Apiary Diary. February 2020

[Philbee 4,672]

2 minutes ago, Maggie James said:

Crikey Tommy - You will get us into trouble.  I think you mean muslin bag.  Muslin is a type of cotton material.

 

 

 

Kaihoka - In your situation I suggest you go to a supermarket, look in the dish cloth section.  There should be a type of cloth in a clear plastic bag that is made from mutton cloth.  Stick your wax cappings in this to make a bag that you can tie to a broom handle and drain over your bucket.

 

Or peg a double layer of mutton cloth to the rim of a plastic bucket and place the wax cappings on this.

 

 

My way is to drill about 20   10mm  holes in a miter 10 pail lid.

fill the pail with whatever and place on top of another 20L pail.

One pail sits very well in the open top of another.

I cover the 2 pails in one of those old mesh curtians 

in this warm weather its surprising how much honey will run out of the wax over time. 

[ChrisM 1,227]

2 hours ago, Philbee said:

My way is to drill about 20   10mm  holes in a miter 10 pail lid.

fill the pail with whatever and place on top of another 20L pail.

One pail sits very well in the open top of another.

I cover the 2 pails in one of those old mesh curtians 

in this warm weather its surprising how much honey will run out of the wax over time. 

and then once you are done with that you weigh it, and have the ideal precursor to make mead. After cleaning the wax in water, weigh the wax and you will know the difference was honey and according to the recipe might add more water or more honey to meet the recipe/ratio.

 

[yesbut 6,170]

Had another go at finding my black  Q.  Failed abysmally, got half a dozen brood frames in the freezer, the backyard is currently out of bounds and the petrol is coming out tonight. I agree that  black hybrids are not bees for hobbyists !

[Trevor Gillbanks 6,771]

54 minutes ago, yesbut said:

Had another go at finding my black  Q.  Failed abysmally, got half a dozen brood frames in the freezer, the backyard is currently out of bounds and the petrol is coming out tonight. I agree that  black hybrids are not bees for hobbyists !

 

Yes, I agree.  There is no reason to put up with a bunch of Grumpy Sheilas.

Petrol sounds a bit over the top.  But then it is effective.

[kaihoka 2,936]

in the past i have strained my cappings over two sieves and put in a top feeder for bees to clean up.

but i have also after i have taken off cappings then cut further into the frame and drained the wax honey mixture. so you end up removing quite a bit of wax.

i then put whats left of the frames into a box over a clean top feeder and drain some more out.

i was thinking this yr to just remove cappings and see how much drained from frames in a warm room . this way the frames would not be so damaged.

[yesbut 6,170]

24 minutes ago, kaihoka said:

i was thinking this yr to just remove cappings and see how much drained from frames in a warm room . this way the frames would not be so damaged.

Kanuka would not drain at all.

[Maggie James 836]

7 hours ago, yesbut said:

Had another go at finding my black  Q.  Failed abysmally, got half a dozen brood frames in the freezer, the backyard is currently out of bounds and the petrol is coming out tonight. I agree that  black hybrids are not bees for hobbyists !

Why do you have to use the petrol?  Do they have AFB.  If you have got six frames in the freezer, remove them after 24 hours stick them in a hive for the bees to clean them out.  

[Stoney 1,544]

22 minutes ago, Maggie James said:

Why do you have to use the petrol?  Do they have AFB.  If you have got six frames in the freezer, remove them after 24 hours stick them in a hive for the bees to clean them out.  

I think they actually have afb.... Absolutely Filthy Behaviour 

[yesbut 6,170]

21 minutes ago, Maggie James said:

Why do you have to use the petrol? 

Because I'm not looking for the Q anymore !!!  And yes, there are lots of frames being re-allocated. 

1 minute ago, Stoney said:

I think they actually have afb.... Absolutely Filthy Behaviour 

My wife had some friends for lunch. They had to park on the road and sneak up to the front door through the shrubbery to avoid the watchers.

[Maggie James 836]

7 minutes ago, yesbut said:

Because I'm not looking for the Q anymore !!!  And yes, there are lots of frames being re-allocated. 

My wife had some friends for lunch. They had to park on the road and sneak up to the front door through the shrubbery to avoid the watchers.

Sounds like the media are parked up outside

14 minutes ago, Stoney said:

I think they actually have afb.... Absolutely Filthy Behaviour 

A Fery strange Beehaviour indeed

24 minutes ago, Stoney said:

I think they actually have afb.... Absolutely Filthy Behaviour 

A Fery strange Beehaviour indeed

 

It might not be the media parked upside, maybe it's the AFB PMP plan about to make a new educational video

[jamesc 4,634]

22 hours ago, kaihoka said:

Are they line dancing boots ?

