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Author Topic: Just In from Missouri  (Read 1758 times)

Offline Tavery

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Just In from Missouri
« on: July 07, 2017, 12:15:35 pm »
7 years into this deal. hoping I have enough mistakes behind me now to begin consistently producing quality Honey for sale. Probably a slow learner.
We have 30 hives of our own and help with 30 others.
This year we are exploring the virtues of moving up in our honey processing from an old two hand crank to something powered (9 frame and up). scratching our head on an uncapping tank currently as well.

We are still having fun and finding new friends along the way. Happy harvest all!
Travis

Offline gww

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Re: Just In from Missouri
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2017, 02:30:02 pm »
Travis
You should put your location on your profile like I do so that when you are talking bees, people will know how to relate what you are saying to where they are.

I am only two years in and also probly a slow learner. 
Welcome
gww

Offline Tavery

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Re: Just In from Missouri
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2017, 05:09:10 pm »
Travis
You should put your location on your profile like I do so that when you are talking bees, people will know how to relate what you are saying to where they are.

I am only two years in and also probly a slow learner. 
Welcome
gww
Thanks gww great suggestion. i hurried trough the registration of course. It's been a good year for bees in north central Ozarks. we are borrowing a 12 frame powered extractor for tomorrow and we will see how badly we want to get away from the 2 frame hand crank. This stuff is Expensive!

Offline gww

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Re: Just In from Missouri
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2017, 05:43:55 pm »
Tavery
I made a home made four medium frame extractor.  I run all mediums.  I have a sewing machine motor on it.  This year was my very first year to extract.  I would proby have bought one of the cheep ebay motorized one or just crush and strain if I had not had all the parts to laying around being unused.  I think with the price of stuff you could not make one as cheep as you can buy one of the cheep chineese ones if you had to buy anything to make one.  You have quite a few more hives then me at 60 and might need a little more quality then a chineese made extractor.  I only started with three that over wintered.  So far I have only ended up with about 4 gal because of swarming.  I am foundationless and did blow out two combs while extracting but over all think it went pretty well.  Over all, I am pleased with the homemade extractor though I am thinking of adding wheels to it so it is easier to move.

I don't know if it has been a good year where I am or not cause I am too new.  It seems to me like there might still be a flow on where I am.  We just got a good rain the day before yesterday and the hives look active at the entrances.  I am sitting on eight now if they gain enough weight to winter on and I gave one massive swarm away from one of my hives.

I am still trying to figure out how to handle space and have the correct amount of stores where they need to be by october but yet pull what honey I can.  I am going to add two more mediums tommorrow to two young hives.  I wintered my hives last winter with two of the hives not having two full mediums each cause that is what they had built to.  I have a couple this year that will probly end up that way this year.

Do you think your flow is over untill sept?
Cheers
gww

Ps  I just saw a vidio that was posted on a differrent sight where a guy bought a cheep chineese stainless steel sink that was the perfect size for lang frames to rest on inside the sink and he was putting a colender type strainer at the drain hole and letting the honey drain into a 5 gal bucket.  He was going to cap over the sink and than hang the frames in the sink while the extractor was running.  I think this is the vidio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkCB46jjsBk
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 05:56:48 pm by gww »

Online BeeMaster2

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Re: Just In from Missouri
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2017, 08:57:42 pm »
That looks pretty good. I showed this to my wife. She likes the rectangular tubs we have.  She does all of the decapping so I guess I will not be getting one.
Jim
Travis,
I am amassed that you are running 30 hives and still using a 2 frame hand crank.
I recommend you use some of your honey money to get a 9/18 frame Mann Lake motorized extractor. It makes extracting so much easier and faster.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin