Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[bigzio]

Yep, really sad that the neighbors screaming weed eaters are ok, but the nature's finest call of a rooster can't be tolerated...I hear the sad cry of what's going wrong daily here in this free nation, that we call home.

 

[jvls1942]

I had great intentions of getting things done outside. I went to till up the ground where I had the tractor stuck. tiller ran for a minute and quit. I called DD and asked her where she bought the gas from. F&F , OK.
she said they ran the tiller until it quit.
I drained all the gas, flushed the tank with more fresh gas. managed to spill gas all over the place so I didn't start the tiller to test it..
I got rid of the bees and nest.
yesterday I went to tighten the alternator v belt. there was not enough slot in the adjusting arm to get the belt tight. so I abandoned the slot and put the bolt at the outside end of the adjustment bar. Pinched it in place with a bolt and a couple of washers. that will hold until I can make a longer adjusting bar.
...jiminwisc....

 

[babylady4]

Let the honey harvest begin! This is 1/2 of what I have gotten out of 1 hive! Need to get the rest finished tomorrow then on to #2 and #3 hives. The other 2 hives are top bar, so a lot easier to deal with. I just cut the comb off the bar and I am done.

 

[jvls1942]

nice honey haul.
IDK what a top bar is.
My one season of beekeeping was not successful. but it was interesting, nonetheless.
we never had a better garden before or since. especially the squash and cucumbers
I will have to tell about my harvest of 2 quarts of honey , sometime.
I got notice that my amazon order of smart pots and segmented v belt will be arriving on Saturday.
.....jiminwisc....
ETA: I looked up top bar. kind of messy, but not a bad way to go if you want to collect the wax also..
Easy clean up, just lick your fingers..

 

[babylady4]

My Langstroth hive is very messy. I would prefer to cut the comb off and be finished; the langstroth hives have a plastic sheet in the frames, so I have to scrape everything off the frame.

I put four full frames back in the hive, and 6 empty frames. Not the ladies will have something to do before winter comes.

I ended up with 17 qt jars and 6 pt jars of honey, from that one hive. I need to rip into the warre hives pretty soon.

Lots of crowing, the gents have started to perform their best moves for the ladies who do not care....... I am thinking a LOT of the ameraucana chickens are roosters...which stinks, I really wanted some blue eggs. Guess I am hatching cream legbars next year.......

Oldest DD’s wedding is next weekend. Looking forward to spending time with family.

 

[bigzio]

Congrats on all the honey bl4, as well as for your daughters wedding.
I was looking at bee hives at fleet farm...do have any idea what variety they are, besides pricey?
I really like the idea of the added pollinate benefits with the bees.

bigz

 

[jvls1942]

I have often considered getting a hive again.
but I can't keep up with the chores I already have.
I hope you have good weather for the wedding. it seems like the weather is one of the things you remember most about your wedding day..
going to work on the window well today.
I hope to get it finished by tonight.
......jiminwisc.....

 

[babylady4]

The ones sold at Fleet are Langstroth hives; I have one hive of that type, and that is the hive I harvested from this weekend. My cousin has two horizontal top bar style of hive, I have two Warre top bar hives I still need to harvest from.

It is recommended you have more than one hive so you can easily determine a weak hive from a strong one. It was very obvious this spring I had an issue with the one hive. Once I swapped a frame of brood from my strong hive into the weak one, it took off like mad.

I would also research different breeds of bees. Local bees are best, but not always accessible. I had Carolinian bees last year, this year I have three hives of Buckfast.

Your investment will be around $250 a hive, then all of the equipment required which runs around another $200 if not more. It just depends on what you want to purchase. I wanted the Kevlar style bee suit so I bought one off amazon for around $100. I have not been stung since I purchased that suit.

Anyway, when I harvest the Warre hives I’ll try to get some pictures.

 

[jvls1942]

I got one window well dug out and mixed up one bag of concrete. I didn't know how many bags it would take . I have to go get some more.
I took two pictures, but it was getting dark ,
the flash flashed, but it didn't illuminate well enough. I will take some pictures tomorrow in the daylight.
......jiminwisc.......

 

[wyoDreamer]

@jvls1942 Looking forward to seeing your latest project, Jim.
DH took the 3-point arms off the little tractor so he can put the backhoe on it and remove a tree stump from the dog yard. We decided to cut down the tree because it was right next to the new fence we were installing and we could see that it had split down the center and was rotting out. Better getting it removed now that having it fall on the fence.

So much still to get done and summer going fast...