What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

[Ben Framed]

Salty did the cold have and effect on the blooms in your part of South Florida?

Phillip

[Michael Bush]

I'm sorry about your finger.  I worked with an old carpenter who had been using power saws for 50 years before he ever got cut.  Ran a table saw through his thumb.  Not too deep, but it never quite worked right after that.  It only takes a split second.  Things can go sideways really fast.  Like lightning fast.

[saltybluegrass]

My hibiscus is blooming like crazy so I think the 30 degrees didn?t hurt the flowers too bad.
After three days of no activity, they are making up for it today. Tons of activity to be seen

[Pittwater Pete]

So sorry to hear about your mishap Les. I can only count to 9.5 ; router accident, took 3 finger tips off . You hang  in there mate, it is a difficult road to recovery but it will be OK.
Best regards and good healing.
Pete.

[saltybluegrass]

https://youtube.com/shorts/lwSnszkHul0?feature=share

[Ben Framed]

Salty its nice seeing the green florae of your area. Its brown here form the frost and freeze, has been for a while..

Phillip

[The15thMember]

https://youtube.com/shorts/lwSnszkHul0?feature=share

Just be careful putting open food out like that, Salty.  If you are in a dearth, it'll draw in robbers.  Even with a nectar flow, it's a good idea to feed a good ways away from the hives.  If you feed right at your hives, the bees that aren't yours will tell their sisters about it, and when you remove the food, they'll try to rob your hives since they are zeroed in on that spot.

We also finally had some warmer weather today; it got all the way to 50F and sunny.  All my hives were flying except one, and I checked and they are alive too, so no one succumbed to the cold.  I hefted and checked moistures quilts while I was out there.   

[saltybluegrass]

Yeah I figured it wasn?t the smartest move but I was just trying to treat them back as a way to say ty

[The15thMember]

I checked on my hives today and found two low on stores, so I gave them some sugar balls. 

[.30WCF]

Was working on making a jig for safely cutting timber for bee frames. Unfortunately I had a bit of a mishap and had an argument with the bench saw. Won?t be able to count to ten anymore but I should be good with fractions. 9.25 will be my best count. I should be under the knife tomorrow morning.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
36 years years of teaching woodwork without a single incident and then one mistake ended up costing me my middle finger. We are never too old to stop learning.

How?s that healing up?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lesgold]

Going well. The minor cuts on a finger and thumb are healing well. The doctor who sewed up the stump of my finger did a great job. I invited her to wrap next years Christmas presents with those skills. About 2 1/2 weeks before I can get back into doing any work. The experts want my finger to heal over so there is no chance of infection.  Sitting around is a pain but I?ve been playing with ideas for wax candles, lip balms etc so there is plenty of activity on the go at the moment. Just need to be careful in the use of the left hand.

[AustinB]

Going well. The minor cuts on a finger and thumb are healing well. The doctor who sewed up the stump of my finger did a great job. I invited her to wrap next years Christmas presents with those skills. About 2 1/2 weeks before I can get back into doing any work. The experts want my finger to heal over so there is no chance of infection.  Sitting around is a pain but I?ve been playing with ideas for wax candles, lip balms etc so there is plenty of activity on the go at the moment. Just need to be careful in the use of the left hand.

Sorry about your finger Les, I am glad it's healing and that it wasn't worse.

[NigelP]

Had fun with my new toy....A smart weighing and filling system. There are more sophisticated and more expensive systems but this one seems ideal for me. It's now past it's ultimate test by bottling 100+ jars of soft set honey. Life will never be the same :)
#

[Ben Framed]

That a nice piece of equipment!

[Bob Wilson]

Nice, Nigel. The wonders of modern technology.

[The15thMember]

Awesome, Nigel!  Also, I love your wallpaper.  It makes a nice background. 

[Lesgold]

That?s a flash bit of kit Nigel. I always love the colour of your soft set. Wish I could produce it to your standards. That device is going to save you a lot of time. I also use an automated machine but she complains often when she is asked to perform that task.

[Ben Framed]

Lesgold
"I always love the colour of your soft set."

Les, I agreed! Nigel you do a great job on the soft-set as seen. I have not dealt with soft-set, therefore I did not realize it could be bottled in the neat way that you have demonstrated as in your picture. I was thinking it might be to thick. No doubt you are putting out a 'top quality' soft-set product!  If you were in my area I would buy some if you had enough available! I bet it is sooo good!

Phillip

[NigelP]

Thanks for the compliments. Making good soft set is relatively easy with my creaming machine. But, and that is the big but, you need the weather to be cold, so I make all my soft set during the winter. I'm not sure of the science but the churning of the machine breaking down the crystals into smaller and smaller ones. creates friction which generates heat. Whilst me garage might be 3- 4C the mixture (when it's ready) will be 21-22C.   
If I try making soft set in our summer the temp is 25-26C and the soft set is much darker and not quite as smooth.

[Lesgold]

That may also be part of the reason that my soft set is much darker than yours. I?m using a small fridge set to 10C to make mine. It works quite well but I can only make small batches at a time. Two days ago the temperature only dropped to 22C overnight. It was one of those horrible, hot, sticky nights where sleeping was difficult. I kept the soft set in the fridge that night during that warm period.