Flow ~> *Accelerating* (image intensive thread)

[reinbeau]

There is no need to buy any prepared hummingbird food, and the red dye is actually not so good for them.  Boil one cup of water and add 1/4 cup sugar.  Boil for one minute.  Cool.  The ratio is 4:1. 

[qa33010]

    I have had problems with wasps until some of my elders told me about getting rid of, or coloring red, the yellow plastic flower shapes and bee proof cages on the feeders.  Now a lot of hummers and almost no wasps.  The bees are getting all kinds of nectar still so they ignore the hummer food.

    Is it bad to use the 1:1 mix I use for bee food?

[reinbeau]

Yes, 1:1 is way too high a ratio, it's too rich.  4:1 is what they require. 

[Cindi]

Ann, that is so interesting.  I always thought that the hummers required a very concentrated nectar, I will have to re-think what I have always fed in the past.  Good info, listening, learning.  Have the wonderful day, beautiful life, with best of health.  Cindi

[Dane Bramage]

Harvested 2 more supers yesterday (only 18 more to go, lol).  I was expecting to get that typical, darker wildflower honey but this batch is the lightest color yet.  It doesn't have that explode the tastebuds fruity/floral flavour of my first harvests, but is very delicate... I need to spend some time with it to properly critique the flavour, it's subtle and nice.  I'll get some side-by-side photos to compare these honeys soon.

I've read that some in my area are already putting the supers away in preparation for over-wintering.  Local beek supply advised same.  I'm not honey-greedy at all and definitely want my bees to thrive (w/minimal to no feeding, just like they have been) but I'm just seeing no reason to put away the supers.  They are refilling them as fast as I can put them back and all their double, deep 10 frame brood chambers are packed full.  There is just sooooo much still blooming I can not see any advantage to removing the supers as yet.  Any thoughts?

This is turning out to be quite a bit of work!  I'm going to have to figure out a better way to situate my uncapping procedure.  As it is, I'm kind of hunched over so that the cappings drop into a bucket.  As if I needed another torture for my spine after hauling the supers up 50 steps!  :-P  & I burnt my lil finger  :'( - that elec. uncapping knife gets HOT!  :shock:  Actually - the temp does seem to fluctuate on it more than I'd prefer.  I hooked it up to a voltage monitor and it's draw was really erratic and inconsistent - sometimes too cool, sometimes too hot.  Oh well, once I got in the rhythm it was working Ok but I think 2 supers per session is good for me... then it's break time.  8-)

re:hummers ~> i had tried to feed them a few times at both of my places but they were only marginally interested (I did use proper sugar/water ratios, and no dyes).  I'm content to just let them fight it out on the jasmine bushes... 2 of them were really quarreling today!  :lol:

Back to the honey-mines!

Cheers,
Dane

[Cindi]

Dane, I cannot believe what is going on over at your place and the honey harvest.  Every time I read something from your thread, it intrigues me and find it so interesting.  I would not put the bees down for the winter yet, let them do their thing.  I am thinking that you should get the amount of honey that you know they will need for the wintertime ready, maybe separately, and let them collect all they have.  The only drawback to doing this may be that the fall honey may crystalize and I think that it makes it difficult for the bees to consume it.  Why don't you ask Michael Bush directly about this matter?  He could surely advise you.

Now Dane, something that I think that you should do soon is perform a mite count.  It sounds like your bees are really healthy, but from my point of view I think that it imperative that you check out the mite numbers, if any.  If there are high mite counts, you need to figure out your plan for mite control, soon.  I don't know when your bees cluster down there, but if you decide to use anything like formic acid (which is my preferred method) for the fall mite kill, you must have the pads in the hive for not less than 21 days before the bees cluster for winter for it to be really effective.  Bees cluster around 50 degrees, or so (I think).  Anyways, some food for thought now Dane, but honestly, it is early August, and there is still lots of flow going on at your place, that is plain to see.

Here, I will be applying formic acid the first week of September, I know here I still have a good flow going on in September.  I will be feeding them s.s. come this time of formic acid application.  I will not take any more honey off the bees after this treatment, the rest will be for the bees.  Have a wonderful day, beautiful life.  Cindi

My husband got me a new laptop with Vista, and I am kind of fumbling around, don't know how it will fare with me, but I am checking it out.  C.

[Dane Bramage]

Thanks Cindi  :-D  It's been a very interesting experience for me as well!  Thank you kindly for the advice.  I'm with you on leaving the supers for some time yet.   With all that is blooming, and the nectar obviously still coming in, it definitely does seem premature to remove them.  We can add echinacea purpurea to the list of flowers here the bees enjoy (there is just a small plot of those blooming now).  I also noticed a few large clover fields in bloom nearby.

Here in the Willamette Valley, clover seed is harvested in August and September.  But I don't think that my bees are venturing over there.  Too many good & easier flowers closer.

Good warnings/reminder on the mites as well.  I actually did treat my first 4 hives (from Nucs) in early spring with formic acid as the beek I'd purchased them from had not treated them as yet (& they did have some mites).  One of these hives is my most prolific producer (4 supers full so far).  I will be doing some thorough inspections in preparation for overwintering.  Even though the winters are fairly mild here (seldom dip below freezing) I think I'm going to rig a tarp above the hives to keep them a little protected.

Good luck with Vista.  I hope it's performance (slow!) doesn't drag you down too much.

Cheers,
Dane

[Cindi]

Formic acid treatments must be applied at least 45 days before the anticipated honeyflow.  This is one of the biggest lessons we were taught in our Beekeeping I and II.  Never, ever applied after that time, unless there is no anticipated honey gathering for that year.  Never, never, never.

This statement is directed to anyone who keeps bees

Dane, when I look on the forum and I still see your thread going strong, I am astounded.  Did you look to see how many responses and views you have had.  Simply amazing!!!!!  YOu have something good going on (and I bet your know it).

So....what about the eggs  :-D

Our summer has been so weird.  So many days of overcast, sunny, rainy days inbetween, I don't doubt the flow is strong, moisture certainly makes the plants revel in the sunshine that follows.  One of the most incredible things that I have seen so far is the amount of beneficials and honeybees on what is known in layman's term, "Sea Holly", it is in the thistle family, eryngium planum.  I have gazed in absolute wonder, many honeybees on each flower head.  Incredible.  It reminds me of the accounts of the myriads of nectar loving insects that many forum members have posted accounts of.  Each locale has its own "blow ya' down" accounts of their nectar plants/flowers/shrubs/subshrubs.

What I find the most interesting of all is the (identified on our forum) is the soldier bugs (I think Robo referred to them as "love bugs").  Surely they are indeed and they are in numerous numbers.  I think that they really like the shape of the flower of the thistle-type plants.  Go figure!!!!!  I have never, ever before saw them in such wild numbers.

Any clue what their purpose is?  They surely must be some kind of beneficial.  I wish that they would perform a "fight" against the yellowjacket, then my girls would not have this adversary to deal with  :)

We have a wildflower that is beginning to bloom.  It is in the impatiens family.  Called "impatiens capensis".  I have spoken of this before in different threads. It seems this wildflower grows all throughout the USA and Canada.  Watch for it.  It will be surfacing its beautiful orange flowers soon.  It provides the late season nutrients for the honeybees.  Dane, I bet you have a mountain of it on your property.  Yeah!!!  More nectar/pollen for your girls.

Enjoy this wonderful day, this beautiful life that we're all livin'.  Cindi

[Dane Bramage]

Hi Cindi,

Good reminder on the Formic acid application considerations.  I only treated my first four hives (in early April) as I mentioned... approx 90 days before honey flow.  I plan to do it even a bit earlier (weather permitting) next year.

This is the thread that wouldn't die eh?  heh - I can let it go... I'm just waiting for the flow to stop and this thread will go with it. hahaha  That being said, I harvested four more supers yesterday.  The others I've examined have many frames ready and fully capped, but also some uncapped - so I am leaving them for completion.  Who knows how many to go at this point.  Yesterday was also my first experience with a honey-robbing, feeding frenzy...  :shock: I'll move the supers directly in the garage and shut the door from now on!!  lol

Attempting to categorize, I'm sort of on the 3rd harvest of the season.  The first was blackberry, my favourite thus far.  The flavour just explodes more than any honey I've ever had.  bassman1977 has tasted a sample, perhaps he'd be kind enough to chime in with his impressions if he happens by this post.  I lagged a bit on getting all of the blackberry in at once/exclusively (as much as can possibly be done anyways) and have a blackberry/wildflower/purple loosestrife mixed batch (= harvest #1.5, lol). 
Then, the true 2nd flow appeared, even lighter than the blackberry (which was very light by all comparisons I've been able to make).  Very sweet and delicate.  I believe this to be purple loosestrife dominant, based on the pollen collected at same time but I've read that purple loosestrife honey is green and has an undesirable taste... neither are the case here.
Now the pollen and honey taste have changed again as the Canadian goldenrod is coming on strong.  No longer the dark pollen of the purple loosestrife (though it is still blooming proliferately, and there is some of this pollen coming in) but the lighter golden and bright & red yellows are dominant.  The honey has darkened a touch and now has a slight butterscotch flavour to it.

