Not that the bees were particularly happy after a five hour drive but we are glad to get them into their new home by moonlight.
Will let them settle a couple of days and release the new queen if she is not already out by then.
It was a pleasure to do business with Gary and Tammy Rankin of The Bee Place at Somerset, South of San Antonio.
This trip included a tour of the Mission of San Jose, and a revisit of the River Walk and the Alamo.
Congratulations on your new hive.
Did you move the bees into the hive in the dark?
Jim Altmiller
How did you keep the bees cool for 5 hours?
Thanks, Jim!
Yes, we moved them in the dark but with the red beam of my EDC flashlight.
Orientation flights now in progress with some apparently already foraging.
I've never seen so many flowers in Texas as this year. From the Panhandle to South Texas -- wildflowers everywhere. Gary said he is barely keeping up with it.
They were with us in the air conditioned car, Acebird.
It was cool last night (50s) but having a very nice day today and the hive has a great Southern exposure on the long side.
Quote from: FatherMichael on May 19, 2019, 03:39:03 PM
Thanks, Jim!
Yes, we moved them in the dark but with the red beam of my EDC flashlight.
Orientation flights now in progress with some apparently already foraging.
I've never seen so many flowers in Texas as this year. From the Panhandle to South Texas -- wildflowers everywhere. Gary said he is barely keeping up with it.
They were with us in the air conditioned car, Acebird.
It was cool last night (50s) but having a very nice day today and the hive has a great Southern exposure on the long side.
Sounds nice all the way around. I would like to experience San Antonia......
San Antonio is one of my favorite places, Ben.
The missions are a World Heritage Preserve along with sites like the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids. The Alamo is not only the shrine of Texas independence but is an American story because people from all over the country came to fight the dictator Santa Anna, who violated the Mexican constitution and proclaimed himself the Napoleon of the West. It means a lot that so many came to fight along with Texicans, many of whom were of Hispanic descent, fighting side-by-side with Anglos.
It's a family town -- lots of children around. Even on the River Walk people push their strollers, some of them doubles! The restaurants are good and you can find any price range.
Not expensive for a vacation but gets hot in the summer.
Schlitterbaum water park and Fredericksburg are not far away. Sea World is there. Tower of the Americas there.
Glad all went well. Good luck.
Thanks, Nock.
It's 5 pm here and we're having a cool spring. Orientation flights suspended and foragers are returning as the sun gets low in the sky. Everything seems normal to me.
Fathers Michael congrats on the new hive.
Our FATHER special made the honey bee, just for us, unique it is. Our FATHER knew we had a sweet tooth solved with honey and also we needed a container for long term storage of honey, so there is wax. The only insect to produce food for folks. The only critter in the world that produces wax to safely store the honey which was found in the pyramids 1,000 of years old, intact. The honey bee does not fit in the evolutionarily theme as taught in schools. There is no predecessor to evolve from that makes wax and honey.
Yes, I realize the universe was created with a word: let their be... However the honey bee is so totally unique that the bee deserves some special credit as an example of Creation that places unsolvable road blocks in the Theory of Evolution. Evolution is part of the plan of Creation, you bet ya. But the simple little totally unique honey bee demonstrates Creation first then evolution to maintain species.
Nothing cleaner than a bee hive: no dust, no dirt, no mold, no mildew, no fungus, totally tidy little critters. I might add they are 99 percent female which may account cleanliness.
Blessings
Spot on. Great post^^^^
I agree with Nock, good post Mr Van
Amen, Van.
Quote from: van from Arkansas on May 19, 2019, 09:30:43 PM
I might add they are 99 percent female which may account cleanliness.
I think you have never cleaned a woman's rest room.
Queen successfully released.
Couldn't do it yesterday because of really bad weather. Had five tornado warnings yesterday and last night!
Smart move Father. Never work a hive with the atmospheric pressure dropping. Bees get very irritable.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 21, 2019, 07:56:47 PM
Smart move Father. Never work a hive with the atmospheric pressure dropping. Bees get very irritable.
Jim Altmiller
It was a close call today as the wind was up and still cool. Waited until it was warm enough for them to fly and worked quickly just before noon -- narrow window.
I deeply respect those that work dozens or hundreds of hives.
How do they do it?
I wonder if there's a connection to the bees, like a calling, as I feel called to preach the Gospel.
Did you ever see that movie EULEE'S GOLD?
Father,
I think that once you start working with bees, they end up taking control of you. They are just so incredibly interesting.
No I have not seen that movie.
Jim Altmiller
A lot of newly emerged brood taking orientation flights today -- a very good sign, eh?
Quote from: FatherMichael on May 24, 2019, 09:17:23 PM
A lot of newly emerged brood taking orientation flights today -- a very good sign, eh?
