Bees

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bilgriss
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Re: Bees

Post by bilgriss »

A friend and I one time did a sparkling mead as you describe, but with natural carbonation. It's a really nice drink. I'm not a fan of most champagne-like-wines, but this is way better.
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Re: Bees

Post by The Baker »

Thanks, Shineon,

I'll try to remember to get a bottle of Krupnikas at Dan Murphy's (Australian liquor store) to see what it is like and will probably make some, sounds delicious.

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This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by LWTCS »

Indoor bee keeping
Screenshot_20200327-095406_Reddit.jpg
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Single Malt Yinzer
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by Single Malt Yinzer »

NOPE
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by LWTCS »

It's not? Why?
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Of course that's awesome. My kids would love it. They have all sorts of indoor hives. I just don't want to cut a hole in the hose, and it would be difficult I'n that small hive to get through the winters here.
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by NJen »

I saw on a youtube video not long ago a guy who had built a frame from 2x4 and plexiglass and put it in a side-to-side sliding window that was about a foot tall, sticking like a foot in from the window only 2 inches wide.Thought it was pretty neat. Not probably something I'd do with my own home, but I've maintained a single outdoor hive for about 2 years now; bees are one of the coolest animals I "own" Have recently been looking at building another hive
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Making a third this year by splitting my other 2.
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pope
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by pope »

I kept bees years ago and kind of miss it, but in my neighborhood houses are close and I don't want to unnerve neighbors. Pretty sure I was queenless at one point and the bees got pretty nasty for a couple weeks. BUT I have seen bees in learning hives before and they're pretty freakin' cool.

Shineon how are you splitting two into three without getting two queens in one? I don't know a ton about beekeeping so mostly just curious how you do it.
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Well, never done it, but here's my thought. Taking eggs and frames from both hives, with extra bees. Put all into 3rd hive, stuff entrance for 3 days. Let them raise their own new queen. Now I have 3 hives 3 queens.
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Single Malt Yinzer
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by Single Malt Yinzer »

No it's cool - just not for someone like me that will think that every itch is a bee ready to sting.
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Re: This is cool,,,as far as I know.

Post by LWTCS »

Dunno anything about bees, but have listened in on several conversations between bee keepers. Fascinating to listen to them talk about bee behavior.
The thing I found most fascinating was them talking about some hives have bees that take flight, then circle the hive before actually flying off. Other bees from different hives simply fly away. The keepers were hypothesizing why the difference.

Other thing was gauging the "mood" of the hive.

Would love for this thread to go down the rabbit hole of bee behavior banter.

Hope @goose eye chimes.
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Re: Bees

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

.

Here's one.

.
20200327_160744.jpg
20200327_160757.jpg
Different breeds have different approaches. These are my 2 hives today. The one on the left is doing something called bearding. There are 2 reasons for this. The first is that the hive is too hot. The bees hang outside becuase simply it's too hot inside the hive and they hang out on the porch. The second is becuase they are preparing to swarm (population is so great they prepare to split into 2 hives). I think they are just hot. Its 70 degrees here and I still have the winter wrap on them. The temp has been fluctuating here, but maybe this weekend I take them off. They are venting, so I think that is the cause. Venting is where they move air out, like an exhaust fan, in a line from bees inside right through the synchronized colony to the outside.

The other hive seems to be cooler, or not as bothered by the temp. Both colonies seem to be healthy, but here's kicker. One of these hives was way stronger than the other in the fall - the one in the right. But these breeds approach life with a different mindset. The Carnolians (on the right) build up huge numbers through the summer, then almost stop producing bees in the winter and play the numbers game to survive the winter (and thus conserve resources). The Italians (left), have an almost steady breed rate, even in the winter. They use more resources in winter, but at this point look to have really come out the gate swinging.

Im going to have to split soon or they will. :shifty:
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Re: Bees

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Hey ShineOn, how much honey do you get from the two hives?

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Re: Bees

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

One hive first year, 22 lbs... almost 2 gallons. The other one, the bow string one gave me nothing. They needed it all
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Re: Bees

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Added a third hive this year. Lost all my queens but a daughter of one that swarmed in the spring...3 times. That one queen produced queens and all the bees for the other 2.

