Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: JanO on January 23, 2014, 11:01:39 am
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I just think it would be fun to ask what goals everyone has made for their bee yards this year. Being new to this I was just hoping to get a couple of strong hives started while I learn what I'm doing, but now I'm thinking that I'd like to go into next winter with at least 5 hives.
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Finish my honey shack and have the entire line set up.
Sell more nucs, and really develop this area.
Improve my harvest, keeping in mind the nucs I have to pull.
Maybe pollination, but only for the right contract, no more goat path mountain trails 3 hrs. away like last year.
Keep my bees as happy and healthy as I can.
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Perry- Like your plan, especially the last line.
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Will make my first split this spring
Buying my first queen for the second split
Keeping after the varroa, It Is Not An Option
Planting more in my area for bee pollination
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I want to harvest 150 pounds of honey and make a couple of splits. I want to grow my apiary into eight to ten winter units.
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My goal this year is to be a better steward to the bees and to the land.
Would like to double my apiary.
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To keep what Bees i have alive. Almost lost every thing.
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make a bit of honey crop and produce and sell a few nucs and queens. not sure of what expectations are at the bee lab yet... all that is still in the planning stages.
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I would like to have a little honey to sell, maybe a couple nucs to sell. Certainly plan on expanding a little, but no goals. I'll just see where it goes. Woody
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Start my fourth apiary, split all surviving hives, go to 30 - 40 colonies, sell some nucs..
How realistic is this? I will know at the dandelions time.
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Get all my pollen 40 traps out harvest 200kg dry pollen 440 pounds
expand to 70-80 hives
Mate 60+ Queens
Start an Island mating station with pedigree Queens
Learn how to work smarter
Put my propolis traps on my hives.
have fun 8)
mvh Edward :P
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If all my hives make it through the winter I will go from my current 3 hives to 4. My main priority is to prevent swarming, because my bees are just across the lane from a playground. I don't want to get in trouble.
I hope to harvest around 300 lbs. of honey and perhaps sell one nuc. I also want to try producing some chunk honey.
Mother nature will dictate the course of events, a good year around here is 200lbs/hive. Last year I had one wintered hive and two nucs which produced a total of 220 Lbs.
My real goal is to try and work a little less and spend a little more time with the kids. Here they are "assisting" with last year's harvest:
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@pistolpete:
I remember the precious little girls from the last forum. Gee whiz, they are beautiful. It is my wish that you are able to spend more time with your children. My wife and I have sons and grandsons, with no granddaughters in sight. My wife is a girly girl, and I hate to think what three little girls would cost me in terms of money.
Three or four well managed hives will provide you a lot of honey and enjoyment. Good goals.
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My goals have shifted from making splits and adding hives to 4 locations to rebuilding the bee populations that survive. The cool, wet summer led to weaker hives going into winter, and these brutal blasts of cold air have finished the job on a number of hives. Hives that would probably have survived our normal winters are now deadouts. My goal is to be more brutal in early fall and be much more aggressive about combining hives.
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Get my 8 nucs and 6 full size hives through winter. Graft from my survivors make a few splits to get me up to 20 full size hives before July. Then graft enough queens to make 20 more nucs to go into next winter with.
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Wow! I am impressed with all the ambition in this thread. After 3 years of casualties and no honey, I would like to put away enough honey from my own hive to enjoy for one year. After that goal has been met, I'll rethink my plan ~
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After 3 years of casualties and no honey, I would like to put away enough honey from my own hive to enjoy for one year.
:'(
What has happened? why didn't they make it ?
Is there any way we can help you help your bees?
mvh Edward :P
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Increase from 15 to 20 hives. I hope for most of those five extra hives to be tbh. It depends on how well my two tbhs winter over. Other than that, I would like to have a large honey crop.
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Wow! I am impressed with all the ambition in this thread. After 3 years of casualties and no honey, I would like to put away enough honey from my own hive to enjoy for one year. After that goal has been met, I'll rethink my plan ~
Jen I was thinking the same thing.
