BeeFest 2020 will bee held here at my farm on March 20, 21 and 22.
Address:23523 N County Road 125, Sanderson, Florida.
Bring your tent, camper, RV, Sleep under the stars (as Robo does😄) or stay at one of our local hotels that are 25 minutes away.
Since we provide the meals, we would like to get RSVP for all of those that are coming.
Past activities included:open hive inspections, splits, Queen cell starter box and finisher box setup, queen grafting, wax candle making, steam wax cleaning, swarm removals, swarm trap setup, wooden ware construction, guest speakers, oxalic acid vaporizer demonstration, dousing for the best hive site locations, fishing, all of this and more on our 80 acre farm.
Jim Altmiller
I'll be there.
Michael,
It will bee great to see you again.
Can we do queen grafting as well as starter and finisher hives again?
Jim Altmiller
I sent you PM
Tell me about the RSVP. How much is the registration? Etc...
[quote auIfthor=bobll link=topic=53173.msg478935#msg478935 date=1578922470]
Tell me about the RSVP. How much is the registration? Etc...
[/quote]
BeeFest is free for all beekeepers. We provide the food and space to set up your camp site. We ask that you reply here on BeeMaster so that we know how much food to buy.
Jim Altmiller
Jim. I will be at the BeeFest. Thanks for the invite and tell me what I can do to help. I will let you know about whether I will be staying there/camper, or off site. I am really looking forward to it.
Bobil,
Are you bringing anyone? It is a family event.
Looking forward to seeing you. We are starting to plan out the schedule.
I will let you know.
Bring chairs, if you are driving.
Camping on site is the best way to go. In the evenings we sit around the camp fire site. Michael plays his guitar, we sing, tell jokes, talk about bees, life in general and have a great time.
Jim Altmiller
Sorry that I will not be able to make it Jim, would really have loved to but it will clash with my annual lawn bowls tournament which I have been patronising for over 20 years. The Bud get together which I managed to make in 2011 was I think in late April. A momentous event in my life even though I only turned up in " a little bleep can car " . Wishing it all goes well for yourself and everybody who attends .
PS The moderators must be running on auto as I didn't type bleep. Well done moderators ! !
Sorry to hear that. It would bee awesome to have you or your fellow country men come.
Jim Altmiller
Message sent to you Jim
Allen,
Looking forward to seeing you and your daughter. Are you driving or flying.
Jim Altmiller
Flying.
Glad to see you putting on the event again Jim.
Ken,
Any chance you can make it this year?
Jim Altmiller
Jim, Probably it will just be me in a 14 foot pull behind camper. My wife might be there Saturday night and Sunday. Her mother lives down there in FLA, about an hour away from you.
Did you put this on any other sites?
Quote from: Bob Wilson on January 24, 2020, 10:46:56 PM
Jim, Probably it will just be me in a 14 foot pull behind camper. My wife might be there Saturday night and Sunday. Her mother lives down there in FLA, about an hour away from you.
Sounds great. See you when you get here.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: ifixoldhouses on January 26, 2020, 07:33:06 PM
Did you put this on any other sites?
No.
This is for BeeMaster and my 3 local clubs only.
Jim Altmiller
Scott and Marjorie Mansfield
Ocala FL
We?ll be staying off site. Can you recommend any place in particular?
We have 3 motels in Macclenney, approximately 25 minutes from here. Here is a screen shot of them:
[attachment=0][/attachment]
I have not stayed in any of them so I can not provide any more info.
Iddee and Keith stayed in one of them. Maybe he can provide more info
Jim Altmiller
I would like to attend the beefest this year. Tom Long
[email protected]
Thanks Tom, are you bringing any family. Children are welcome and my wife will be setting up projects to entertain them. Do you have a trailer, tent or RV?
Jim Altmiller
Thanks I?ll check them out.
I'm in, and I'm bringing the rascals!
That is, current plan is five of us, aged 41, 11, 9, 7, and 5. We'll have two tents, if that's ok.
Jim I have a 22-lb turkey that I raised here but didn't sell, if Judy would like to roast it?
