Judy and I are, as of right now, planning to have BeeFest 2022 on March 18, 19 and 20.
We are hoping that COVID-19 will burn its self out. Hopefully we will reach herd immunity.
Again you can camp out here on the farm. We have twice as much land as the last time for tents, campers and RVs. We also have 4 hotels within 20 miles of the farm including a brand new hotel, Hampton Inn and Suites.
If you are planning on coming, please reply on this thread so that we can plan on the amount of food needed.
If you?re driving here please bring chairs for your family to sit on.
If you are flying, we have about 9 bee suits available and several bee nets.
We have 2 ponds for fishing so bring your fishing gear.
Hope to see you all at BeeFest.
Judy and Jim Altmiller
I'll do my best to get there... not sure what the current Tyrant of the United States may do in the meantime so I can't guarantee anything.
I would like to come but I fear there will be another variant in FL to deal with. We will see how it goes in Feb 22.
Jim, If your having it, Marley and I will bee there, along with the wife.
Glenna has a long term teaching substitute gig, but we will see when we get closer.
BeeFest 2019 gave me an incredible about of knowledge and confidence.
I intend to come down and bring a few rascals. We will camp.
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I might make it this year. To early to say for sure but there is a chance that I'll have enough folks here to cover for me :grin:
If you can PM me or post the location and airport I can start scouting stuff.
Glad to see you will be having it this year. This is Sharon D from Nassau Bee club. I'm retired now so time is all I have (YAY). I will be coming but will drive back to Hilliard at the end of the day. I will let John B know that you are having bee fest this year (if he doesn't already know.
Sharon D.
Quote from: flsteeler55 on October 08, 2021, 05:11:41 PM
Glad to see you will be having it this year. This is Sharon D from Nassau Bee club. I'm retired now so time is all I have (YAY). I will be coming but will drive back to Hilliard at the end of the day. I will let John B know that you are having bee fest this year (if he doesn't already know.
Sharon D.
Same here fisteeler55. I am glad to see Jim and family are going full steam ahead with this project. I hope I can make it as well. I would thoroughly enjoy meeting you all there. Time will tell and we will see.
Phillip
PS as I told my friend Brian (Acebird) and 2Sox in another topic, If they would buy a bee vac from me which would help pay my way lol.
Of course I was only kidding. I do not sell bee vacs. I will leave that to Robo... :cool: :cheesy:
Your bringing it aren't you Phil?
Quote from: Acebird on October 09, 2021, 09:26:23 AM
Your bringing it aren't you Phil?
Brian If I can come I will bring it. Though a little different than Robos great vac, it does a super job also. I know you and 2Sox realize I'm kidding about selling you one. 😊 I have one and one only and no intentions of becoming a bee vac builder and salesman. lol
Though I have come to opinion that each beekeeper should have one. For those who do not, they don't know what they are missing. 😊
Hey Jim,
This is John B president of Nassau County Beekeepers. I am also planning on coming for the day on Sat. Glad to see its on again. Look forward to seeing everyone.
Thanks John,
Bee sure to let your members know about it.
Jim Altmiller
I am certainly planning on attending again! I also have that weekend scheduled off with the band conveniently!
Mind if I share with the Clay County Beekeeper Association?
I would like to financially help with food, if possible as well.
Guitar,
Definitely inviting Clay county Beekeepers Club.
Thanks.
Jim Altmiller
Jim I would also like to pass this along to my 4-H club with your permission.
Bill
Sure Bill. No problem.
Jim Altmiller
Glenna and I are trying to keep the weekend open.
I plan on being there Jim!
Thanks
Huey
Here is a flier Judy made.
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Please let us know if you are coming.
Jim Altmiller
Jim. I will be there alone. Glenna can't make it. I will be bringing the camper on Thursday evening in time for the pit fire, like in 2019.
Sounds good Bob. How big is your trailer? I prepped several areas. I have a tent section in the trees and a large area for pop up, RVs and travel trailers.
16 or 18 for pull behind. Borrowed from son-in-law.
Also I think It will just be Marley and I. with the camper Wife has another engagement.
I shared the flier to the CCBA Facebook group. Maybe they'll be more inclined to RSVP via phone than on Beemaster.
Thanks. Judy keeps asking me how many people are coming and as of right now we really don?t know.
Jim Altmiller
BeeFest 2022
Here is the schedule for BeeFest.
On arrival, fill in registration form and name tags.
Friday morning: March 18
8:00 Breakfast.
9:00 Make up queen starter boxes.
10:00 Make up Swarm traps.
11:00 Queen Grafting, taught by Michael Bush.
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Double screen splits, taught by Bill Murray.
Kids crafts. Fishing, bring your fishing gear.
3:00 Place swarm traps (dentist office and Tonya?s) and bee hive removal
from a boat.
