Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[FirewifeJess]

Well I had a fun afternoon !!! I got a call to remove 2 colonies of bees from a building at the soft ball fields. It is totally the wrong time of year to remove them but it was I try or they were going to be sprayed. I got one out today that made 6 frames of comb with bees brood and honey. Since I ran out of daylight I will have to go back for the second one.

That's awesome! Why is it the wrong time of year? Too cold to move them? I hope they all survive a move!

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

Well I had a fun afternoon !!! I got a call to remove 2 colonies of bees from a building at the soft ball fields. It is totally the wrong time of year to remove them but it was I try or they were going to be sprayed. I got one out today that made 6 frames of comb with bees brood and honey. Since I ran out of daylight I will have to go back for the second one.

Even though this is just a picture it made me jump. I'm allergic to bees. Was in the hospital a few years ago because of 2 bee stings. My current doctor wants to wait and SEE the reaction instead of giving me the thingy to give myself a shot if i get stung and have a bad reaction again. thankfully last summer my chickens hung out close to me when i'd lay in the yard reading a book They'd go after any bees that came close to me.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Yes it is too cold to try to rehome them. Also the yellow at the top of this comb is all honey! ! !

 

[FirewifeJess]

Yes it is too cold to try to rehome them. Also the yellow at the top of this comb is all honey! ! !

How do you remove the honey to eat it? I didn't realize it was inside all those tiny combs! (Just unfamiliar with bees...for now). I know raw honey is much harder and less viscous than processed honey but didn't realize it was solid on the comb.

 

[RainMom]

We had a productive day here on the homestead, in spite of DH coming down sick with whatever DS had last week. He's mostly laying around moaning, using up a 6 week supply of kleenex and toilet paper- poor thang!

The inCOOLbator has 16 eggs in it- got another blue one out of the hen house this afternoon rather than risk trying one of the refrigerator ones.(not to self- put dates on them from now on!). I found a spot in the living room where it's away from windows and doors- no drafts to alter the temp (hopefully). DH put a fill tube in the front- we can use a dropper to add water in thru the tiny straw-size hose, (fish tank surplus) which goes to the bottom of the incubator, and it works fine:



I just checked the temp, and it looks like we are right in the target area. My DH is a super resourceful and knowlegeable electronic genius- a really handy thing to have! Needs a little more water for humidity, but that's not so critical- I can easily add a little more H2O



So now we wait.....

I'm sure this is the part that is about as exciting as watching grass grow, but hey- we're just thrilled ot have built the whole she-bang for under $10. (Not counting the thermometer, because we can use that for telling the temp outside).

Next- building a brooder that;'s cat proof. No cardboard box is going to work here- we need a plywood box with screen lid and hinges, so we're going to scout around and see if we can build it for under $10 too. I think that's what I am liking- the challenge of making something out of scraps and the fun of the project.

 

[robj]

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd pop in and let everyone know Hope is doing great and actually starting to GROW! It'll be awhile before she catches up to her siblings, but at least she's starting to feather in.

Whata cutie

 

[robj]

I'm excited. Hoping this time to have a good hatch. getting eggs from someone in this forum, and some from my mom. I have my incubator already warming back up to make sure the humidity and temperature are steady.

Best of luck

 

[RainMom]

What a night. Since everyone napped, they're all still awake in their beds. Someone is getting a spanking right now for talking back, and this has been far from a relaxing Sunday night. They're usually asleep almost 2 hours ago! Where is everyone? I'm lurking but ain't nobody talking!

This has definitely not be a relaxing Sunday evening for us. I had to run to the store to get DH soft kleenex and more toilet paper- between hiim and DS, they have seriously almost filled our trash can with tissue from runny noses. While I was gone, DS answered the phone and took a non-message
Him: someone called, I thought it was you so I answered it
Me: who was it?
Him: I dunno, some guy
Me: do yu recall his name? What was the message/
Him: I can't remember his name. I don't know what he wanted.
ME: did he say to tell me something?
Him: I dunno, Oh- maybe he was Roy or something?
ME: okay, so when someone calls, you say "hold a moment please while I go get a pencil and paper" then take a message
Him: oh, I didn't think of that!

DS wanted me to make "mac & cheese" and since he's allergic to gluten, dairy, soy and corn, this is not the sort you take out of the box and add butter and milk, so we had a cooking lesson this evening. I make a allergen-free mac and cheese made from brown rice pasta and "Daiya" non-dairy cheese that makes even butter-lovin, gluten eatin' fools happy. My son is highly motivated to help cook that, so we've been working on it- first by making a white sauce, etc. Since i never measure stuff like that, the biggest challenge has been helping my concrete thinker to be a guesstimator. He's doing great! We put organic nitrate free ham and green onions and chiles in this batch to make it different.

DS and I made some homemade Garlic-tahini dressing like they serve at Whole Foods (known in this house as Whole Paycheck) and served that with kale- a family favorite. If you have never tasted the garlic-tahini kale salad at Whole foods, it's worth trying, seriously. We have a whole new way to eat bunches of kale now. How many kids beg their parents for kale salad? Mine wants it for breakfast!

DS has reading comprehension issues, so I helped him with his homework. This starts with 5 minutes of reasons why he hates to do homework and ends up being a lesson in how to provide the ultimate positive feedback to produce the wanted results.

After DS got in bed, I got the kitchen cleaned up and made a cup of my favorite tea, and was ready to jump in the hot tub and soak, DH discovers he forgot to plug it back in the other day, so it's barely warm

, My back and knees are so sore- I was soooo looking forward to that. Instead, I have to settle for my sore body cocktail: 2 Meriva, 1 magnesium Malate and some ibuprofen.

Wah!

 

[RainMom]

Well I had a fun afternoon !!! I got a call to remove 2 colonies of bees from a building at the soft ball fields. It is totally the wrong time of year to remove them but it was I try or they were going to be sprayed. I got one out today that made 6 frames of comb with bees brood and honey. Since I ran out of daylight I will have to go back for the second one.

wow,- that's a terrific haul- I hope you can get all of it - and get those hives back up and running. I really, really want to get some hives- and learn how to take care of them, but that's a "next year" sort of project.

Q: when hives are attached inside buildings like that, how do you manage to get the insulation off the honeycombs so that you can use the wax? Can you just trim it , or?

My son was on a speical diet for 5+ years to heal his gut and was unable to have any sweeteners ecept honey or very occassional stevia, so we have lots of experience being consumers! During our 5 years of exclusive honey consumpton, we discovered my son can't tolerate honey from that (unnamed) store where you pauy a membership to buy big volume, and pack-your-own-boxes . I am unsure if it's due to contamination with antibiotics or pesticides or corn syrup, but we stopped buying from any honey dealers that can't tell me where they have hives. Best thing I ever could have done- and now I am sure we're not part of the "Honey Laundering" problem. (BTW- the Seattle times story- Honey Laundering- was such a terrific piece.)

Hope the weather is cool and dry tomorrow, so you can work in relative comfort. Be sure to take some more pictures!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Keep in mind honey bees are not aggressive. They will sting if you trap them like in a shirt sleeve or if you get into their hive. but it is last defense.
Yes I now have to carry EPIPEN. FYI they are NOT cheap. They come in 2's $240 Also IF anybody carries one and IF you ever have to use you MUST call 911. This is not a law or anything but that is just the way it is. If you are bad enough to use EPIPEN then you need medics ad a trip to ER!!!