Wish I could come but March is too early for me. I look forward to the pictures! :grin:
Quote from: yes2matt on February 15, 2020, 02:34:59 PM
I'm in, and I'm bringing the rascals!
That is, current plan is five of us, aged 41, 11, 9, 7, and 5. We'll have two tents, if that's ok.
Jim I have a 22-lb turkey that I raised here but didn't sell, if Judy would like to roast it?
Judy says no thanks. I have one in the freezer and 3 in the turkey cage.
Thanks.
See you when you get here.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: kathyp on February 15, 2020, 03:04:34 PM
Wish I could come but March is too early for me. I look forward to the pictures! :grin:
I?m sorry to hear that.
I was really hoping you could would make it.
Maybe next year.
Jim Altmiller
Hi Jim,
I heard about your event through the Clay County Beekeepers Association. I will be unable to attend on that Friday, but I would love to drive up on Saturday and Sunday. I was thoroughly surprised to see that I am only about 45 minutes from your location!
With as large of an event as this appears to be, I would like to offer to loan you a small PA mixer, mic, and speaker as well for addressing the crowds.
-Matthew Pence
Mathew, Welcome to BeeMaster.
Glad you are coming.
Yes, please bring your equipment.
Jim Altmiller
Excellent. Since I will be unable to make the Friday events, I can drop by on the Thursday prior and set up the equipment so that you'll have it available on Friday.
Quote from: guitarstitch on February 21, 2020, 11:58:54 AM
Excellent. Since I will be unable to make the Friday events, I can drop by on the Thursday prior and set up the equipment so that you'll have it available on Friday.
I appreciate that but Saturday is when we will need it so no need to come by on Thursday.
Thanks.
Jim Altmiller
Oh my... working weekends does suck sometimes..😪 lol Never seems to fail.. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Would love to attend this. Sounds awesome and educational. Especially since I was told 2 days ago that the beekeepers' association in Marion County has disbanded.😭😭😭😭
Katherine
Katherine, you work every weekend?
Just curious, Jim. How many of are you expecting to descend upon your farm? Also, what time on Friday does it start, and what time on Sunday does it end?
Probably 100-150 or more.
Starts at 8:00 on Friday, ends late Sunday. A majority of the people will leave after lunch due to traveling.
Jim Altmiller
8:00AM of Friday?
How far are you from Apopka FL. ??
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
[email protected]
Quote from: Jim 134 on February 23, 2020, 12:56:05 AM
How far are you from Apopka FL. ??
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
[email protected]
156 miles.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: sawdstmakr on February 23, 2020, 06:43:30 PM
Quote from: Jim 134 on February 23, 2020, 12:56:05 AM
How far are you from Apopka FL. ??
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
[email protected]
156 miles.
Jim Altmiller
Thank you for quick response.... Just a little too far.. From where I will be at... Have a great day...
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :happy:
My husband and I will be in attendance for Sat/Sunday - for food purposes, only count us for lunch.
Jim. My wife is coming also. We will have our camper there Friday breakfast to Sunday lunch. Looking forward to it.
Quote from: weber32087 on February 27, 2020, 07:40:48 PM
My husband and I will be in attendance for Sat/Sunday - for food purposes, only count us for lunch.
Weber,
Sounds great.
Thanks
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: Bob Wilson on February 27, 2020, 11:50:06 PM
Jim. My wife is coming also. We will have our camper there Friday breakfast to Sunday lunch. Looking forward to it.
🤗
Thanks.
Jim Altmiller
Here is the schedule for BeeFest.
On arrival, fill in registration form and name tags.
I have an add in a local newspaper for free swarm removals so we may be stopping to go get swarms from time to time or we may just send a team out to get them.
Friday morning:
8:00 Breakfast.
9:00 Registration, name tags and Introductions.
10:00 Make up queen starter boxes.
11:00 Make up Swarm traps.
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Set Swarm Traps in Maccelleny.
Kids crafts. Fishing
3:00 Make candles. Bring wax.
4:00 TBD.
6:00 Dinner and social hour.
8:00 Campfire ,S?mores, Singing, Bring your musical instruments.
Saturday morning:
8:00 AM, Breakfast.