I'm curious though, what has been the problem with your hives? Hope it all works out better for you this year.
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In the shop, I hope to build a bee vac and an observation hive.
In the bee yard, I hope to try my hand at raising a few queens and try to expand to 20 or 25 hives.
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My mission is to roughly maintain my numbers around 8 hives and try to get a decent honey crop while controlling swarms. In the process I want to requeen each hive. I expect to use some version of the Demarree method for swarm control as this year with all drawn comb the bees will have more wander lust than last year when most of them were split.
Keep close track of mite counts and pull honey supers off mid August or sooner ;if I have to treat I want lots of time to spare. I do not want to feed 300+ pounds of syrup this fall!
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Just in case ya don't know what the Demarree method is.
http://www.kentbee.com/stw/bm~doc/demaree-method-of-swarm-control.pdf
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Hope my new knee is up to what i have planned for it this spring. Got most of my seed ready for the 5 acre truck patch. Depends on how many hives make it through this crazy up and down weather pattern ? i plan to go from 92 hives that i had last year to 100+ hives just to say i at one time had 100 hives. :o I have selected a few standout queens(3 year olds) from some of my hives that i will replace with new bought queens and put the old queens in nucs to produce egg frames for some splits and nucs in my out yards, and to produce new queens to requeen hives with dud queens and requeen fall hives. Hoping to keep there genetics going.Coming three and four year old queens are more pron to swarm and start to run out of sperm, as long as they produce well i put them in nucs and use there brood frames and honey pollen frames to build up weak hives or start new nucs with them. Why kill a old producing queen just to prevent swarming (like many in my club do) when you can put her in a nuc and let her do what she was born to do and let nature do it's thing. ??? Sorry to get a little off subject.Jack
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Keeping a couple of hives going, maybe do a cutout or swarm catch so I have enough to keep at least 2 hives through NEXT winter. Figure that means starting with 5. getting the house and grounds ready to sell, no new perennial purchases, getting aquaponics going in bee yard.
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Hi Gypsi- ""getting aquaponics going in bee yard.""
Do you have special system for water?
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working on it Jen. I have a pond. It is more efficient to apply water directly to plants roots than it is to put roots in ground and water. I can shade the pond/aquaponics area from some of the heat.
I can't make it rain.
I can conserve water. If I can do it here I can do it for someone else. Ongoing career development. Pic of my back yard this morning if it will upload. Ah never mind. Hard dry clay. Stubble of bermuda, maybe one pc stubble per 6 inches, baked for the last 3 years
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I am going to try to grow some ginseng this year. Some in a flower box and some in the woods. I've been told it's going for $700/lb. So it might be worth experimenting with.
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it is so worth it BUT has to be the right species of Ginseng to be worth much. The grocery store variety is a hot tropical, wants 80's. The native variety in the Appalachians is almost extinct and worth a bundle.
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1. From 12 to 25 hives this Spring. All 12 still doing well as of today even with these wicked swings in temperatures. 2. Split at least 5 hives. 3. Learn about raising my own queens and make the first batch for local beekeepers. 4. Build a strong local Bee Club. Just started last month and off to a good start.
Should keep me busy. Bottled the last 80 of 940 pounds of honey today. Almost all already spoken for.
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I would like to have 4 strong hives going into next winter, and maybe sell 2-3 nucs this spring . Would be great if I could get a little honey too, but I know better than to ask for too much! :)
love,
ziffa
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Mee Too Ziffa, working on getting some of my own honey this next season ;D
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Well a friend of mine just asked if I could drop a couple of hives on his place. I told him as long as I can drive right up to it I will set him up with 2 (minimum). Sounds like 1 yard added with all requirements, now one more and I am set. The weather has been cold and foggy for a long time so I do not know what I will bring out of it also! BTW this guy is crazy to get his fancy pear tree pollenated for a change and wants in right in the garden. I keep telling him no, the bees will get everything on his 5 acres.
