Sally's GF3 thread

[cavemanrich]

Sally,, I got wind that you are looking for an automobile.
Wishing you best in what you end up doing. ,,,,,,,,,, and I know how insurance operates.. Not saying it is bad,, but those are their guidelines.

 

[ksbkeys]

This has been a very sad spring. I lost my two favorite hens, Aart here on BYC passed, and my neighbor succumbed to heart failure on Wednesday. Then a hive swarmed and left. And I'm without my car after the accident last Saturday, and don't know how long it'll take to fix, or if they'll total it.

I'm trying to look on the bright side of things. We walked away from the accident without even a sore muscle. We do have another vehicle. We're both healthy. We can pay our bills. We just got an inch of much needed rain last night. All of these are positives.

So sorry for all the struggles and sad things. So glad you are safe after your car accident!

 

[ksbkeys]

We figured out the swarm issue. It's the original hive, and they have 2 boxes of brood and the box on top is FULL of honey! They ran out of room.

We think we saw a queen in with them, so they have requeened themselves. They planned for this, in other words. We think.

We'll know in a few weeks if this is not the case.

But. We. Have. Honey!!!!

That is wonderful news! My daughter used to keep bees here at my garden. We had to capture a swarm twice. Thankfully, I happened to notice the bees all in our cherry tree. My daughter came over and put a sheet down under the tree and somehow got them into a box...they are not prone to sting when swarming we learned. Looks scary, though and we did both suit up of course.

 

[ksbkeys]

Honey extraction will be a new process for us. When we bought our original equipment, it included an extractor. It's a bare bones model, and we'll see how it goes.

More educational info. This is basically what all non-commercial extractors look like on the outside.
View attachment 4160790
The hive frames sit in holders and are spun around. Centrifugal force extracts the honey. There are hand crank and electric models. Ours is a hand crank.

There are two main ways the frame holders are arranged inside. One is like spokes of a wheel, and that is a radial design. My bee guy, Ed, has one that he had the kids in his fabrication class build for him. It's also electric. He has 16 hives, so he needs the capacity.

Our extractor holds two frames, and is what's called a "tangential" extractor. The side of the frames face out, instead of the edge.

Put the frames in, SECURE THE LID!, and crank-crank-crank. Flip the frames around and, oh, did I say, secure the lid? and crank crank crank. Take those frame out, put in the next two.

We have not had a "honey accident" but I've heard the stories at club meetings. I also heard it's about 5-7 minutes per side on the frames. So we're looking at 15 minutes (I'm a pessimist) times 4. We have 8 frames of capped honey.

The good news? This does NOT destroy the comb, so we put the empty frames back in, and bees clean up any bits of honey left behind, and they have all this nice drawn comb.

The better news? A frame can have 6 pounds of honey. A gallon of honey weighs about 12 pounds. Yes, we could have

FOUR GALLONS OF HONEY!!!

That is amazing!

 

[Sally PB]

My daughter came over and put a sheet down under the tree and somehow got them into a box...they are not prone to sting when swarming we learned. Looks scary, though and we did both suit up of course.

The swarm was 30-40 feet up in a tree, so no way to get it back. I've since read about luring them into an empty box with lemongrass essential oil. They're looking for a new place, and you set up something and make it smell good and they decide to move in. Except I didn't have any lemongrass essential oil. I'll get some to have on hand should this happen again.

I *think* that the hive that swarmed had made what are called "supersedure" cells. These are brood cells that have been fed royal jelly as larvae so that they make queens.

I look at it like this: (anthropomorphically, as I usually do)
The Queen: Hey everyone, it's getting crowded in here!
The Hive: Buzz
Q: There isn't enough wing room.
H: Buzz
Q: Anyone want to move out and find a new space?
H: Buzz!
Q: Ok then! Make a few supersedure cells. Some of you have been wanting to make some royal jelly, right?
H: Buzz!
Q: Here's a bunch of fresh eggs. Get to it. Half of you, come with me. The rest of you, stay here.
H: BUZZZZZZ!
Q: First queen to hatch, wins!

 

[Sally PB]

Oh, forgot to mention that we did get another car. It's the same thing, only two years newer and grey instead of red. Or maybe I did mention it. Anyhow, it's here, it runs well, it better last us a long time, and I'll keep spraying it with deer repellent.

I drove it to my chiropractor appointment today. I like it. I stopped at Meijers (the grocery store) on the way home. I parked by one of the letters designating a section of the parking lot, so I'd find it. By habit, I'd be looking for a dirty red Ford Focus. This car is a clean, grey Ford Focus.

I try to park in the F section, right near the letter pole. Then I can tell myself, "I parked at the F in Meijers."

 

[cavemanrich]

Yes, thank you. The reason to use the honey in the jam is so that I can use my berries and my sweetener. I did know that it'll lose the health benefits.

But you still have the benefit of Honey Flavor

 

[Sally PB]

I made black raspberry jam with honey. I decided to play it safe and used pectin. I had to check on the flavor, of course. Yes, tasty!

 

[Sally PB]

Well... it still didn't set up. No, I did not use low sugar pectin. I'll get some at the store next time I go. There are still a couple of pickings of berries out there, at least.

It's going to get eaten, gladly, because it's tasty. I'll just have to spread it on the toast first, before the peanut butter, so that it soaks into the bread. Or put it on my oatmeal....!

It's one of those examples of home made stuff that you don't gift. It's part of the learning curve that gets you to the ones you do give away.

 

[fuzzi]

Well... it still didn't set up. No, I did not use low sugar pectin. I'll get some at the store next time I go. There are still a couple of pickings of berries out there, at least.

It's going to get eaten, gladly, because it's tasty. I'll just have to spread it on the toast first, before the peanut butter, so that it soaks into the bread. Or put it on my oatmeal....!

It's one of those examples of home made stuff that you don't gift. It's part of the learning curve that gets you to the ones you do give away.

On my recent trip to KY I stopped at a small country store that sold Amish/local goods. Next to the apple butter I found blackberry butter. It was so good that I stopped on the way home, bought two extra jars. It's like jam, just more spreadable. Yum yum.