9:00 Inspect Splits and move queen right boxes into separate hives. Weather permitting.
12:30 PM, Lunch.
1:30 Lesson on Apitherapy by Karen Wassamer
2:30 Queen grafting Demo by Michael Bush
4:00 TBD
6:00 Dinner and social hour.
8:00 Campfire, S?mores, Singing, Bring your musical instruments.
Sunday morning
8:00 Breakfast.
9:00 Smoker contest followed by Smoker training/how to light a five hour smoker.
Bring your smoker if you want to participate. If you are flying, I have 7 extra smokers here. Let me know.
10:00 TBD
11:00 Oxalic acid demo by John Boeckstiegel.
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Steam wax melter and plasticell dipping.
I?m sure this schedule will change a bit but this is the initial plan.
Jim Altmiller
For those coming to BeeFest next week, we have a Bald Eagle that is perched right above the campfire circle. He often makes a visit to check out the fish in our pond. If we are lucky, he will do the same during BeeFest.
Jim Altmiller
I just bought my plane tickets.
Jim,
🎵🎵I'll bee there, I'll bee there...🎵🎵
(channelling my inner MJ!)
Huey
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Sanderson+FL?canonicalCityId=c93d0ce5570873d7ab1534e5721c921d79b62971a5550643082fd8690ff64819
Y'all I'm looking forward to some 85* It was a very warm spring (and ridiculously early) here but it's been pretty much rain and dreariness and "meh" weather since. Tho the neighbors supered up already, I didn't :/
I'm looking forward to seeing y'all again and it looks like some new faces too. That's what originally attracted me to BeeFest -- here's these folks I've been interacting with on the interwebs and now I get to meet them for real. very cool.
Pull behind camper is all checked out, for me and my wife. I am going to write down all my questions and "what should I have done instead" inquires for you all to answer. Looking forward to it.
Quote from: TruculentBee on March 11, 2020, 02:38:11 AM
Jim,
🎵🎵I'll bee there, I'll bee there...🎵🎵
(channelling my inner MJ!)
Huey
🤗
Quote from: Bob Wilson on March 11, 2020, 08:49:41 AM
Pull behind camper is all checked out, for me and my wife. I am going to write down all my questions and "what should I have done instead" inquires for you all to answer. Looking forward to it.
Bob,
You will have plenty of time to talk to the best beekeepers. 🙂
Jim Altmiller
Jim,
I am assuming that the beefest is still happening, in spite of the many closings for the virus, considering we are out in the open and nature.
Bob,
As of right now BeeFest is still on. Everything will bee outside. We will bee taking precautions.
Jim Altmiller
BeeFest is on. Michael Bush, Bob Wilson and Acebird are here.
Hope to see you all.
Jim Altmiller
Jim, thank you for hosting this - your doing a great service.
Totally wish we could have been there. :angry:
Here are some pictures from today, 3/20/2020.
Michael Bush teaching queen grafting.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
Judy Altmiller teaching candle making.
[attachment=2][/attachment]
[attachment=3][/attachment]
Jim Altmiller
Our youngest Beekeeper/queen grafter.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
Jim Altmiller
Awesome! I'm still largely on track to be there tomorrow early. I am still planning on bringing some audio reinforcement. I'll also have my electric guitfiddle and a bass geetar with amps for the jam.
On a side note, my bees are really pissy today and started dive bombing me from 75' away from the hive. Maybe it was the pink in my shirt. Lesson learned: this fat boy ain't built for running these days.
Be there in the am!
Ace, Bob and Bill in question and answer session with Sawdstmakr and Michael.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
Jim Altmiller
Beautiful pictures Jim.
"Queen grafting - taught by Michael Bush" .... mercy, it hurts to not bee there!
You's-all is lucky to bee there! :grin:
Quote from: CoolBees on March 20, 2020, 09:26:32 PM
mercy, it hurts to not bee there!
No excuses next year. Yeah, I understand the virus but I missed Iddee, Matt and a few others that came last year. It would be nice to see a lot more that haven't been. Jim and Judy are fantastic hosts. You will not regret going that is a promise.