6:00 Dinner and social hour.
8:00 Campfire, S?mores, Singing, Bring your musical instruments.
Saturday morning: March 19
8:00 AM, Breakfast.
9:00 Inspect hives and make Nucs. Weather permitting.
11:00 Oxalic acid demo by John Boeckstiegel.
12:00 Lunch.
1:00 Lesson on Apitherapy by Karen Wassamer.
2:00 Smoker contest and how to build a five hour smoker and proper smoker technique to calm your hives by Jim Altmiller. If you are flying, I have 7 extra smokers here. Let me know.
3:00 Plasticell dipping.
Candle making.
6:00 Dinner and social hour.
8:00 Campfire, S?mores, Singing, Bring your musical instruments.
Sunday morning: March 20
8:00 Breakfast.
9:00 Inspect queen cells in starter hives, move queen to new Nucs.
10:00 Dousing demonstration and how to use it for beekeeping (Zoom) by Tom Soltirioy.
11:00 TBD
12:30 Final Lunch.
I?m sure this schedule will change a bit but this is the initial plan.
Love it!
Shall we form a full 80's hair metal rock band? Possibly play some tributes to Sting? Maybe we could just focus on the BeeGees.
Seriously, I'll share the schedule with CCBA...encourage more interest if possible.
Matt,
Just the BeeGees. 🤗
Jim Altmiller
Hi, Jim. My wife and I are members of the Nassau County Beekeepers Association and the Jax Bees group. We've been beekeeping for two years now. John B told us about BeeFest and we'd love to come to it on Saturday. Randall & Virginia
RSVPing for Friday morning sessions. Me+1.
Just an updated RSVP, I'm planning to arrive about lunch time Friday. I'll have 7yo and 9yo girls w me. We'd like to pitch a tent.
Looking forward to seeing y'all.
Edit: we plan to leave Sunday after lunch if that's cool.
And let me know if I can bring anything, I have a couple hives I could transport; I have a couple big turkeys in the freezer.
For those that make mead, please bring a bottle and we will do a little taste testing.
Bill Murray will bring several flavors. I have some that I made this past summer. It?s not fully aged but it getting pretty good.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: BeeMaster2 on March 14, 2022, 04:03:50 PM
For those that make mead, please bring a bottle and we will do a little taste testing.
Bill Murray will bring several flavors. I have some that I made this past summer. It?s not fully aged but it getting pretty good.
Jim Altmiller
Will do. I have some I made, put into secondary ferment, and forgot about for over a year. Bottled it up awhile back and it's been sitting since.
For all of you who are fortunate enough to make it to Beefest, I am wishing you all a great time of fun, friends, and fellowship! Along with great bee experiences that Beemaster2 and company have worked so hard in providing for your pleasure.
PS Please post pictures!! :grin:
Thanks,
Phillip
Group photo from Friday, March 18, 2022.
Our copy of "Beekeeping Naturally: A Simple Recipe", signed by Michael Bush.
Our first time trying to graft a queen cell. If that's not the correct terminology (please excuse me). This is the first day I ever heard about this technique for making queens.
My first time seeing and holding a bee larva
photos of the Altmiller Farm Queen Bee, and a cool turkey named King.
This photo was taken just moments before removing the swarm from the tree.
The schedule for Bee Fest 2022!
Thank you Joyspencer for the pictures! Looks like everyone is having a good time! What a blessing to be at such a great event with fellow beekeepers! It was mighty nice to get an autographed book by Mr Bush! He is a beekeeping legend!
Oh yes! Welcome to Beemaster!! Thank you for immediate contributions here! You hit the beemaster ground running! 😊 Glad to have you here!
Sincerely,
Phillip
PS It is nice to see the young folks there also!!
Joy,
Welcome to Beemaster.
Great pictures, thanks for posting them. 🤗
Jim Altmiller
Welcome Joyspencer. So sorry I missed this, especially the swarm catch. Hopeful for next year.
Here are some more pictures from BeeFest.
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Jim Altmiller
Oh my gosh, the girls' faces in that first picture! So cute! :happy: What exactly is going on in the last picture with that plant and the open hive?
I think that's the swarm dropped into a hive.
Love the pics!
How did ya get that swarm right there, right then? Did you invite them to Beefest? :cool: How did you do that?
Quote from: The15thMember on March 19, 2022, 09:51:33 PM
Oh my gosh, the girls' faces in that first picture! So cute! :happy: What exactly is going on in the last picture with that plant and the open hive?
That was the swarm that was hanging in tree.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: FloridaGardener on March 19, 2022, 10:20:04 PM
I think that's the swarm dropped into a hive.
Love the pics!
How did ya get that swarm right there, right then? Did you invite them to Beefest? :cool: How did you do that?
