Beekeeping

[Mackka]

Les, once again you have made my morning. Just packed full of information and the photos really tell the story. When I looked at that first block I thought what could you do with that , nothing! Then the transformation begins and the end result is simply stunning.
You need to do a coffee table book for beginner apiarists.
Mackka :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :flowers:
PS
The flowers are for your bees :lol:

 

[Lesgold]

Thanks Mackka.

Its not hard to talk about things that you are passionate about. Its even better when people like yourself and other forum members show genuine interest. Will keep a few more updates coming when the weather improves. Its icy cold at the moment with a howling wind blowing.

Cheers

Les

 

[Tathradj]

Same down this way.
Bee's will not be very active today. :cloudy:

 

[Guest]

Lesgold, thanks for that info, very interesting & finished block of wax beautiful.

 

[Campfish4x4]

Thanks heaps for this thread its amazing and i aspire to have the life you have one day les hope this thread remains going thanks

 

[goody2shoes]

It's warm where I am, so feel the bee's will be out and about,

But where I live right on the beach, you don't see any bee's,

Don't Bee's like the beach.... I have plants that has flowers on them,

I get the pretty birds,

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

Thanks guys,

Ill keep the reports coming in if there is anything happening over the next couple of weeks. Goody, bees will come to any area that has a good food source. (If there are hives within a couple of kms). One of the reasons I started to keep a few hives was due mainly to the small number of bees Id see in my garden. At the time there were no feral or boxed hives anywhere near my place and I was concerned about the poor pollination of plants.

 

[Solid Luck]

Hi Folks,

The solid piece of wax popped out looking like this:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...2633_0a58efe9-4ed7-4c0d-a22a-06cadbd0b7d6.jpg
The underside of the block is covered in a layer of impurities which is then scraped off before the second melt.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...2785_3ecadb57-5e97-4394-905a-f23bdb48ff3c.jpg
The second melt is in an old, deep frypan. Again water is added.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...2833_36df0272-f9dd-41ae-827d-92738e3e2b63.jpg
The molten wax is then filtered through a Chux super wipe.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...2890_3ff7ddf1-1ce7-4fe3-932c-fdf8a719b6fa.jpg
And the final block:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...2924_934b0d34-490f-4278-ac86-41c5060b2690.jpg
A scrape of the bottom of the block to remove a few slight impurities and the job is done. If the wax was to be used for candles or wood finishes etc, it would be heated and filtered once more. Every 20 frames that are uncapped produce about 1kg of wax.

Cheers for now,

Les

Lovely post Les. Still..unless someone actually does it, it is hard to get an understanding of the process. It is long and tedious, but well worth it in the end.
I love burning my candles, maybe i'm just an old hippy but they do seem to cleanse the air out beautifully.

 

[MegsyB007]

Another great segment Les! You'd make a lot of candles out of that block!

 

[Lesgold]

Havent tried making candles or anything else with the wax at this point. Hoping the captain coach may get into this side of it. Hard Luck, it may be something that you could tell us about as I have no knowledge at all about this side of the hobbie. Using wax for lip balm, candles and food wraps is something that I would like to explore but havent at this stage. About 30kg of wax was used for foundation this year and the rest of last years surplus was sold to a beekeeping supplier.

 

[Lesgold]

Needed to check on two swarms that were boxed about 8 days ago. Many of the bees had left the hives the morning after they were caught and they both appeared queenless. Decided a few days ago to combine them and add another frame of bees (which had queen cells attached). This would allow the hive to develop with a new queen. Opened the hive at lunchtime to see what was happening.

Most of the frames were fully drawn with honey and pollen coming in. The frame that I added a few days ago had the queen cells torn down. This indicated that there was a good chance that Id missed spotting a queen on an earlier inspection. This is what was found on one of the frames:

Can you pick out the queen? She is larger bee with a longer abdomen. The hairy looking bee above her had just hatched and pulled itself out of the cell. Hopefully the queen will start laying in a few days time. She appears to be quite plump and in good condition. In the week leading up to swarming, the queen needs to shed a few kilos so that she can fly. After settling in a new hive, she can put some weight back on in readiness for a lifetime of egg laying.

Cheers

Les

 

[Mackka]

Fascinating Les. how do you capture a queen bee without hurting her?
Mackka

 

[goody2shoes]

Very carefully :lol:

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Mackka,

As goody2shoes said very carefully. Some people use a push in cage to isolate her. Others grab wings and if you can get her to walk onto the tip of your index finger, you can squeeze the ends of her legs between your finger and thumb. The last thing you want to do is to squash her in any way. A steady hand is a must. (Wish I had that). Dont like handling queens unless I have to. Its the sort of skill that youd become proficient at after squashing a few.....

 

[Tathradj]

Hope I am right. LOL
i have put a red dot on her. :Y:

 

[Tathradj]

One Pixel. O

 

[Lesgold]

Testing the old eyes Doug. How about this one:

 

[Solid Luck]

Yeah finding a queen for a novice like me is a hard task. I've only done it once in one hive and i was just about to give up When i spotted her out of sheer luck.
Once spotted you can really tell the difference. But looking for one bee amongst thousands is a hard task.

Edited to add extra info. I was so happy to find her I immediately chopped her in half and threw her back in the brood box. She was one nasty piece of nature. Raising angry bees.
Introduced a new queen and a week later when I checked she had not been killed off by the nasty pasties the previous one laid.

 

[Tathradj]

Even I can see the Red dot with me old glass's on Les. :gemstone: :gemstone:
By Gum you are in deep trouble now.
Stirring a bloke like this. layful:
I now gotta get me some Bee equipment now.
First purchase.
May I purchase 1 Kilo of your Bee's wax please.
I will need it to start.
Oh, Also, 1 x 250 Gram of pure Honey to remind me of what is going to come. O
THX Mate. :Y: :Y:

 

[Tathradj]

That is a bit too obvious.
Right on the end of the pointer.