As a coming home gift my wife did a happy dance in the driveway and got a swarm to move into one stack of boxes stored in my driveway! What a way to end a great time. See you all next year for sure.
Oh and BTW don't let Jim and Michael Bush tell you they can't dance. Jim without protection getting peppered with stings and Mike having bees crawl up his pat legs. The big tom turkey started the show first.
You guys/gals have no idea what fun you missed. Really.
🤗
Thanks For coming Ace.
Jim Altmiller
Karen Wassamer teaching apitherapy, Bill Murray, with a constant shoulder pain, is her subject.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
[attachment=2][/attachment]
[attachment=3][/attachment]
Michael Bush and Wesley also received apitherapy.
Jim Altmiller
More queen grafting training by Michael Bush. Doing it a second day made it a lot easier.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
Bee talk in the shop while Marley is grafting.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
Jim Altmiller
Marley won the smoker contest with the most un burnt pine needles in her smoker.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
[attachment=2][/attachment]
She won a New smoker and hive tool.
Jim Altmiller
Thank you Jim and Judy. We had a great time. We?re looking forward to next year. Hope we can spend more time there next time.
To all those who are thinking about this, you should go to the next one and see what you?re missing.
Quote from: Acebird on March 22, 2020, 05:59:18 PM
Quote from: CoolBees on March 20, 2020, 09:26:32 PM
mercy, it hurts to not bee there!
No excuses next year. Yeah, I understand the virus but I missed Iddee, Matt and a few others that came last year. It would be nice to see a lot more that haven't been. Jim and Judy are fantastic hosts. You will not regret going that is a promise.
As a coming home gift my wife did a happy dance in the driveway and got a swarm to move into one stack of boxes stored in my driveway! What a way to end a great time. See you all next year for sure.
Oh and BTW don't let Jim and Michael Bush tell you they can't dance. Jim without protection getting peppered with stings and Mike having bees crawl up his pat legs. The big tom turkey started the show first.
You guys/gals have no idea what fun you missed. Really.
The kids and I are bummed to have missed it. I'm glad to see the pictures and it looks like y'all had a grand time. Keep me in the loop when you set a date for 2021, I bid vacation weeks in November.
Sent from my SM-J737P using Tapatalk
WOW! What a wonderful time we had! Jim, Judy, Wesley, you are wonderful hosts. Thank you greatly for organizing this event, for your hospitality and for opening your homestead to us.
Thanks to Jim, Judy, Michael Bush, Karen, and John for the lectures, demos and conversation. We got the opportunity to graft, make queen starter and finisher hives, make splits, disassemble pump motor, learned how to light a 3-5 hour smoker, Learned about bee venom therapy, discussed OAV tools, herded cattle, discussed politics and religion, and listened to Michael Bush and Matt (guitarstitch) play their instruments and sing around the camp fire. Most importantly, we learned a great deal from each other and made new friends. Oh...I forgot...I got to feed the castle and ride the zip line too 😄
🤗
Thanks Huey.
Quote from: Barhopper on March 22, 2020, 08:35:42 PM
Thank you Jim and Judy. We had a great time. We?re looking forward to next year. Hope we can spend more time there next time.
To all those who are thinking about this, you should go to the next one and see what you?re missing.
I am disappointed to have missed this again, but it looks like a wonderful Time was had. With just returning to work after my injury it was hard one to miss.
Hope all have a great and safe day
This weekend was an amazing experience. I left hot, sweaty, covered in pine smoke, peaceful, and inspired.
We discussed a lot of topics and quite a bit of information was shared. Controversial topics were discussed respectfully and many new perspectives were brought into consideration. As a year 3 beekeeper, I found the amount of information gleaned from watching the experienced folks work (and getting my gloveless hands into hives myself) almost overwhelming.
Jim, the beauty of your property is only matched by your family's hospitality. Meals were excellent.
I hated to leave, but I decided I had some beekeeping tasks I wanted to start on immediately. (Things like cutting my unused deeps down to mediums)
I look forward to next year. If I can be of any assistance with the planning or execution of next year's event, please let me know. Thank you again.