 

11 hours ago, Maggie James said:

Crikey Tommy - You will get us into trouble.  I think you mean muslin bag.  Muslin is a type of cotton material.

 

 

 

Kaihoka - In your situation I suggest you go to a supermarket, look in the dish cloth section.  There should be a type of cloth in a clear plastic bag that is made from mutton cloth.  Stick your wax cappings in this to make a bag that you can tie to a broom handle and drain over your bucket.

 

Or peg a double layer of mutton cloth to the rim of a plastic bucket and place the wax cappings on this.

 

 

 

22 hours ago, kaihoka said:

Are they line dancing boots ?

Nah.... these are the fancy ones for bootscootin in.

[Maggie James 836]

Those boots would look good with a mini skirt and low necked tight top

[frazzledfozzle 7,422]

Hahaha  

@yesbut Thankyou for putting a big smile on my face after another hot hard  day of harvesting honey !

who would have thought the worm would turn as hard and fast as it has .

Gone are the days of being happy at seeing stonkered honey boxes because you knew you could sell it to now holding our breath until all the test results comes in  

 

so I really enjoyed that post tonight  

[kaihoka 2,936]

@jamesc

Any chance of cheering up everybody even more with a short video of you and your better half line dancing .?

[yesbut 6,170]

It's a bloodthirsty world isn't it. My wife hosed the cat to rescue a quail. Cat drops quail and a weka rushes out of the undergrowth and drags the screaming quail away....

[frazzledfozzle 7,422]

1 minute ago, yesbut said:

It's a bloodthirsty world isn't it. My wife hosed the cat to rescue a quail. Cat drops quail and a weka rushes out of the undergrowth and drags the screaming quail away....

I hate wekas !

for years we never saw a weka, now we are over run.

they are vicious birds 

[jamesc 4,634]

22 minutes ago, Maggie James said:

Those boots would look good with a mini skirt and low necked tight top

Hmmmm ..... for a couple of boxes of Speights I could be tempted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who needs cheering up ?

 

The honey market is non existent.

The dirt is drier than a DDDG

The cattle market has collapsed

And the bank has been ringing all day asking if I have a plan for where to park the overdraft.

 

But as I sat in the late afternoon sun and watched the smile on the face of the next generation as he bounced around the hill in his air-conditioned tractor towing a set of discs .... the problems of the world faded away.

 

Living in the moment ..... and tomorrow is another day when it may rain, the Dew might yield .... or the bank might not ring.

But tonight ... all is good with the world . Right ?

[Stoney 1,544]

14 minutes ago, jamesc said:

Hmmmm ..... for a couple of boxes of Speights I could be tempted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll add another 2 boxes to the pot if you wear that set up while operating the hiab dropping off hungry bees to the coast.. 

Hmmm.. maybe there’s a movie script  in there somewhere.. 

[jamesc 4,634]

I see adventure brewing.

[Mummzie 703]

5 hours ago, kaihoka said:

was thinking this yr to just remove cappings and see how much drained from frames in a warm room . this way the frames would not be so damaged.

its worth a try if its a honey that will run. If you can angle the frame to aid the draining......Top Bar down also I think. You can get those big plastic bins with clip on lids from the Red shed. They fit most of a box of frames and keep it bee proof. If left in the sun they warm up well too.

Not worth it if its Kanuka. It wont move.

We harvested a box on Sunday and it spun out like a dream- unlike Thursdays battle with Jelly/

[Maggie James 836]

13 minutes ago, jamesc said:

I see adventure brewing.

I was thinking more Country Calendar 7 pm Sat or Sun.  Mind you if it's raining we prob won't see the fab clobber

Edited February 10 by Maggie James

[kaihoka 2,936]

I passed 5 trucks with hiabs on heading down the coast to collect their supers today .

I hope they have done well.

Their has been a fabulous manuka flowering and their hives are in amongst the stunted , nothing else will grow on this crap , pakahi .

I think the area they are in may be a bit sheltered from the wind.

[nikki watts 868]

We've been on a road trip harvesting and moving honey this week. Our teenagers really stepped up and pitched in,  pretty stoked with that.

We saw lots trucks bringing the liquid gold in. Good to see. Hopefully some good news this season. 

[kaihoka 2,936]

42 minutes ago, nikki watts said:

We've been on a road trip

Are there enough roads on the Barrier for a road trip .?

[Bighands 1,033]

7 hours ago, kaihoka said:

I passed 5 trucks with hiabs on heading down the coast to collect their supers today .

I hope they have done well.

Their has been a fabulous manuka flowering and their hives are in amongst the stunted , nothing else will grow on this crap , pakahi .

I think the area they are in may be a bit sheltered from the wind.

You are correct but with so many hives looking for the gold everyone will get a teaspoon and it will not be manuka as S.Rata flowered up high and as you know bees only go for manuka when nothing else available.