The Honey Factory

[R2elk]

Everything we have is 8 frame, because the used stuff we bought to begin with was 8. I'm glad, due to the weight.

The president of our bee club runs all medium boxes for the same reason, because he messed up his shoulder in an accident.

I wish TSC sold some 8 frame equipment. It just means that any time I need something from Mann Lake (or whomever), I order a couple other things so that I'm not ordering just one thing.

Mann Lake and other bee supply companies do sell through Amazon.

 

[nao57]

None of my ducks ever messed with the bees, not even Blanca Duck who is hiding a black-hole in her stomach. But these five ducknagers are the sassiest - and sweetest - little devils i have ever met.
They cuddle with my legs when i am preparing their food, making sweet chirping and peeping sounds.

Yes. Ducks really are a lot of fun.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I screwed up when we put on the honey supers. We started with buying used stuff, and I *thought* I had put all the drawn comb into the hive already. So the two brand new mediums had brand new frames. (We using 8 frames, as that's what we got with the used stuff.)

We looked after about 3 1/2 weeks, and found ZERO comb.

We looked through all the stuff we had in the garage, and YES! there was a box I hadn't checked, and it had 8 medium frames, all with at least SOME comb from the used equipment we bought.

So each super got 4 frames of comb in the middle, and the empty ones pushed to the sides.

Really hoping that they're happy with this. I was really feeling like a failure.

When adding new foundation try spraying with a 1:1 syrup. and when they start occupying the drawn comb do some checker boarding if they're mobbing your drawn comb. With the dearth coming on here I'm starting 1:1 feed till the late summer-fall flow. This also for me encourages them to draw. Also now is the time I do a Varroa count, maybe flip my 2 deeps depending on what "Queenie" is doing. Don't worry about screwing up, the bees will fix it when they need to.

 

[Sally PB]

Mann Lake and other bee supply companies do sell through Amazon.

I ordered directly on ML's site. I dislike Amazon.

 

[R2elk]

I ordered directly on ML's site. I dislike Amazon.

I dislike the shipping fees Mann Lake charges.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I ordered directly on ML's site. I dislike Amazon.

I'm WID YA KID Fortunetly I have a bee supplier about an hour away with quality equipment if I get caught short.

 

[Sally PB]

I don't have Prime, so yeah, I have to pay shipping on Amazon too. Having worked in shipping, I know moving something from point A to point B is expensive.

Where I worked, the business paid more for shipping than for the labor in that department.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Does autumn olive rebloom??? I don't think I've ever seen that, but I was never paying attention before. You are way south of me, though.

Here in West Virginia we have at least two autumn olive blooms, the first one in early April, second one in July, and the third one in September, but those berries usually won't fully ripe.
That's the only reason why i have not completely ripped it out. - And the amount of work that would be...

 

[Sally PB]

And the amount of work that would be

We have autumn olive all over. We have 25 acres, so I don't care. We'll cut out any that become an issue, and still have lots left for the bees. I'm pretty sure it only blooms once a year here. I see tiny little berries on it now, about this size: O

The girls are really busy on the basswood though!

 

[TheDandyLion]

If you are up for a drive, there is Dadant in Albion. I went there when I got my first equipment. They helped me find the right size suit.

Anyone here have any Beeline equipment? I had them recommended to me once. Beeline has a store in Mendon.