Well....here it is..15 December. Cold as whizz here in Tennessee with no warm trends in sight and I'm bored to tears. I used to go to my hives on a daily basis and just watch them carry on their daily business, now not so much. I've went to the shop where all my equipment is stored (remember my uncle's early Christmas present?) and have arranged it,rearranged it, and arranged it again. Checked on moth crystals-looks good, no evil wax moths and still bored. I realize that for most of you, this is the time where you can catch your breath and relax, but for me this first winter is driving me bonkers. Ive read,read and read some more and still have a buttload of questions. Oh well, back to the beemaster search button. Spring can't get here fast enough.
I don't mind the cold. But it seems we have had more wind here than all of last year.
Oh, and you think this is bad, wait till late January. Forum will be slow, posts few, boredom magnified.
I got lots to do. But the cold just seems to bother me more and more each year. And a good bit will be outside.
K9, get out in the woods, woods are real pretty this time of year. If you like wild game its a good time to hunt too.
Can't ever be bored in the outdoors.
Build a fire if you don't want to sit in the woods, have friends/family over, just be active and your boredom will pass.
...JP
Quote from: JP on December 15, 2010, 10:41:33 AM
K9, get out in the woods, woods are real pretty this time of year. If you like wild game its a good time to hunt too.
Can't ever be bored in the outdoors.
Build a fire if you don't want to sit in the woods, have friends/family over, just be active and your boredom will pass.
...JP
Yeah I do usually pass some of the time in a tree stand. Next Wednesday, I'm scheduled to have rotator cuff and torn labrum surgery. I guess that time will pass in a narcotic induced haze. I guess when the NEWbee syndrome wears off things will be better.
Love to hunt this time of year too, archery, rifle, and black powder. Not been a good year so far but I'll keep trying.
Reading and learning is always a good pursuit. For me though I can only do it so long before I've got to get up and do something. Do you have access to a table saw? If not, ask Santa for one (watch Craigslist?). That's what gets me through the winter in spades. BE CAREFUL though, don't get in a hurry a table saw is not kind to hands and fingers.
Make nucs, hive bodies, supers, screened bottom boards, a frame assembly jig, a queen castle, grafting frames, solar wax melter, and the mother of all challenges an OB Hive. I am not a good wood worker but I have definitely gotten better. The more you do the better you get, which begets even more and better results.
I didn't make my OB hive from scratch but I sure modified it enough I should have. An OB hive honestly gives me that "bee fix" every morning when I check on them.
Crack open a couple of bottles of that mead you've been holding on to. Spring will be here before you know what hit ya!
Scott
Good luck with your surgery. By the way, how on earth did you tear you labium? :shock:
I'm with D Coates...I spent the first couple of beekeeping years making my own equipment. Didn't save a whole lot of money, and it was an insane amount of work, but it did keep me busy and keep me from going insane.
Now I'm grateful for winter since it means that the insane busyness of summer is done...
I am sure it must be hard going through those long winter days. I look forward every November to saying goodbye to the girls because the summers are so intense with them. But my winters are so short. It starts to warm up here around February. By March I have to do swarm control.
Well la-te-da! Look at Annette, Annette Annette Annette lucky Annette who gets nice short warm winters. Na na na!!
Nghnghnhg...you just have to rub it in, don't you.... :thunder::fishhit: :whip:
;)
Quote from: gardeningfireman on December 15, 2010, 11:14:46 AM
Good luck with your surgery. By the way, how on earth did you tear you labium? :shock:
And I didnt even know I had one of them until I tore it :-D
We were doing our yearly in-service training and our over zealous training officer was demonstrating, on me of course, an arm bar technique. Well, as much as I would like to say that I am as flexible now at 37 as I was at 27 I am not. He went a little too far with it and after a loud 'pop' and wonderful nauseous sensation, I went to the E.R.
Well, I wish you a successful and speedy recovery. Make sure you rehab like they say; it does help, even if it is a pain in the a** after a while! And don't try to overdo things if it starts to feel better!!
Quote from: BjornBee on December 15, 2010, 10:34:42 AM
But the cold just seems to bother me more and more each year.
Quote from: BjornBee on December 13, 2010, 11:10:33 AM
I wish the chemist from North Carolina lived closer. I could certainly pick his brain over a few beers each week.
Umm. I'm thinking...... something.... an idea forming........ solution to both problems...... what is it? Getting clearer..... yes, yes.... no! I lost it. :-D
Quote from: Scadsobees on December 15, 2010, 02:22:08 PM
Well la-te-da! Look at Annette, Annette Annette Annette lucky Annette who gets nice short warm winters. Na na na!!
Nghnghnhg...you just have to rub it in, don't you.... :thunder::fishhit: :whip:
;)
:-D :-D
Quote from: FRAMEshift on December 15, 2010, 03:15:22 PM
Quote from: BjornBee on December 15, 2010, 10:34:42 AM
But the cold just seems to bother me more and more each year.
Quote from: BjornBee on December 13, 2010, 11:10:33 AM
I wish the chemist from North Carolina lived closer. I could certainly pick his brain over a few beers each week.