-Matt Pence
An amzing weekend. It was a crash course for all the problems and confusion I still had about beekeeping. All my lingering, unresolved questions got answered by knowledgable, long time beeks, who helped me work through all the issues, with patience and kindness. It was spectacular!
Thank you very much Jim.
🤗
Thanks Matt and Bob.
Jim Altmiller
It looks like it was a good time. How large of a group were you?
Kevin
Due to Covad 19, we only had about 20 people here, which in a way is surprising we had that many. A lot of people that said they were coming did not.
Jim Altmiller
Yeah Jim but we had suits and gloves on most of the time. I didn't feel threatened by covad 19.
Quote from: sawdstmakr on March 23, 2020, 07:48:14 PM
Due to Covad 19, we only had about 20 people here, ....
Jim Altmiller
I'm sorry to hear that Jim. For my part, things were changing fast here on the "left coast" last week. I figured if things went really south, I'd better bee here for the family, instead of there. Hopefully next year things will be more stabilized - I'd sure like to attend.
Allen,
I was getting a bit concerned that return flights might bee canceled especially for Michael. They changed his several times before he left on Monday. At one point he was booked on 2 different connecting flights in 2 different airports at the same time. He did not know which initial flight that he should get on.
Jim Altmiller
Here are the results from the queen grafting.
Here is one bar.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
And here is the other.
[attachment=1][/attachment]
We did leave one queen cell in the hive to replace the original queen.
We took them off the boards and put them in cages.
[attachment=2][/attachment]
continued
Then we put them on a board, held with rubber bands, and put them back in the hive.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
I am giving any virgin queens that I do not need away. Let me know if you need any.
FloridaGardener has first dibs per previous PM request.
Jim Altmiller
Wow! 4 of 5 of my cells took...I think?
Not bad for first pass at grafting. :) Thanks for the followup.
Matt,
You did better than me. All five of mine started to develop but only one was capped.
Jim Altmiller
Beginner's luck.
This does have me contemplating banking a few queens for emergency purposes, however. Queen issues were the ruin of my apiary last year. Perhaps it was me being too proactive and the bees would have been better off if I left well enough alone. The option to spool up some queens relatively quickly is rather tempting. :)
We grafted for the first time for ourselves this past Saturday. We checked them today. Had 5 of 20 make cells. I was happy with that considering we grafted on the tailgate of the truck and we?re nervous as crap. Going to Beefest this year gave us the information and confidence to try grafting. We?re hoping they all get capped and we have the timing right for hatching.
A big thanks to Jim for hosting this event and to Mr. Bush for explaining and teaching grafting. We hope to attend next year.
Thanks again,
Scott and Marjorie Mansfield
PS. Looks like my grafts at Beefest also made cells.
Jim, I know its been a couple days but I was way, way, behind. Marley and I wanted to say thanks a ton for a very enjoyable and informative weekend. Give me a call when you get a chance I have a couple trees and some overlay for your anvil.
Thanks again,
Marley and Bill
Thanks Bill.
I will try to call later, if I remember. 😞
Jim Altmiller
Dear Jim,
Will there be a BeeFest 2021 this year at your place?
Thanks,
Steven
Melbourne, FL
My wife and I have talked about this and decided that we will not bee able to do BeeFest this year due to COVID.
Hopefully next year we will bee able to do it.
Jim Altmiller
I haven't got my shots yet so I wouldn't be able to go anyway.
Thanks for the update for 2021.
Best,
Steven
Melbourne, FL
My only fear was that Biden would cut air travel while I'm there and I wouldn't be able to get home...
More likely that Nebraska would stop planes from originating in FL.
Quote from: Michael Bush on February 19, 2021, 07:34:55 PM
My only fear was that Biden would cut air travel while I'm there and I wouldn't be able to get home...
I'm sure there's enough folk that would put you up for awhile. Think of it like a 6 month nomadic adventure. :)
>More likely that Nebraska would stop planes from originating in FL.
Nope. We haven't been shut down for some time. Everything is open. Schools, restaurants, stores... About the only thing still shut down is the nearby Chinese restaurant that only does take out and has closed their dining room...