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Don't know about his pear tree, but my bees will work most everything around in bloom and for some reason rarely work my two pear trees?? Jack
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minz is right. if there are 'richer' (in the sweetness/sugar of the nectar content) blooms under or surrounding pear or apple trees, they will work those first, before working the pear and apple trees.
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my goal for this year I hope is to get my bees through winter back to full strength and healthy make a few splits and get plenty of honey but leave enough for bees for next winter
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My plan too Denise!
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great minds think alike jen and also like to add not to get stung as much as last year lol :D
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I don't work with gloves unless the bees are getting annoyed. So I usually get a sting or two, don't mind cause the stings quiet down the arthritis in my hands. Too young for this, but that's how it goes.
But last summer I was in the hive for a very brief visit, didn't put my veil on, and a bee landed on the edge of my nostril, and quite deftly reached her abdomen deep into my nose and nailed me a good one. It was so deep I had to get tweezers to get the stinger out. Tears and wet face for two hours after that. That'll teach me.
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When i started beekeeping (1965) and you went into your hives without a veil , gloves, and smoke, you would probably get your diploma from the school of hard knocks real early. This was in the days of the German black breed of bees, and there drones would mate with your gentle bees :o. I've never forgot my schooling and to this day i don't get in my hives without veil or a smoker going. I admit that todays bees seem alot more gentle, but there is always that one day you pop the lid and there not that nice :'(. You have to take 25 to 100+ stings while on the run to really understand. :D Jack
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bet that hurt jen I have to wear gloves but still manage to get stung and my fingers swell up like sausages
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Denise- How many hives do you have?
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hi jen I have 4 hives and a nuc hoping to make a few more nuc then I can take them up to my allotment (large garden). im getting ready for retiring and spend more time beekeeping
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Would like to keep half of the wintered hives for honey production and split the other half.
Last season is the first time in many years I have sold honey, and quickly developed a customer base with more folks wanting honey.
Make up and sell several nucs from the splits and of course chase swarms and do several cut outs.
Not really wanting to grow more hives, can not take care of them, too many irons in the fire.
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I think my plans have changed since my first post on this thread. Since I've learn so much about splits lately, I'm thinking maybe my hive isn't ready. So I'm going to change out the plastic frames in the brood box to wedge wood/wired wax frames. And then add honey supers as needed.
Yah, that's what I'm going to do!
until someone else changes my mind tomorrow :D
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If all you have is one hive, wait till it's ready, and split it!
Two hives are 10 times better than one!
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AW, Jaybird... You know a woman never changes her mind. ;D
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No Wait! maybe I'll just buy a nuc
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But on the other hand. If I split, I can put one of them out on my friends property, but he won't keep and eye on it............ So... no no better not do that
hmmmm
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Wood frames and wax foundation is 10 times better than plastic. ;D Jack :laugh:
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However, I could make the split, and then if I don't like it I can put it back together... right?
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How about if I put another deep on my already two deep hive?
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I got it! I'll start with my patio hive again!............no no... that's not good.........
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Brooks ""Wood frames and wax foundation is 10 times better than plastic.""
YES! so much more natural.
Come to think of it, I don't have much plastic in my house, except the tv and my laptop.
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Iddee ""AW, Jaybird... You know a woman never changes her mind.""
The last 5 posts from me was just to get under Iddee's collar ;) :D
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Iddee ""AW, Jaybird... You know a woman never changes her mind.""
The last 5 posts from me was just to get under Iddee's collar ;) :D
LOL Kind of figured that... better do it before it gets warm because then he just takes his shirt off... no collar to get under!!!
Do the small split, keep them from swarming, still get honey, and you will be growing a new hive in the meantime! getting a nuc is a good idea too. You can pull brood from the big hive to help the nuc/hive build up faster, and MAY even get honey from BOTH.