Only 2 of the 3 hives are producing enough honey to take some off of, becuase one is really behind but recovering well. From those 2 hives I have so far gotten almost 70 pounds from the spring and summer harvest. Hopefully the fall crop will be bountiful as well.

Bees are amazing things. Below is a picture of spring honey, summer honey, and fall honey (last year). Keep in mind they come from the same hives, in the same location.
FB_IMG_1597280083836.jpg
Remarkable difference. Truely amazing. If I get a good fall crop, I'll be making mead for the first time. :thumbup:
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Re: Bees

Post by acfixer69 »

Happy to see you are progressing in the honey hive. Will be interesting when the mead and mash mate. Good to see you over coming all the problems with no regrets of starting the project. :thumbup: :clap:
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Re: Bees

Post by acfixer69 »

For got the pic looks like 3 month. 9 month, and over oaked. I know it's honey but look's that way.
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Re: Bees

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Photos of the 3 different honeys are amazing.....some of the nicest honey I ever ate was orange blossom honey.....it was clear / white like water ..but tasted like liquid Orange Blossom mixed with Honey.
Thinking seriously about buying a hive.
acfixer69 wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 6:22 pm For got the pic looks like 3 month. 9 month, and over oaked. I know it's honey but look's that way.
Nice analogy AC.....see exactly what you mean :thumbup:
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Re: Bees

Post by LWTCS »

I'm in Florida, so orange blossom is super common (though still spendy).

Melaleuca trees were imported in the early 1900s for all sorts of potential uses. Mostly to help dry up the Everglades there by also assisting in reducing the mosquito population. I think Henry Flagler was fairly instrumental in all of that.
Anyhow, 100 years later and the melaleuca finds itself on the Dade County pest list because the damn things are so invasive. Also gets a bad reputation from the folks with allergies. The blooms smell quite a bit. Reminds me of boiling potatoes. But I like potatoes so I never understood the fuss?

Thing is, they want to eradicate the tree now and I'm sad because the most amazing honey comes from those melaleuca blooms. I kid you not the honey smells like the deepest, richest, sweetest rum you've ever smelled.
Very expensive at this point too. But it's worth it if you love honey.

Anyway, the maleleuca tree is an Australian species so if you guys down under get a chance to track down any of the honey, definitely do so.
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Re: Bees

Post by seabass »

Looks like I'm not allowed to have hives within 25ft of property lines. That rules out all of the good spots I have. I guess I could ignore those rules... There are many spots that won't interfere with neighbors that are near property lines.
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Re: Bees

Post by Truckinbutch »

Preserving bees is preserving humanity . We need them much more than they need us .
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Re: Bees

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Well, starting to get the bees settled in for the winter. Have a warm front, so only put the entrance reducer and mouse guards in. Soon I'll put on the insulated top and hive wraps.

My fall crop was great. I pulled off 50lbs, and there is another 40lbs in the supers that I'll have to leave on becuase the little varmints ate alot of their lower reserves during the dearth. That puts my total year harvest at about 120 lbs. Equivalent of $600 bulk sale, or $1,000 retail. That is, of course if I was selling it. We supply friends with honey, and use it throughout the year with no hesitation. That also means I have plenty to start putting down mead :clap:.
20201011_164414.jpg
That is just the fall crop, about 4 gallons. The 2 big ones are gallon jars, and one of those and one quart will make an average sweet mead (15lbs).

I laid one down on Sunday, just honey, water, nutrients (ferm o), and yeast. I like to start simple when learning new things so that I have a base to work with. This one is destined to be put in a keg, carbonated, and put on draft :thumbup:. When it eventually moves out of the fermentation chamber and primary, I will lay another one exactly like it. I will age it in bulk on either some use oak sticks, or in a 4 time used barrel ( last was this years rum), and then bottled up still. This in the end will give me a comparison of oak vs non, carb vs non, and I can drink the draft while the other is aging in barrel and bottles. Then next summer I can try my different honeys, and mess around with fruits and cider.

I need a cellar.
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