I really cannot find anything to complain about around here these days unless maybe it is the high speed grass growth. The temperature and humidity could also use a few words but those are not really complaints because they just are not that bad either compared to what they have been in previous years.
Today was another bee day. I spent the entire morning in my suit taking care of a number of bee related issues. I had to transfer that small swarm from the huge trap box into a little nuc. Then it was moving the second nuc into a full sized brood box with bottom and top boards. Then I had to refill the syrup feeders and do a deep check into two of the hives that were from earlier swarms to see if they needed second brood chambers yet. One does. Finally it was time to harvest some more honey. I now have two more hives, one survivor from Winter and the first swarm of the season that have begun storing a surplus. I managed to harvest seven full frames and still need to check one more hive which I won't mess with until tomorrow. I will continue to take a few frames here and there until August when I will stop.
I still have a few people who have been promised some honey (including GlockMom) and this latest score should get all accounts settled. After this I plan on letting the girls keep a bunch until I may pull any surplus after the Fall flow. Believe me I didn't even take half of the surplus they have stored but I am not going to gamble with the rest of the Summer either. If the rains stop the surplus will slow down as well and we may not get a Fall flow if that happens.
Better safe than sorry.
So I am now up to 12 full hives and a little nuc and the hours of maintenance have turned into a bit more than a part time job pretty much. There is always something that needs to be done but of course this is the busy season so the time invested will slow down eventually. No part time income payout yet either. Of course if all these hives make it through Winter and produce next year I will have to go out and search for a bulk honey buyer but I am not going to get ahead of myself yet.
Just a quick update while I cooled off a bit before taking a shower. Needless to say my clothes and I were all covered in sweat after this mornings work. I also gotta catch up on news of the world a bit.
I see Zimmerman pulled a family out of an over turned truck down in Florida. Looks like karma is on someone's side today.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
There was an old guy here who had a stand by the road. He put jars of honey and jugs of honey there, and the tourists would stop by and take the honey and leave money for it in a cigar box. He's dead now, but he was the source of all my honey when he was alive. He said he never got ripped off. Are there tourists out there around you or are you too far off the beaten track to try something like that?
ReplyDeleteThe tourist blow through on their way to the Lake about an hours drive on South of me. Their rout is also about 3 miles from me as well, otherwise nothing for anyone to see here cept barns, cows and corn. Oh some soybean as well :)
DeleteI have had a number of local farmers markets asking me to come sell and I know of a couple of operations that want me to sell em honey by the bucket. Eventually I may begin turning this into a means of real income. It certainly seems I am heading in that direction but last years drought hit me so hard I was almost back to square one this Spring.
The idea of turning a hobby into an extra income is exciting to me!
DeleteI would do farmers market, that way you control how much you get for the honey.
ReplyDeleteRob - unless someone else shows up and under cuts me.
DeleteI know there are a few others that are trying to keep bees locally but I don't think they have been making as good a progress.
ALL YOUR HONEY ARE BELONG TO ME! end of story. if i don't see some honey in the mail soon, yep, you guessed it - i am coming down there with the *ss-kicking boots on!!!!
ReplyDeleteyour friend,
kymber
Sweet Kymber. Your honey grab has been DENIED. Back to the lower league tier with you.
DeleteI am counting on seeing those boots :)
LoL! All your bases are belong to us!
DeleteOJD - PionneerPreppy left a comment like that on of our blog posts about trout. i, of course, thought he was drunk out of his mind - bahahahahha! but then my husband explained the reference. i guess ya gotta be pretty old school to know the reference!
DeletePP - why i oughta....but i can't because the man is coming home today - woohooo! and the kitchen is a god-awful mess and i need to figure out what to make him for supper. otherwise, i'd be heading out right now with the *ss-kicking boots!
Delete