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Wood frames and wax foundation is 10 times better than plastic. ;D Jack :laugh:
Look at that now will you! Completely off topic and all. Jack tries to just slip that in there, hoping I won't notice! Apparently afraid to debate the merits and obvious advantages of wax coated plastic versus that other stuff!
Jack, Jack, Jack!
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Yum, Yum i can't wait to taste some comb honey made from plastic foundation. :laugh: Jack
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Jack- I'll be switching out all my plastic this year. When I purchased my two deeps the plastic came with it, didn't know until already purchased. Dang!
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Yum, Yum i can't wait to taste some comb honey made from plastic foundation. :laugh: Jack
When starting up I showed a hive to my sister and our nieces, I didn't have any beekeeping jackets so the sat in the car and I showed the some frames with bees and larvae pupae and the queen and they sat safely in the car.
They drove 30 meters away, so I could give them a frame, all the kids had big smiles, they had 500 km 310 miles to drive so I gave them a frame of plastic honey frame ;D There were some very happy sticky fingers, the rest my sister scraped with a butter knife when she wanted some honey.
Then I got the frame back and stuck it in a new hive. :D
mvh Edward :P
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Cool! What a sweet learning lesson for the kids ~
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Is it just me, or does a honey shack sound like a quaint mountain cabin with a rock patio and a nice little fire pit, over looking a lake or stream? :)
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Jen, you won't be sorry that you are going to Bees Wax foundation and the bees will love you for it. 8) Putting plastic in bees hives is like my mom trying to make me like Caster oil, never happened >:( Jack
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Hey Brooks! I know What That Caster oil thing is with my mom too, except she used cod live oil ~ Gak!
Hubby came back with all wired wax foundation and frames yesterday. I'm excited
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Jen, i've been down the cod liver rout to, it took my brothers and i along time to like oranges again, dad would hold us and mom would put a table spoon full of caster oil down us, then dad turned us loose and mom would give us half an orange to try and kill the taste. It never worked for me :P. My goal for this year is to try and stay alive so i can try to keep bees alive 8). My wife told me,if someone killed me,that they would never find out who done it, because everyone around would want to take credit for it :o. I'm thinking i better watch that old woman, the thought must have crossed her mind. :laugh: Jack
PS. the caster oil thing above would br child abuse nowaday, :sad:
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It should have been child abuse back in our younger days as well! At least you can get fish oil in a capsule now ~
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Well.. actually.. i thought green beans was child abuse... being grown up allows me throw them at whoever put them on my plate ;D
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Whaaaaaaaa......?? You mean you never had cod liver oil shoved down your throat! PHT! I have no sympathy for your green beens Mistah!
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I actually liked cod liver oil; I used to help hold my sister when her turn came!
Jack, one of the main benefits of growing old is that you can get away with behaviour that would have gotten you a lickin" when you were young!
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Crofter ""I actually liked cod liver oil; I used to help hold my sister when her turn came!""
Weirdo! ;) :laugh:
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:o :no: Brussel sprouts :no: :o
The future is here, the have cod liver oil in pill form now :)
They never got me to eat the foul leaves, Always trying to hide them under the real food :'(
mvh Edward :P
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I actually liked cod liver oil; I used to help hold my sister when her turn came!
I hope she has got her vengeance :laugh:
mvh Edward :P
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Whaaaaaaaa......?? You mean you never had cod liver oil shoved down your throat! PHT! I have no sympathy for your green beens Mistah!
After barfing green beans on my mother I think she was afraid to try anything worse!!!!
Grandpa always said, that green stuff was meant to feed and fatten rabbits, THEN you could eat the rabbits!
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Crofter, if you liked caster oil, you must have found a way to fry it. It was bad.
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My sister was forced to sit at the dinner table until she ate up all of her dinner :-X
After an hour and the Cold food was even more disgusting mother came in and said
"you are going to sit there untill you eat up or throw up"
Upon which my sister barfed all over the tabel :D :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :D
mvh Edward :P
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My sister really liked it when cod liver oil finally started coming in the gelatin capsules; I used to bite mine to get the goodness out, and it would gross her out!