So this first season has been really spectacular and such an enriching experience.  I think my favourite aspect is... the HONEY!  :-D & I think you're 100% correct Cindi, each locale has it's own unique blend of nectar sources (I guess except for those mono-crop scenarios) which can yield some truly amazing honeys!

I'll have to do some more research on Soldier Bugs.. I'm unfamiliar with them.

impatiens capensis eh? Pretty!


I'll keep an eye out for them.  In fact, I'm overdue for another flower photo expose' on this thread... There's quite a few flowering of which I, of course, have no clue as to their nomenclature.  lol!

Cheers,
Dane

[JP]

Thought I'd add something to give the humming bird feeders on here a laugh. I had mixed a batch of feed that was with the red dye and put the left overs in a kentwood springs water bottle in the frig. The next time I went up to our property it was missing, and I asked my wife if she had seen it. She said it tasted pretty good when she drank it! Guess I will have to watch out for her next time and label the bottle. :-D

[Cindi]

JP, what a hoot and a hollar!!!  I bet your wife just loved the sweet drink!!!  he, he, he.

Dane.  What on earth you got goin' on at your place?  I know Ann said you live in a swamp, but it must be the swamp of all swamps.  Every time you write about the amount of honey that you are getting it blows my mind!!!  I'm started to wonder if you are telling tall tales (LOL).  Good for you!!!  Yeah!!!!  You are a lucky man, and your girls are even lucker!!!!

The picture that you posted is the lovely impatiens capensis.  It grows like nothing on this earth in the uncultivated parts of my property, particularly on the edge of the ravine and down behind a cabin that we have, close to the old horse paddock and barns.  They like moist conditions for growing and all the run off of years of horsey poopies have made it a very nutrient rich area.  It is on a lower part of our property and the moisture from higher places drains to their and it loves to grow.

I have myriads of newly germinated phacelias and borage blooming now, along with the impatiens capensis in this area, they all seem to love the moisture of this particular spot, so I have another flow going on.  The beauty of the self-seeding annuals, they just keep coming and coming.

The comfrey plants I chopped down about a month and a half ago, they had grown to well over 7 feet, finished their bloom.  They all grew back and bloomed again.  This plant is the most beneficial for the bombus, honeybees leave it alone.  Comfrey the perennial cousin to the annual borage, both have the beautiful droooping blue flowers that are great for my climate because of the moisture and rain, always lots of nectar and pollen inside the blossoms, yeah!!!!  Have a wonderful day, beautiful life.  Cindi

[Dane Bramage]

Heh - that is funny JP!  Though I imagine humming-bird feed is not a remedy for diabetics.  :-\

Swamp eh?  :-x  Wetlands sounds better.  ;)  I'm unsure if my wetlands meet the definition criteria of swamp ("A swamp is wetland with more open water surface and deeper water than a marsh. In North America, it is used for wetlands dominated by trees and woody bushes rather than grasses and low herbs, but this distinction does not necessarily apply in other areas, for instance in Africa where swamps may be dominated by papyrus.").  The wetlands here are on a "floodplain" with a large creek going through.  They are only seasonally flooded (winter).
Here's the satellite view:

I can walk right up to the creek without getting my shoes wet all summer but the water definitely does flood the whole area throughout the winter season.  Maybe it is more of a freshwater "marsh"?

Tall tales eh?  heh, no but I can try and get a harvest tally (estimate) thus far.  I don't think I am anywhere close yet to the 200#/hive that I often read about.  I've got 10 hives and have not harvested anything from 2 of them.  I've brought in 12 supers so far, 3 from one hive and the rest mostly from my other three hives of the first 4 I started from nucs in April.  To get that 200#/hive I'd have had to harvest 5+ supers from each.  I'll probably get that on the top production hive (it's almost done capping the 2 supers it's got on now) but the other 3 will be 4 supers tops, the package will yield 2 (just harvested first one from this hive the other day), and the other 3 producing late-start nucs 1-2.   So I'll likely finish the season with ~ 24 supers harvested if they fill and cap all they have started now.  I'll keep replacing the ones I harvest - both so they can clean them up and just in case this late flow produces more surplus. 

That averages out to less than 100#/hive max.  Nothing to brag about from what I've read but definitely exceeded my expectations for this (starter) year.  Next year though?  I think there is some scary potential at this locale if I start the year with strong hives and the weather cooperates. 

I guess there are some advantages to living in a swamp!

Cheers,
Dane

[Cindi]

Dane, I detect some anomosity, did not ever intend to bug you.  You are doing great for your first year, I admire this.  Can you imagine getting 200 pounds per hive?  I hear of it too, and it staggers me to think that that much can be obtained from a colony.  I think that you are well on your way.  Wait until next year!!!  yeah!!!!

I still have absolutely no clue what will come of my colonies.  Our weather has been really not very good this summer.  With all my aspirations this early spring.....if the weather had been similar to last year, I think that I may have harvested at least 100 pounds per hive.  Hey, but one never knows, we still have a good two weeks (or more) of work for the bees.  If only the rain would stop.  We are donning our gumboots these days.  Have a beautiful life, great day.  Cindi

[JP]

Cindi, I don't see any anomosity in Dane's post, I see him as just being Dane, being very specific in answering whether or not he lives in a swamp. He was just being clear in reference to your post. :)

[Cindi]

JP, cool, sometimes I simply read things that are not there, get rather sensitive about some things,  :) Have a wonderful day, Cindi

[Dane Bramage]

Hey Cindi - any animosity was tongue-in-cheek... you know, feigning being offended for comedic effect.  Now, if you start saying things like "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" - we're gonna have an on-line tussle.  :lol:  But, regarding the swamp/wetlands, I will make one clarification.  I live next to them, not actually in them. lol   

On the honey harvest - no worries there either.  I just wanted to throw some actual numbers out in case it did seem like I was exaggerating.  Indeed, 200#/hive seems phenomenal (& a lot of work!!) but possible.


I took a few more photos of some good blooms going on at the banks of the creek, etc., but left my usb cable at the other house.  I'll download them soon and post it up here.  Meanwhile, all I have is this old photo of one my relations.

Cheers,
Dane

[Cindi]

Dane, holy carumba!!!  Now I really hope that wasn't your Dad!!!  You ativar shows you much better looking  :)

Can't wait to see more of your pics.  I have been held up trying to get all my pics onto my new computer, running on Vista.  Haven't quite got it all ready yet, too much to do outside still.

I am annoyed that so far I can't get MS Word on my new laptop for word processing.  I don't like the program that came with Vista and will probably need to buy an upgrade for my old MS word on my old laptop, that bugs the crap out of me too.  Oh, oh, I think I am having a buggy day, maybe I should venture out in the rain and take some bug pictures to get the bug out  :roll:

Have a wonderful day, beautiful life, Cindi

[reinbeau]

Sorry to hijack, but Cindi, have you heard of the open source office suite called Open Office?  It'll open all MS Office documents, edit them, save them, etc.  Might be worth a looksee.

And Dane, that's an incredible pile of supers!  I think you're just bragging  :evil:

[Cindi]

Ann, send me a PM, I have clue what you are talking about.  Cindi

[Dane Bramage]

Cindi ~> I tried to warn ya about Vista.  & I must take after my mother's side (heh - remember how the creature from the black lagoon always snagged some bathing beauty?)

Ann ~> that's not my pile!!  lol... just put that in for "crazy stuff".  12 supers stacked?!  :shock:

I'm off to uncap and spin a couple more supers, pick some of the blackberries (just ripening) and take some more photos.  I'll post them up when I get back tonight.  I spent quite a bit of time last night attempting to identify these late-summer blooms online and compared to the little LCD display on my cam.  I think what I've identified is:
Aster - this is some sort of freshwater marsh aster that is lining the banks of the creek.  Could be Almutaster pauciflorus

Heracleum lanatum (Cow parsnip) - this one isn't in the wetlands but is ALL OVER the sides of the roads, people's (unkempt) yards, etc., etc.,.  Does anyone know if this is a good nectar producer?  &, if so, what quality of honey it produces?


So I can add those + three more unknowns (maybe more if I find some this afternoon, pics coming next post) to the nectar list.

Vive le miel!!!  :mrgreen: