jamesc 4,924 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Ah .... brings back memories of the other year when DOC took us to court for having bees on their land ....I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at their total ignorance .... the thought of it still makes me as mad as a Rattlesnake .... that a Gvt office who are one of the largest landowners in the country could be so small minded, mean and petty in their dealings with us who pay their wages ..... Link to post Share on other sites
Maggie James 906 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, jamesc said: Ah .... brings back memories of the other year when DOC took us to court for having bees on their land ....I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at their total ignorance .... the thought of it still makes me as mad as a Rattlesnake .... that a Gvt office who are one of the largest landowners in the country could be so small minded, mean and petty in their dealings with us who pay their wages ..... Was there another beekeeper involved in this scenario? I am tired (blame it on queen cell production) and it's a c..p night on tv. We must be the only country in the world that one channel devotes it's whole night to Coro St. So, yes, certainly interested in some truthful light entertainment to be sighted from the couch! Link to post Share on other sites
Bighands 1,065 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 1st S, Rata has burst bud on Goat Hill, so may be an early year.I also see Kanuka flowering which seems early 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jamesc 4,924 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Where the heck is goat hill @Bighandsl .. Link to post Share on other sites
Bighands 1,065 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 57 minutes ago, jamesc said: Where the heck is goat hill @Bighandsl .. On the true right of the Otira river.The large hill opposite the pub over the river. Link to post Share on other sites
YTB8TA270 62 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 3 hours ago, Bighands said: 1st S, Rata has burst bud on Goat Hill, so may be an early year.I also see Kanuka flowering which seems early Sure is flowering here, lake Kaniere area. Very early. With the Kamahi in flower with the Rata and having been on Kamahi for a few weeks , will the bees, A. Remain on Kamahi B. Gather both or C. Switch to the Rata? First Kamahi goin to seed but most in flower now with some just started flowering. Very interesting. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jamesc 4,924 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Might be flowering , but my look see early in the week revealed that it has been too cold for the blossom to yield any quantity of honey .... Link to post Share on other sites
Stoney 1,584 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 3 hours ago, jamesc said: Might be flowering , but my look see early in the week revealed that it has been too cold for the blossom to yield any quantity of honey .... Well I suppose if it was easy .. everybody would be doing it .. Link to post Share on other sites
jamesc 4,924 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) If you google ‘how to make a million bucks’ there is a strategy sStep 1 Buy 1000 hives Step 2. Place them on manuka Step 3. Harvest $1000 of honey per hive. Step 4. Split yer hives and double your numbers, or walk away. Edited December 9, 2020 by jamesc 1 Link to post Share on other sites
kaihoka 2,976 Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 the buds opening on the rata has been delayed by the rain, just starting now . the coast has had a lot of sun lately so that may have made things flower early 1 Link to post Share on other sites
YTB8TA270 62 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 12 hours ago, jamesc said: Might be flowering , but my look see early in the week revealed that it has been too cold for the blossom to yield any quantity of honey .... Might be cold over your side of the hill but sure hasn't been cold here. Link to post Share on other sites
jamesc 4,924 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 31 minutes ago, YTB8TA270 said: Might be cold over your side of the hill but sure hasn't been cold here. I guess it depends on your scale of cold . Been 26c here today ..... honeys flowing .... coast seems to have been 10c behind us for a while .... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
YTB8TA270 62 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 1 hour ago, jamesc said: I guess it depends on your scale of cold . Been 26c here today ..... honeys flowing .... coast seems to have been 10c behind us for a while .... Weren't you complaing about snow and havin ta light the fire and feeding hives recently? 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post john berry 5,636 Posted December 10, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 10, 2020 In the last two weeks it's been- to dry - too wet- too windy- too humid- too cold- and too hot . Normally like most beekeepers I would be complaining about all the above but I just got back from five days hunting in the mountains with not a beehive in sight so I am a bit more mellow than usual. 7 Link to post Share on other sites
Bighands 1,065 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 25 minutes ago, john berry said: In the last two weeks it's been- to dry - too wet- too windy- too humid- too cold- and too hot . Normally like most beekeepers I would be complaining about all the above but I just got back from five days hunting in the mountains with not a beehive in sight so I am a bit more mellow than usual. DID you shoot anything? Link to post Share on other sites
Stoney 1,584 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 2 minutes ago, Bighands said: DID you shoot anything? Possibly hunting for Manuka sites.. wink wink 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Stoney 1,584 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 50 minutes ago, YTB8TA270 said: Weren't you complaing about snow and havin ta light the fire and feeding hives recently? Jimmys burnt that much fossil fuel driving back and forth to the bees he’s not too sure if he’s lookin at the sun setting in the west or rising in the east.. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
jamesc 4,924 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Stoney said: Jimmys burnt that much fossil fuel driving back and forth to the bees he’s not too sure if he’s lookin at the sun setting in the west or rising in the east.. True ..... the interesting thing at this time of year is that as six frames of brood hatch out overnight, all of a sudden you have another 10,000 hungry mouths looking for food. A couple of litres of syrup keeps them going for couple of days, so while one week maybe cold and wet and you're putting match sticks in yer eyelids to prop them open, it only takes a day of 26c to make the good stuff run, and hey presto , you can use the matches for lighting candles at the top end and fill the syrup tank with water ready for firefighting. Anyway, better slurp the coffee and crack the whip to get the wagons rolling ...... we picked up another pollination contract earlier in the week ..... that will cover Hummer repairs. Easy come, easy go. Edited December 10, 2020 by jamesc 2 Link to post Share on other sites
john berry 5,636 Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 17 hours ago, Bighands said: DID you shoot anything? Let's just say that my mates now call me miss Berry. Thousands of acres of manuka where we were, all still in tight bud. If I was offered sites for free up their I still wouldn't take them as its very high cold country, would be all helicopters and if it is like the rest of the Bay fairly low UMF plus that mountain manuka all flowers at the same time and generally only last two weeks and 14 days of that two weeks it normally either rains or blows. At least my mates got something so we won't go hungry. 1 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites
kaihoka 2,976 Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 10 hours ago, john berry said: Let's just say that my mates now call me miss Berry. Thousands of acres of manuka where we were, all still in tight bud. If I was offered sites for free up their I still wouldn't take them as its very high cold country, would be all helicopters and if it is like the rest of the Bay fairly low UMF plus that mountain manuka all flowers at the same time and generally only last two weeks and 14 days of that two weeks it normally either rains or blows. At least my mates got something so we won't go hungry. Is that north island high and cold . Link to post Share on other sites
john berry 5,636 Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Central North Island mountains aren't the Southern Alps but it can snow any day of the year up there. We had one quite hot day followed by a ripper frost the next morning. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
yesbut 6,233 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Central Nth Is can be as much a freezing miserable hole as anywhere else. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Trevor Gillbanks 6,847 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 3 hours ago, yesbut said: Central Nth Is can be as much a freezing miserable hole as anywhere else. Yes, I spent 15 years in Waiouru and we had snow for Christmas on several occasions. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
YTB8TA270 62 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 4 hours ago, yesbut said: Central Nth Is can be as much a freezing miserable hole as anywhere else. Yep. I spent 11yrs driving grader on desert rd. Think it was maybe 1990 that i spent Xmas day sitting in the Rangipo snow hut while road was shut. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
kaihoka 2,976 Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 There are now big ratas in full flower . Some I do not think will flower at all. The ones around my house and hives are all covered in buds about to open . The big factor now is the wind , yesterday there was none , most of these trees are very tall and exposed. The manuka is flowering exceptionaly well, the hills are white. My hives are weak and I think this yr they will be building up with the flow unfortunately . Link to post Share on other sites
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