Beekeeping

[MegsyB007]

Thank you! I knew they fanned the hive, but I thought it was to keep it temperature controlled for the larvae, I didn't know it was to ripen the honey.
How clever are they to know how to do this?! They're amazing!

Can you 'finish off' the unripened honey to ripen it before it ferments? And I don't mean to eat it quickly!

 

[Lesgold]

Not that keen Megsy. I suppose it could be done. You are also correct about the bees moving air around to control temperature. They are active little critters. Theres always a lot going on in a bee colony. The iron bark (which is where the nectar is coming from at the moment) produces a light coloured, thin honey. It is very sweet and quite yummy. Took that comb from the lid and mashed it with a potato masher.

Strained it through a sieve.

And bottled it ready to eat on tomorrows breakfast.

Just over two of those containers from what you saw in the photo.

Cheers

Les

 

[goody2shoes]

That's so cool,

Goody

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks,

Bottled a bit of cut comb and honey last night. Kept aside a new frame of honey that was drawn, filled and capped quickly.

As you can see, the wax is nice and white. The first job was to remove the stainless steel wires that hold the foundation in place. The wire is cut at each end and then connected to a battery charger for a couple of seconds which heats it enough to release it from the surrounding wax.

The wire is then quickly pulled out of the foundation. A sharp knife is then utilised to cut the comb out of the frame and into pieces that will just fit into the jar. Honey is added and the jar is capped and labelled. Its a bit of a time consuming job and is quite destructive as far as a frame is concerned but the end result is worth it.

Anyone for a bit of comb honey and blue vein cheese on a cracker biscuit? Followed by a glass or three of..........

Cheers for now

Les

 

[Solid Luck]

Lovely colour there Les. And yes, they do seem to go nuts making as much honey as possible. Filling up every nook and cranny. This year was the only year I did not see it.
Have had it over the seasons though.

Bit messy to clean up though.

 

[Lesgold]

Wow that honey has a rich colour. It is so variable in what we can get from the bees. Its a bit like red wine really. Every batch has its own unique characteristics. Walk into a supermarket and you buy the same bland, consistent flavoured sweet stuff. Thats what makes every haul that we get so special. Flavours reflect what is happening in the bush at that particular point in time in our own small part of the world.

 

[MegsyB007]

We can see the very different colours of the honey that comes from the different flowers available - but how or why does that make it different thicknesses, Les?

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Megsy,

You saw the light colour of the honey that I took from the hive lid. When ripened properly it will be darker than that. (A bit like reducing a sauce on the stove. As the moisture is boiled off it thickens and darkens in colour) I think that youve seen pics of Hard Lucks amazing honey. Its totally different in colour and density to anything that my bees produce. Dont know why some honeys are thicker than others. There may be some beekeepers who can explain the chemistry of it. Have read that the Manuka honey from NZ is so thick that they used to have trouble spinning it out without damaging the comb. Looks like the natural comb in the raw honey is a popular item. 80% of it has sold in a day and a half. If only the rain would stop. Need to get back to robbing the bees and then find time to swing a detector before Xmas.

Cheers

Les

 

[Tathradj]

Soon fix that Les,
Give me a ring tomorrow evening on the land line
after we suss out the weather patterns.
Mate is very keen and I have the twitches. erfect: erfect:
Oh, If we can do it, Please have on hand
a spare xls bee suit. :8

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Doug,

PM sent.

Cheers

Les

 

[Tathradj]

I know. LOL

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks.

Back into robbing a few hives while the weather holds out. Overcast and humid today and the bees need to have their honey supply trimmed before Xmas. All the girls were very happy to see me. Ive generally been consistent around ladies of all species. They love me to death and want to get up close and personal at every chance. Biting, scratching, yelling and just pretty unpleasant would be the best way of describing them. This was to be expected after being locked up for a few days and then being stirred up on a day with limited sunshine. Ended up pulling five boxes of honey from five hives. All hives were healthy except for one. Bee numbers were down and there was nothing but drone brood in the hive. Didnt have time to take a pic but will explain what I did. The problem indicated that there was not a fertile queen in the hive. The queen was either laying unfertilised eggs or there was a worker bee or two that had taken on the task of laying eggs due to the absence of a queen. Either way the hive is doomed as no worker bees can be raised. As we all know, it is only the females that do all the work. My solution was to combine this hive with a newly established colony. Towards the end of the day, the problem hive was lightly smoked and the lid was lifted. A sheet of newspaper was then doubled and placed on top of the hive. A few small holes were punched through the paper with a hive tool. The donor hive was then slightly smoked, removed from its base and placed on top of the newspaper.

Bees will slowly chew through the newspaper over the next twenty four hours. The pheromone smell from the new hive will blend in with the old hive and will stop any fighting between the bees. After a few hours the new queen should be accepted and the hive should be back on track. If there is an old, failing queen in the hive she should be killed by the young queen. If they both happen to get killed in any fight, there will still be eggs that can be used to make a new queen. Will be keeping an eye on this hive to see how it responds. It will be left alone now for a week or so. Will keep you informed as to how it is going.

Cheers for now.

Les

 

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks.

Just sat down after working through all hives and extracting honey over a four day period. Thought this retirement caper was supposed to be relaxing. Anyway its all good. After looking through every hive, four of them appeared to be queenless. Combined a couple of them with splits made earlier in the year and added some eggs to two of stronger hives to see what happens. The worst part of the process happens tomorrow. Clean up time. Everything is sticky and needs to be washed and dried. Nearly a days work just doing that. All extracted honey goes into 15kg food grade buckets and is sealed with tape and labelled until it is required for bottling. All up just over half a ton of honey came from the girls. They were quite generous.

Cheers for now,

Les

 

[Eluvial]

Now that's a lot of honey Les.. WOW :Y: :Y:

 

[Mackka]

Oh my Lord, did you say 500 kilos of honey? That would take me a lifetime to gorge.
Fantastic mate ,I hope it sells for the same price as truffle.
Gotta get down your way at some time.
Told my Dr. I was definitely not diabetic!
Mackka :Y: :Y: :Y:

 

[MegsyB007]

Woah - wait - what the...? Did you say half a ton??!!! Holy busy bees, Batman! That's a lot of honey!

 

[Lesgold]

Just did a rough calculation. Normally have a desert spoon of honey on the weetbix every morning. This lot should last just over 91 years. Might have to wait a while to see the accuracy of the calculation.

 

[MegsyB007]

:lol: :lol:

 

[Mackka]

You need a bigger spoon Les :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :drooling: :drooling: :drooling: :drooling: :drooling: :drooling: :drooling: layful:

 

[Lesgold]

Or a few less bees Mackka. The old body feels like its been hit with a truck. The second glass of red seems to be fixing that problem.......