We are still getting some beautiful days here although in truth it is really too cool for me to be spinning out honey but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I ran the heater in the shop all afternoon in order to get it as warm as possible in there for this last small honey pull. It got hot enough I was sweating like a pig but the honey just wasn't flowing out of the comb like it should. It was a small pull anyway and I waited entirely too long to spin it out but I had some issues getting the equipment dry enough for a spinning....
Water in honey is not a good thing so I typically have to let the equipment dry a good day before starting the de-capping process. This time though I had to let it dry three days. The humidity level here is still quite high and we even got more rain today actually. The grass is still growing but slowly so I am ignoring it hoping it will all die out soon.
Anyway I managed to get about 2 gallons of honey. I only pulled about one medium super in total off all the hives taking just a frame here and there since it was so late in the year. Should be just enough for Christmas presents and a very few special customers.
I still have a metric buttload of hive boxes and ruined frames to clean the wax worm slime out of but that can wait until Winter at this point. The damage is already done there. Just a matter of seeing what I can salvage for next seasons swarms at this point.
So the next stage of the fence operation is building the shelter for Frazier. He hasn't been too happy not being able to get in out of the sun and rain but if I let him up next to the ewes it's fence repair time again. I think when I get his paddock finished and free up the battery pack for the electric fence I am going to put a strand inside his paddock along the part that borders the ewe's area to keep him off it. Of course it's only a problem this time of year for a few weeks but he can do a year's worth of damage in a day if he isn't watched.
At this point I have about another week or so of constant work before I can get back to taking care of and blogging like I used to. Of course I am behind this week due to Ghetto Lottery taking vacation. It never fails that he picks the absolute worst times for my work load to call in sick, pretend he is hurt or take vacation.
Just another thing I have to deal with.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!
I havent taken a honey harvest this year, after losing hives last year to wasps and doing a hive split, I am leaving them with there supplies, next year we are buying in new bees as we will have a new area to site the hives
ReplyDeleteSo how did his workman's comp thing pan out? Or did he bail, and never file?
ReplyDeleteI should say, because of my demo-graphic subset, most of the folks I have run into trying the various ghetto lottery schemes have not been what most people think of when you say "ghetto". It really runs up and down through at least the "solid middle class". My favorite is the folks who go on disability by being crazy. Crazy not to work.
Dennis
DeleteI do have mental health problems and I cannot work full time or part time. Do you think I should work if I cannot hear you or see you because my Anxiety is a high point? Trust me it is really funny (literally) jumping of a garbage truck to pick up garbage but only to eat pavement. I end damaging my hand because I lost focus and got mad at myself. I work sometimes but it is only a 1 or 2 days a week. I seen a lot of crap in 30 years but those who work when they should not is a good thing. Ghetto Lottery sounds like what we a call a snow bird.
PS I work as landscape work on call now.
keep pulling along....
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of work, check out this article on the auto sales.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-27/slumping-used-car-prices-spell-disaster-subprime-securitizations