The Old Folks Home

[superchemicalgirl]

huh? Isn't Maine on-the-water?????? Why are you so dry? Are you high up, or away from the coast? (How far away can you be from the coast.... small state

)

Parts of Maine are on the seaboard, and most of Maine is by streams, rivers, ponds, lakes. But it is still really dry here during the winter. The cold air can't hold the humidity well and the heating systems dry out what little humidity there is. I'm not sure if the hygrometer is correct, but the temp gauge on it is reading just fine. I used to be in charge of an IV room that had to monitor humidity (among other things). We had to keep it between 30 and 60% which was fairly difficult and required a lot of tweaking on a frequent basis.

Wanted to give props to @superchemicalgirl for her link to that beekeeping training course. That is excellent! After that, I don't guess I really need to spend $40-50 for a 1 day course here. That covered about everything a starting beekeeper needs to know! Still have the final lesson to watch. I do believe that I may have sighted you in several of the videos... Is it true? Thanks alos for your personal input. Much appreciated!

It's possible I was in them but I try to avoid the camera like the plague. In the picture for the bee school I am completely hidden behind a large girl on purpose. Glad you found the courses helpful. I still urge you to join your local club. Again, you get questions answered, support, possibly a mentor, use of club equipment... although I extracted 12 pints just fine with just a kitchen knife and pans.

 

[drumstick diva]

All this talk of honey - my sweet tooth needs feeding. . All I've got is natural almond butter and it's NOT sweet. Gotta get to the grocery store.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

The hive honey tastes so much different than store bought honey. See if you can find local honey. Soooo good.

 

[BriardChickens]

Good morning and happy new year! We got ~1inch of snow over night, almost disappointing considering it's now January and only -12C!

I tried a set up with my dogs x-pen in the coop yesterday and it just did not want to work. Try again with some cardboard today.

 

[vehve]

BC, You'll figure it out.

SCG, I read somewhere that honey is among the most counterfeited food items in the world. A lot of it might just be 10% honey and the rest is sugar, and in many places you can still sell it legally as honey. Here you're not allowed to call it honey unless it is 100% honey. And it can only be worked mechanically, the manufacturer is not allowed to heat it up during production.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

BC, You'll figure it out.

SCG, I read somewhere that honey is among the most counterfeited food items in the world. A lot of it might just be 10% honey and the rest is sugar, and in many places you can still sell it legally as honey. Here you're not allowed to call it honey unless it is 100% honey. And it can only be worked mechanically, the manufacturer is not allowed to heat it up during production.

Yes. Honey and aloe vera are the two most counterfeit items in the US.

Once you taste real honey you know the stuff in the stores is fake and disgusting.

 

[vehve]

I've got a small container of very small production honey waiting to be tested, Karin got it as thanks from some customer. It looks pretty tasty, and you can see impurities in the honey, so it looks very home made.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yup. I gave some to my sister who was peeved when she found out it had "floaties" on the top. The floaties were small pieces of wax and pollen that were too small for the strainer. All you have to do is let it settle for a few hours and then skim the top.

I guess I could have done that here but I didn't think it was a big deal.

After she skimmed it she immediately asked me to send another pint. Her and the kids used it in about a week.

 

[vehve]

Tasty stuff. How has the new year started over there?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Just like any other day only I don't have to go to work (BF does, though. It's very nice to no longer manage a 24/7 department).

Call me a stick in the mud but I'm not one for new years celebrations. To me, the new year is nothing other than a change in number. Nothing magical happens. Good luck doesn't ooze from the ceiling just because it's a new year. It's the same. You have the same chance today, tomorrow, next week, to make things happen, just like you did in the year that just went by.

Bah, humbug.