First Inspection of the year

Pond Creek Farm · April 05, 2008, 10:41:07 PM

My sons and I opened our one donated hive today for the first time (deep/deep/medium). We put on a screened bottom board and a slatted rack. This was the first time that either of my boys or I have ever taken a hive apart, and we all three had great fun. We found the queen right away on a frame of capped brood. The top-most medium had ten frames full of honey (and I mean full. Burr comb everywhere, attached to the inner cover, all oozing with honey). The bottom deep had some honey on the upper parts of some frames and some rather sporatic young brood. I must admit it was awhile before we realized we were looking at uncapped brood. The upper deep had many frames of honey and about five frames of capped and uncapped brood. We switched the upper and lower deep. We next removed all of the frames from the lower deep and replaced them with Mann Lake 4.95 mm plastic frames. The frames we removed had some honey and a sporatic (in our view) of uncapped brood. We were worried that we set the hive back by doing this, but we felt it necessary to get the smaller cell foundation into the hive. I put the honey out in an empty hive body so the bees could take it out and bring it into their hive. The medium full of honey seems to all be excess. I put it back on for now, but am considering taking it off and freezing the honey frames. I have two packages on they way, and they could use some honey, and who knows if this hive will need honey later. It is all on plastic foundation in wood frames. I will use crush and strain to harvest off starter strips and foundation, so the plastic foundation seems best to feed back to bees. No stings to boot. I was really surpirsed by a few things: (1) a full frame of deep frame honey is heavy, a full medium of honey is heavier, and no matter how much you read a smoker is really hard to light and keep lit. This whole experience was quite contagious, and the raw honey from the comb was like nothing we ever tasted.

WhipCityBeeMan · April 05, 2008, 10:58:37 PM

My son is 6 months old. I cant wait until he can work the hives with me.

Pond Creek Farm · April 05, 2008, 11:20:31 PM

My boys are 11 and 12, and they had the time of their lives. There was no shortage of smoke with the two of them in charge of the smoker. The interesting thing is that my 11 year old has type one diabetes and can only eat about a teaspoon of honey at a time, and must administer insulin for each taste. He still loves it and is interested in the bees not for the honey but for the wax and the what they do for the plants. We all sampled a bit of the honey, and all agreed that it was the best honey we had ever tasted. It was truly like nothing we had ever tried. A cut out piece of honey from our hive with the wax and all was a truly new and unique experience. The wonder in my boys was truly a memorable experience that I will forever treasure.

Michael Bush · April 05, 2008, 11:43:07 PM

The bigger the smoker, the easier it is to keep lit. A well ventilated combustion chamber is a help too:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmisc.htm#smokerinsert

Pond Creek Farm · April 05, 2008, 11:51:39 PM

We had a lot of smoke, but it took on hour of fiddling to get it. I will read the article withi interest. The smoker took forever to light and is now still burning in the barn. (six hours later) I will learn this, but I am confident I will pay the fillder along the way.

Romahawk · April 05, 2008, 11:55:40 PM

Quote from: Pond Creek Farm on April 05, 2008, 11:51:39 PM
We had a lot of smoke, but it took on hour of fiddling to get it. I will read the article withi interest. The smoker took forever to light and is now still burning in the barn. (six hours later) I will learn this, but I am confident I will pay the fillder along the way.

Surely if you leave the smoker burning unattended in the barn you will and it will be one expensive fiddler.

Pond Creek Farm · April 06, 2008, 12:13:17 AM

It is held within a galvanized pail, and it is unlikely for the smoker to start a fire, but then again, anything is possible. I thought with the winds today that that the safer option was the smoker in the pail rather than the smoker contents in the burn pile. Of course, I always could use water. :)

tillie · April 06, 2008, 12:18:44 AM

When I'm done using the smoker I stop up the spout with a wine cork and hang the smoker in a galvanized bucket. The smoker goes out fairly quickly after that.

Linda T in Atlanta, continually frustrated with LIGHTING the smoker, but easily able to put it out!

Michael Bush · April 06, 2008, 10:07:40 AM

If you lay a smoker on it's side it will almost always go out unless you have a very strong wind. A little green grass wadded up and stuffed in the spout before you lay it on it's side, is even better insurance. Of course a cork is nice, but I keep loosing it.

DayValleyDahlias · April 06, 2008, 11:37:28 AM

MB, Just drink more wine... :shock:

Michael Bush · April 06, 2008, 01:16:38 PM

>MB, Just drink more wine...

If I drank wine, that might work...

Cindi · April 06, 2008, 02:37:01 PM

Brian, PondCreekFarm. So nice that you had that great experience with your young lads, and that they are so interested. Also, good that your little dude that has diabetes realized that he must take it easy with the honey, young people sometimes have a hard time with restraint with something that tastes so good, yeah!!!!! Good for that lil' dude. I love to hear the experiences of parents with the children working the hives, such wholesome family bonding, yeah!!! Beautiful day in this beautiful life. Cindi

the kid · April 06, 2008, 03:18:48 PM

every one finds there own way to, get and keep it lite . alot of lighting it and keeping it lite ,is what you use for fuel ...I crumpul up a fourth sheet of news paper lite it ,, start puffing smoker when puttlng it in ,, puff a few times ,, push it down keep puffing slow ,, then put in hand full of stove pellets ,keep puffing faster ,,, more pellets ,then puff till the smoke rolls ,close it ,,make the smoke roll then puff til the smoke rolls it at 2 min intervels for 3 or 4 times , puff it now and then even if you dont need the smoke right then ...
when Im done and want it out ,, those tin candy cans with the tight tin lid ,, just dump the smoker in and close .
like I said each of us has a way to light it ,,, alot is what you use for fuel ...
nothing like finding it went out when you have the hive all mad and you just dropped a frame .. been there done that, didnt like it then , don't like it now !!
To have your kids and / or grand kids work the girls with you is one of the best feelings ,, haveing diabetes 2 in old age is hard ... type 1 has to bee a lot worse ..

the kid

Pond Creek Farm · April 06, 2008, 10:17:45 PM

My parents both have type II. As you might guess with such a family history, I take it quite easy on the carbs and run and lift weights a lot. Type I is not as bad as it once was. My son can eat what he wants so long as he gives himself the appropriate amount of insulin. This is delivered, in his case, by a pump with a port site. He can eat the honey, but not too much and not too often for it requires a great deal of insulin. (that is true for the rest of us as well, but we have a pancreas that can do that for us).

Both of my sons love working with the bees and ask me about them daily. This for us is a hobby, but is also a way to connect with one another and to do something together that not everyone does. I can assure you that no one in their class ever opened a honey bee hive and at the honey cut straight from the comb. They have already told me that next time we are taking pictures and they intend to make power point presentations for science class. As Cindi said, what a great life.

Cindi · April 07, 2008, 10:25:03 AM

Brian, see what you have instilled in your Children. They are already becoming teachers of the bees, powerpoint presentations to their science class. Beautiful, yes, you are doing this job well done. Beautiful day in our greatest of lives. Cindi

the kid · April 08, 2008, 01:01:15 AM

I myself do not have diabetes ,, but all of my dads brothers and sisters ,,,all my moms brothers and sisters , my brother and sister ( only have one of each living ) have / had diabetes .. I was sole care giver for mom for 10 years ,,
diabetes is not new to me ... some have a living h=== ,,,, but most learn to live with it for the most part .... I just feel for the young that have type 1
and have to live with it all there life ... I know we each of us have our own thing to live with ,,, but diabetes has been something that has been in frount of me for so much of my life ,, that I know alot about how it changes how you live life ...
the kid