Yes, I would think so!! Keep up the good work!
Phillip
Thanks, Phillip!
Another bunch of emerging brood today -- a good nuc of bees -- very grateful.
Gary Rankin told me about a treatment method for varoa -- shop towel soaked with oxalic dissolved in glycerin, wrung out, and put on the top bars: see BEYOND TAKTIC, by Randy Oliver.
Will do that in a few days.
I wonder if there's a connection to the bees, like a calling, as I feel called to preach the Gospel.
Father, are you familiar with Brother Adam and his work with honey bees. Yes, I would say a calling is what the man Brother Adam would consider; world renowned, famous for his bees at Buckfast Abbey.
Quote from: van from Arkansas on May 26, 2019, 07:50:43 PM
I wonder if there's a connection to the bees, like a calling, as I feel called to preach the Gospel.
Father, are you familiar with Brother Adam and his work with honey bees. Yes, I would say a calling is what the man Brother Adam would consider; world renowned, famous for his bees at Buckfast Abbey.
Heard of him only in passing -- from Mike Palmer.
Langstroth was a clergyman, though a Presbyterian! LOL
Aristotle wrote in THE EUDAEMONIAN ETHICS that one cannot be truly happy unless he finds his inner calling (called in Greek intelleche, from which we get the word intellect). He believed that God wrote into the heart of every man what he was to do in life. Jesus said it this way, "The kingdom is within you."
I've seen churches that work and those that do not.
In churches that work each knows his or her gift and calling, like a beehive.
End of sermon! LOL
Quote from: FatherMichael on May 26, 2019, 08:47:00 PM
Quote from: van from Arkansas on May 26, 2019, 07:50:43 PM
I wonder if there's a connection to the bees, like a calling, as I feel called to preach the Gospel.
Father, are you familiar with Brother Adam and his work with honey bees. Yes, I would say a calling is what the man Brother Adam would consider; world renowned, famous for his bees at Buckfast Abbey.
Heard of him only in passing -- from Mike Palmer.
Langstroth was a clergyman, though a Presbyterian! LOL
Aristotle wrote in THE EUDAEMONIAN ETHICS that one cannot be truly happy unless he finds his inner calling (called in Greek intelleche, from which we get the word intellect). He believed that God wrote into the heart of every man what he was to do in life. Jesus said it this way, "The kingdom is within you."
I've seen churches that work and those that do not.
In churches that work each knows his or her gift and calling, like a beehive.
End of sermon! LOL
Last year, I had not heard of him either. Van told me about him and I researched and found an interesting man with life work, of the German born bee man. Dedicated is not a good enough description. He did a fine job in his life time of bee work and experimentation. Striving for a more perfect bee for the use of man, and achieving that calling.
Phillip
The original black bee species developed by Brother Adam died out due to tracheae mites. Brother Adam lost every single hive except for his Italians. The Italians overcame, survived the trachea mite infestation.
Then the man search the world over over hoping to find survivors of his productive, gentle, black bee. Brother Adam admitted the bee is gone.
So Brother Adam concentrated on developing, improving what he had and eventually ended up with the Buckfast. The Buckfast was developed from years of breeding the best queens selected from world travels. The man still holds the world record for honey production from a single hive, 700 pounds of honey.
Blessings
Wow!
What a story!
Need to find some Buckfast bees!
This is so fascinating.
Thank you, Lord!
First inspection of new colony since installing nuc and releasing the queen.
Three warm days of emerging bees, though not in succession, left empty brood comb, which now shows larvae consistent with the queen's release.
Three frames of foundation show only a little work and no major flow just yet (very cool spring), so the hive is not ready for a super.
Treating for mites with an oxalic shop towel.
My wife is a great helper! Such a blessing. Took less than 15 minutes with her excellent help.
Quote from: FatherMichael on May 27, 2019, 08:37:32 PM
Wow!
What a story!
Need to find some Buckfast bees!
This is so fascinating.
Thank you, Lord!
FatherMichael: The qualities of the original BuckFast has been lost through queens breeding with local drones for over a decade. Some may still exist in England at Abbey but cannot be exported to the USA. Good luck with finding a true BuckFast.
Blessings
Wondered what the shop towel oxalic treatment might do. Doubled checked the numbers in the making but still worried I might have killed my bees!
But everything looks normal today. PTL
Bee population zooming but no sign of the blue acid towel being gnawed and drug out of the hive.
???
Loving the 3/8 x 4" bottom board entrance. The guard bees are lined up shoulder to shoulder like a wall. Watched them repel two ants and a hive beetle.
Quote from: FatherMichael on June 06, 2019, 06:27:42 PM
Bee population zooming but no sign of the blue acid towel being gnawed and drug out of the hive.
???
Loving the 3/8 x 4" bottom board entrance. The guard bees are lined up shoulder to shoulder like a wall. Watched them repel two ants and a hive beetle.
The bees are a tidy creature. They do not seem to like foreign objects in their hive. I have done cutouts using runner bands to hold combs in frames. The bees will go ahead and attach the cut out comb to the frame but will also cut the rubber bands and drag out the ones that they can.
Ben, I have seen the same thing, cut thick rubber bands. The bees must have a very strong bite to cut through rubber.
Plan to get in there tomorrow to see what's going on.
Should have emerging brood from the new queen. It's been 21 days and saw larvae the last time I worked the hive.
Didn't get in there today; my assistant beekeeper had to work late.
But there were new bees taking orientation. I assume that they are from the new queen, given the timing, and they look like Italians as promised.
Thinking I'll add a super tomorrow in advance of Mesquite bloom, since it is warm enough also for adding space.
Thanks for reading my posts. I'm excited about getting back into beekeeping after all this time.
Quote from: van from Arkansas on June 11, 2019, 03:07:26 PM
Ben, I have seen the same thing, cut thick rubber bands. The bees must have a very strong bite to cut through rubber.
Posted by: FatherMichael
? on: Today at 09:34:40 pm ? Insert Quote
Didn't get in there today; my assistant beekeeper had to work late.
But there were new bees taking orientation. I assume that they are from the new queen, given the timing, and they look like Italians as promised.
Thinking I'll add a super tomorrow in advance of Mesquite bloom, since it is warm enough also for adding space.
Thanks for reading my posts. I'm excited about getting back into beekeeping after all this time.
@ van Yes sir, they are hard workers to boot. It takes strength along with sharp pinchers, in order to cut those rubber bands. I have tried to picture in my mind, the exact timing of the breaking of the rubber band and how it must look at that moment, and how it must startle the hive when it pops!!
:grin:
Its amazing how those small creatures work so hard to cut and drag out such an object.
@ Pastor Michale. I have wondered how mesquite honey may taste. I am confident that it is very good. What are you thoughts on Mesquite honey?
Phillip
Mesquite honey is very light in color and taste, Phillip. It's usually mixed with summer wildflowers so that gives it some texture.
Just saw some Mesquite starting to bloom today. Looks like warm-to-hot weather is finally upon us. Don't remember such a cool, wet spring.
Quote from: FatherMichael on June 13, 2019, 06:39:53 PM
Mesquite honey is very light in color and taste, Phillip. It's usually mixed with summer wildflowers so that gives it some texture.
Just saw some Mesquite starting to bloom today. Looks like warm-to-hot weather is finally upon us. Don't remember such a cool, wet spring.
Your description of this type honey sounds good. I realize you are just getting started and I do not know your expectations for honey this season. However, I am wishing for you a bountiful honey crop that is beyond your expectations. We have also, in my area, had likewise weather. It is so nice and pleasant at the present time here in North Mississippi. My wife and I are sitting on our screen porch enjoy the blessing.
Quote from: Ben Framed on June 13, 2019, 07:02:01 PM
Your description of this type honey sounds good. I realize you are just getting started and I do not know your expectations for honey this season. However, I am wishing for you a bountiful honey crop that is beyond your expectations. We have also, in my area, had likewise weather. It is so nice and pleasant at the present time here in North Mississippi. My wife and I are sitting on our screen porch enjoy the blessing.
Awesome!
Just came in from working the hive with my excellent assistant, Mary.
Everything looks good with new larvae and newly capped brood on newly drawn comb.
Seemed to be no gnawing of the oxalic shop towel. But added the medium super so there might be traffic over it now and an incentive to remove it. We'll see.
I've always dreamed of having a screened porch.
Quote from: FatherMichael on June 13, 2019, 07:39:16 PM
Quote from: Ben Framed on June 13, 2019, 07:02:01 PM
Your description of this type honey sounds good. I realize you are just getting started and I do not know your expectations for honey this season. However, I am wishing for you a bountiful honey crop that is beyond your expectations. We have also, in my area, had likewise weather. It is so nice and pleasant at the present time here in North Mississippi. My wife and I are sitting on our screen porch enjoy the blessing.
Awesome!
Just came in from working the hive with my excellent assistant, Mary.
Everything looks good with new larvae and newly capped brood on newly drawn comb.
Seemed to be no gnawing of the oxalic shop towel. But added the medium super so there might be traffic over it now and an incentive to remove it. We'll see.
I've always dreamed of having a screened porch.
Congratulations with having your assistant Mary! My wife does not care to be close and upfront 😊😁. I have not tried the oxalic shop towel method, so you have my attention and interest with your use.
Isn?t it nice to have your best friend as your bee partner. My wife also helps me and keep me in line if I forget something.
Jim Altmiller