Umm. I'm thinking...... something.... an idea forming........ solution to both problems...... what is it? Getting clearer..... yes, yes.... no! I lost it. :-D
I'll ask, but I'm not betting on that chemist coming up here and doing my work. He was nice and all, but I'm not sure he's a fool. ;)
Quote from: BjornBee on December 15, 2010, 03:55:21 PM
I'll ask, but I'm not betting on that chemist coming up here and doing my work. He was nice and all, but I'm not sure he's a fool. ;)
But that would only solve one of your problems. No.... it was something else. Something..... similar. That would solve both problems. :-D
Quote from: FRAMEshift on December 15, 2010, 04:02:33 PM
Quote from: BjornBee on December 15, 2010, 03:55:21 PM
I'll ask, but I'm not betting on that chemist coming up here and doing my work. He was nice and all, but I'm not sure he's a fool. ;)
But that would only solve one of your problems. No.... it was something else. Something..... similar. That would solve both problems. :-D
Ok, I'll ask my wife. :-D Although last time I suggested it, she kicked me. But the other person was a much younger female. :roll:
Usually in the winter I can watch the hives, build more equipment, etc. But this winter we are having a new house built. The girls have all been shipped to my Mother-in-laws so I can't watch them do their cleansing flights, and my shop tools are all packed away ready to be moved to storage in a week.
I feel bad for my wife - I'm going to drive her crazy this winter!!
Mike
Quote from: BjornBee on December 15, 2010, 04:51:37 PM
Ok, I'll ask my wife. :-D Although last time I suggested it, she kicked me. But the other person was a much younger female. :roll:
Whoa! Uh, now I see what you are thinking about on cold winter nights. No, it's come to me now. I was thinking you could solve both your issues with cold weather and the loneliness of being so far from your chemist by
moving to North Carolina. But I guess your idea would also be a cure for the cold and loneliness of Pennsylvania. :cheer: :camp:
These puns and metaphors are so confusing. I must be getting mixed signals.
So now I should throw alcohol and tenting into the mix......Kinky! :-D
Quote from: BjornBee on December 15, 2010, 06:25:10 PM
These puns and metaphors are so confusing. I must be getting mixed signals.
So now I should throw alcohol and tenting into the mix......Kinky! :-D
That was you sharing a beer with your chemist in NC and you staying warm by moving south. Ok, I have a limited number of emoticons to work with here. :-D
See, there you go. Winter project!
Get the powers to be to list and add a few hundred icons so we can have better conversations.
I'd ask, but I'm sure my posts are red flagged somehow and are sent straight to a bunch of moderators within seconds of posting. They should respond very shortly. :-D
One way to keep your head in the game is to skip to the Down Under site. They are just starting their season and so will be solving problems that we will soon be seeing. Only six more days until they start getting longer. These 10 degree nights will soon be forgotten. :)
Bees were flying real strong today, fed them some, watched them bringing pollen in. These were the bees I removed day before Thanksgiving.
If winter isn't too harsh/late I'll get swarm calls late February. :-D
...JP
:?Don't remember ever being board or having winter time blues. There's too much to do.
thomas
Quote from: T Beek on December 16, 2010, 09:20:07 AM
:?Don't remember ever being board or having winter time blues. There's too much to do.
thomas
Well, I had plans of building alot of stuff but now i dont have to.
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,30565.0.html (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,30565.0.html)
Jp-too cold here. Today is the warmest its been in a week or so. 47 degrees but its raining. On my time off from work, I guess I'll catch up on my honey-dos except mine are usually called as dammit-honey DO!
JP,
I hate you... ;) Swarm calls in February, that's just rubbing it in. My bees may get a few days for cleansing flights during that time if they're lucky.
Here's a link to additional plans if you're looking for some. I don't remember where I got it but I've made a few things off of it.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/Plans.html (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/Plans.html)
Cool link. Thankye
75 here today bees are going to and fro, have some cleaning out supers I harvested from a few weeks ago. Looks and feels like spring.
Great shorts weather! Of course I'm not rubbing it in or anything! :-D
Oh, and just got a bee call from Terminix. One of their customers wants a live removal, they spray for $275.00 and spray again if they come back in spring.
Wrong on so many levels and leave the rotting hive right where it is. :oops:
...JP
Now, that gives me the blues.
thomas
Quote from: VolunteerK9 on December 15, 2010, 02:30:44 PM
Quote from: gardeningfireman on December 15, 2010, 11:14:46 AM
Good luck with your surgery. By the way, how on earth did you tear you labium? :shock:
And I didnt even know I had one of them until I tore it :-D
We were doing our yearly in-service training and our over zealous training officer was demonstrating, on me of course, an arm bar technique. Well, as much as I would like to say that I am as flexible now at 37 as I was at 27 I am not. He went a little too far with it and after a loud 'pop' and wonderful nauseous sensation, I went to the E.R.
Yeah, I always preferred to use the reverse goose neck come-along because of that, just as easy to apply and more secure in holding the perp.
I used to carry an extra hive in the trunk of the squad car April-July. Got a lot of swarms that way.