Hi Jim,

I finally got around to using the laser on a gold lid. It was just an old rusty one that I found but as you can see, it has very little impact. It does engrave away the gold colouring but the contrast I?d poor. Black or dark coloured lids would be the obvious choice here.

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

« Last post by Lesgold on May 04, 2024, 09:07:57 pm »

Hi Bill,

I made a counter rotating stirrer with two paddles. One paddle lifts the honey and the other pushes the honey down. You can see that there are a few air bubbles on the honey at the moment but they will disappear next time it is stirred. I don?t have issues with foam so I can?t comment on that. Perhaps Nigel has some knowledge in this area. It does sound like you are getting a lot of air into the honey.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Of The Two Pollen Traps, Which Is Your Choice?

« Last post by Bill Murray on May 04, 2024, 08:43:05 pm »

Phil, update on the apimay pollen traps. Still happy with them but, I got tied up pouring candles this last week and left the traps active for 5 days. Oh the beetle larva. 3 Days MAX and in the freezer.

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

« Last post by Bill Murray on May 04, 2024, 08:22:16 pm »

Les I sold completely out of creamed honey in one day, I have to reconcile the books but I think approximately 26 lbs. It is always one of my best sellers, (when I have it). I want to start doing this more efficiently.

question 1 How do you deal with the foam when you use a power tool. Other than scraping.

Question 2 No matter how I packaged the top, when opened didnt look very good. I tried inverted but then the product was on the lid.

Ive been doing mine by hand , but it is very slow an not efficient, but looks good when done.

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

« Last post by Bill Murray on May 04, 2024, 08:08:29 pm »

So this isnt really bee yard, but we did an event this weekend and had 2 new items. Honey sticks and pre-purchased honey candies. They were both a hit. It thoroughly amazed me the draw. I actually started giving the candies out to all the kids passing by. That got the kids interested in the observation hive, then the parents, then they tasted the honey, purchase complete. I dont know just found the whole thing a little strange. Never noticed how many people just walk right by without ever looking. Food for thought.

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

« Last post by Lesgold on May 04, 2024, 07:56:44 pm »

Finally a bit of cooler weather. Daytime temps of about 19C down to about 10C overnight. Perfect for making a bit of creamed honey. The ideal temperature is around 14C so we are averaging close to that now. It means that I won?t have to refrigerate the honey for the crystals to form which is a bonus. I started with a bucket of honey that I put into my warming cabinet for 4 days. Any large crystals that were in the honey get dissolved. The bucket of warm honey is then strained and allowed to cool to about 22C before 10% seed honey is added and stirred. The photo shows the honey after 12 hours. It will now be stirred 2 or three times a day for the next three days before being put into jars and allowed to set. Many people like to use really light honeys but I?ve found that customers actually like a slightly darker creamed honey with a stronger flavour. I tend to do both styles as peoples preferences are different. It is now that I wish I had Nigel?s creamed honey machine as that would make an even better product with less manual work. It?s a good way to value add to honey as it always attracts a premium price. Return customers at the markets indicate that it is a popular product.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Catching

« Last post by FatherMichael on May 04, 2024, 03:28:10 pm »

Terri I?ll not try to encourage or discourage you. A few seasons back Father Michael was trying intently to catch a swarm and was very disappointed that his own hive swarmed and went another direction. Father Michale, is my memory correct?

I agree with >almost every thing .Beesnweeds post.< His advise is well worth listening too. Even still I think you have a chance! Keep us updated, and thanks for sharing your experiences!

Phillip

Yes, I had several bait hives out but two swarms turned them down.

I caught the third swarm in a pillow case because they landed on a low branch of my neighbor's Redbud tree.

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BOOKS and AUDIOBOOKS / Tripped

« Last post by Kathyp on May 04, 2024, 02:57:06 pm »

https://www.amazon.com/Tripped-Nazi-Germany-Dawn-Psychedelic/dp/0358646502

Currently reading this book.  Some good history about all kinds of stuff involved in the development and use/misuse of LSD here and elsewhere.

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

« Last post by BeeMaster2 on May 04, 2024, 01:19:10 pm »

Here is a picture of two Tupelo/Black Gum trees in full bloom. You can?t see any flowers because they are tiny and all green. From where I took this picture I can still clearly hear the buzz of the bees. It is probably close to 90 feet and if I had better hearing I could probably go out a lot farther.
Jim Altmiller

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HUMOR IS A FUNNY THING / Re: I viewed a meme

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 04, 2024, 12:34:46 pm »

Well, we have seen what kfc does to the brain and so know ice cream must be an improvement.

I know, Trump even eats his KFC with a fork and not his fingers! Can you believe that??? He is one weird guy.