This is a fun/interesting thread! Keep em' coming and pics please.:biggrin:
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beekeeping - cover me, i'm going in...
- Thread starter queenlives
- Start date
Lesbian bees! :biggrin:
That's gotta bee some good honey! :wink::biggrin:
i've put a write up and pics of the process over at http://twobigcats.blogspot.com/2009/02/harvesting-honey-our-first-year.html
hal
for anybody keeping score, late summer '09 harvest report:
hive #1 (Freddie, as in, Freddie Mercury) has produced ~5 1/2 - 6 gallons of honey so far this summer. this past weekend i harvested, strained and jarred ~4 gallons (honey is sold by the pound, so ~52lbs of honey just-harvested). i processed that honey using only a single-step filtering process so there remains some pollen and wax bits in the stuff; the earlier harvest from the same hive was filtered 2x, the 2nd time through a fine straining cloth, and is very much in color / texture as you'd buy in most stores. there remains a "medium" super yet to be harvested and i'm thinking that will yield ~1-1 1/2 gals.
hive #2 (Ray, as in, Ray Davies of The Kinks) has had a challenging year but appears able to survived the winter on the stores the colony has brought in; i do not expect to harvest any honey from Ray unless the colony swarms during the winter. should that happen, i'll remove the frames, freezing the brood frames (to later thaw and use to attract roving swarms of bees - free worker bees!) and harvesting the honey.
hive #3 (Fuzzy, named after the beek who gave me the swarm) is a very, very active two-super hive. the queen is such a laying machine that i'm not sure the nectar / pollen the colony has brought in will carry them through the winter - something of a darwin situation, no doubt. unless there's a large honey flow in the next couple of weeks, i'll feed this colony sugar water if / when they run out of their own honey.
very interesting - and suh-weet! - hobby with unique twists / turns to solve during / after each week's hive inspection.
hive #1 (Freddie, as in, Freddie Mercury) has produced ~5 1/2 - 6 gallons of honey so far this summer. this past weekend i harvested, strained and jarred ~4 gallons (honey is sold by the pound, so ~52lbs of honey just-harvested). i processed that honey using only a single-step filtering process so there remains some pollen and wax bits in the stuff; the earlier harvest from the same hive was filtered 2x, the 2nd time through a fine straining cloth, and is very much in color / texture as you'd buy in most stores. there remains a "medium" super yet to be harvested and i'm thinking that will yield ~1-1 1/2 gals.
hive #2 (Ray, as in, Ray Davies of The Kinks) has had a challenging year but appears able to survived the winter on the stores the colony has brought in; i do not expect to harvest any honey from Ray unless the colony swarms during the winter. should that happen, i'll remove the frames, freezing the brood frames (to later thaw and use to attract roving swarms of bees - free worker bees!) and harvesting the honey.
hive #3 (Fuzzy, named after the beek who gave me the swarm) is a very, very active two-super hive. the queen is such a laying machine that i'm not sure the nectar / pollen the colony has brought in will carry them through the winter - something of a darwin situation, no doubt. unless there's a large honey flow in the next couple of weeks, i'll feed this colony sugar water if / when they run out of their own honey.
very interesting - and suh-weet! - hobby with unique twists / turns to solve during / after each week's hive inspection.
sounds awesome! forwarding to my brother who is not yet producing honey. let me know when you have some to spare
.:wink:
if your phone's not ringing, that's me callinglet me know when you have some to spare
pm sent.
So what's the latest buzz with the bees?
they're doing well and going in to the final honey-flow of the season... they'll begin throwing out the drones soon and it'll be "all girls, all the time" until february ish.So what's the latest buzz with the bees?
this latest harvest of honey is unbelievable... thick, amber-colored and i left in a bit of pollen for extra flavor and - some would say - extra allergy-fighting properties. (not sure i buy in to the whole argument, but my allergies have all but disappeared this year.)
one more super of light-honey to harvest and we'll all move in to winter mode.
i suppose it could be worse, eh?Hal= Christopher Robin
oh, and, i forgot to mention in any of my earlier posts that in addition to honey, i've also harvested ~1 lb of beeswax - great stuff to have around the house and especially good for our first batch of twobigcats lipschitz lip balm that we'll make next month.
doug was laughing at me (certainly not with me!) when we last had lunch w/ken, saying that with all the talk of harvesting fruit / jam / jelly / honey-making it sounded as though my life was a bit of hee-haw... after years of being in high tech, i'm ok w/that
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- Joined
- 16 April 2007
- Messages
- 1,779
Perhaps you might find this interesting:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Beehouse-15-x17...ages?hash=item518c932df0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
:smile:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Beehouse-15-x17...ages?hash=item518c932df0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
:smile:
interesting? heck, that's me on the right! :biggrin:
me experience so far is that beeks are an interesting lot, so i'm not surprised to see something like this. over @ beemaster.com you can see many variations on hives / materials used.
thx for the link.
hal
- Joined
- 16 April 2007
- Messages
- 1,779
I'll have a look at that. I've been following the bee threads silently, interested because my dad used to keep them 30 years ago. I still miss the smell of honeycomb, and biting into a section of wax where the cells are full.:tongue:
i LOVE running a finger through a comb of honey... lots of sweet texture there. and funny how things from our earlier years sometimes return to us as adults.
our friends who have joined us for the harvest have talked about how wonderful the house smells with the scent of fresh honey in the air. the smell gets stronger when i rinse, then heat the harvested comb in water to skim beeswax to make things we'll use.
yep, beemaster.com is the place - good luck w/that journey.
hal
I've been reading and enjoying your beekeeping and honeymaking journey. Are you planning on selling any? I'd love to buy a samll jar of 6oz or so.
i'm glad you're enjoying it... it's been quite an adventure so far
i don't have plans to sell it because i hate to take the "hobby" aspect out of it. if you'll pm me your contact info, i'm glad to mail some your way.
hal
i'm glad you're enjoying it... it's been quite an adventure so far
hal
Just watched 'The Last Beekeeper' tonight on Planet Green. Have you seen it? Interesting program. Since you're a west coaster, you can probably still catch it.
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Here's a tip: don't watch "The Secret Life Of Bees" thinking you'll learn a damn thing about the hobby, or anything else for that matter.
true story.
NOVA has a dvd out called Tales from the Hive that was great... even Josh's puppy enjoyed it! (josh, the new dvd arrived as promised, thx!)
for those inclined, here's a link to the nova site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees
Here is a vid and a few pics I snapped during an inspection a couple weekends ago:
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This whole thread gives me the willies.
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