I just asked the bees and they agreed. They gave us three swarms so far.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: BeeMaster2 on March 19, 2022, 10:38:10 PM
Quote from: FloridaGardener on March 19, 2022, 10:20:04 PM
I think that's the swarm dropped into a hive.
Love the pics!
How did ya get that swarm right there, right then? Did you invite them to Beefest? :cool: How did you do that?
I just asked the bees and they agreed. They gave us three swarms so far.
Jim Altmiller
Oh, I get it. And thanks for asking my follow-up question, FG. Seriously, does it always time out this well, Jim?
I had a lot of fun this weekend and learned a few more things that I didn't know. Unfortunately, my pasty office worker skin got way more exposure than I expected. It's 5:30 AM on Sunday morning and it hurts to move. I don't think I'm going to make it up there today.
Thank you Jim and Judy for your awesome hospitality.
Member,
They actually started swarming a week ago. The swarms we had this weekend were secondary swarms. Yesterday we went into a hive and took out half a dozen queens, opened the cap and caught them as they walked out, in order to stop the swarming.
Jim Altmiller
Re: our conversation about Randy Oliver and the "cull pen" concept. Here are two articles that I was referencing, I may have been reading some of my own thoughts into his articles. :)
https://scientificbeekeeping.com/selective-breeding-for-mite-resistance-1000-hives-100-hours/
https://scientificbeekeeping.com/selective-breeding-for-mite-resistance-walking-the-walk/
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Quote from: guitarstitch on March 20, 2022, 06:30:19 AM
I had a lot of fun this weekend and learned a few more things that I didn't know. Unfortunately, my pasty office worker skin got way more exposure than I expected. It's 5:30 AM on Sunday morning and it hurts to move. I don't think I'm going to make it up there today.
Thank you Jim and Judy for your awesome hospitality.
Sorry to hear that, Stitch! I have a phenomenal recipe for homemade sunburn cream that uses honey and beeswax. I'll go post it in the crafting section so people can find it in the future. You may be too incapacitated to make it for this sunburn, but it really helps. Even just straight up honey is great for sunburns, actually all burns, as you may already know.
Quote from: The15thMember on March 20, 2022, 01:04:58 PM
Sorry to hear that, Stitch! I have a phenomenal recipe for homemade sunburn cream that uses honey and beeswax. I'll go post it in the crafting section so people can find it in the future. You may be too incapacitated to make it for this sunburn, but it really helps. Even just straight up honey is great for sunburns, actually all burns, as you may already know.
I appreciate it. I hit the sunburn with fresh cut aloe as soon as I got home, which seems to have stopped much of the damage. The overall cruddiness that comes with the heat will pass in time. It may be partly due to the mead as well. lol
Side note: I seem to have left my OA Vaporizer up there. If anyone from the clay group can pick it up and bring it to the next meeting, I'd appreciate it. If not, I'll have to make another trip later to Jim's place to grab it. I likely left it on the grill after the OA demo.
Quote from: guitarstitch on March 20, 2022, 01:11:50 PM
Quote from: The15thMember on March 20, 2022, 01:04:58 PM
Sorry to hear that, Stitch! I have a phenomenal recipe for homemade sunburn cream that uses honey and beeswax. I'll go post it in the crafting section so people can find it in the future. You may be too incapacitated to make it for this sunburn, but it really helps. Even just straight up honey is great for sunburns, actually all burns, as you may already know.
I appreciate it. I hit the sunburn with fresh cut aloe as soon as I got home, which seems to have stopped much of the damage. The overall cruddiness that comes with the heat will pass in time. It may be partly due to the mead as well. lol
Side note: I seem to have left my OA Vaporizer up there. If anyone from the clay group can pick it up and bring it to the next meeting, I'd appreciate it. If not, I'll have to make another trip later to Jim's place to grab it. I likely left it on the grill after the OA demo.
Matt,
Huey has your OA machine. He said he should see you at the lay County Bee Meeting.
Judy used Publix Pure Aloeveraon a really bad sunburn and the pain was gone right away and it never pealed. Good stuff
Jim Altmiller
Here are some more pictures of BeeFest. The sky was pretty cloudy so we were all covered up.
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Here is a bee cake that Judy made for BeeFest.
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Jim Altmiller
Quote from: BeeMaster2 on March 20, 2022, 06:10:14 PM
Matt,
Huey has your OA machine. He said he should see you at the lay County Bee Meeting.
Judy used Publix Pure Aloeveraon a really bad sunburn and the pain was gone right away and it never pealed. Good stuff
Jim Altmiller
Awesome! Thank you!
I keep aloe plants around my property for those unfortunate welding/soldering/mechanic incidents. Probably my favorite thing to grow. :)
-Matt
I just want to say thanks to jim and judy for a really nice weekend.