Jen, the holding her part was poetic license!
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Beans is what caused the caster oil problem, growing up in a 4 room house,mom, dad, and 4 boys in those days, times were hard. We ate alot of beans, and after supper we all sat in the livingroom along with coon hounds and listen to the radio (before TV), usually Dad or mom one would wrinkle there nose up and say,OK, who done it! of course nobody in there right mined would own up to it ;D. So dad and mom would line us up for a dose of caster oil, dad would grin and say i'll get the right one, i'll clean all of you out :'(. I swear i've seen a smile on old Reds face(one of the coon hounds) more than once,Of course dad would never blame one of his hounds for it >:( Jack
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Gah... My Bluetick could clear out a gymnasium.. He was relegated to riding in the dog box after only one episode in the back of the crew cab.
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"you are going to sit there until you eat up or throw up"
I remember doing that very thing with liver!
It never got served to me again. ;) :D
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:D :laugh: :laugh: :D
:no: It smells nice when you Cook it, but its nasty to chew on :no:
mvh Edward :P
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Gram could make Liver and Onions like nobody s business. I LOVED eating that at her house.. I wish I knew how she did it because I purely CANT eat it anywhere else.. I have tried to make it myself and failed miserably...
Sitting here at the table, revamping my plans for this spring for the 286th time.. Not much has changed.. Cant make definitive plans until I know when the queens are going to arrive, or for that matter how many hives I have that made the winter. Lost one through the NASTY -50 temps, and it is snowing like crazy right now. Looks like a few more days of negative temps, and by mid week into the upper 20's and lower 30's...
It is REALLY sad when your EXCITED by the fact it is going to be 30 degrees F outside. This has been the winter from hades.. I hope Spring kicks in and repays us for the struggle with kindness and good flows!
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"I hope Spring kicks in and repays us for the struggle with kindness and good flows!"
I second that. While cold temps and bad weather are not that unusual here, the length of this winter so far is starting to concern me. My hives were heavy, so I don't think that will be a huge issue for most, but if there is any kind of attrition reducing the size of clusters, it could get ugly.
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Unfortunately I wasn't gifted with a Gram. My mom tho would make liver and onions once in awhile and it was all I could do to not hurl it in the potted plant next to the table.
NOW! Deer liver and onions, in deer camp, floured salt pepper cinnamon, right out of the pan is pretty tasty. But I prefer back strap and then deer heart. Eating the deer heart helps me bond with the animal that I just killed. Or sometimes I bury the heart back into the earth, depends on hard it was to kill the beast.
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Ed ""It smells nice when you Cook it, but its nasty to chew on""
Something about bovine liver that I can't even smell cooking or chew it! Gives me the willies
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jano, a good thread you started here, i haven't really chimed in but have read all thoughts and goals for the upcoming season, i am in envy of you all. my goal would be to simply be able to work bees this season, and for the remainder of my life without the fear of a sting and an allergic reaction. i suspect that i will be standing on the side lines again this season, teaching another by the seat of my pants, and his too...... :D, and keeping bees vicariously through all here.
i hope the remainder of my hives survive this very long cold winter. my other goal was to rear some of my own queens, but this may have to wait until next season as well.
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Well Riv- You are the propolis in this forum !! The glue that holds it all together. When I see and read your posts I Always stop and listen ~Hugs~
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Ed ""It smells nice when you Cook it, but its nasty to chew on""
Something about bovine liver that I can't even smell cooking or chew it! Gives me the willies
We give all those parts to the dog. He seems to like them.
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Hey River, why do you not feel you'll be able to work the bees at all this year? I thought the therapy had worked to the point that you were going to be able to?
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Hey River, why do you not feel you'll be able to work the bees at all this year? I thought the therapy had worked to the point that you were going to be able to?
Indeed Mrs Propolis!!! I was hoping that with the therapy and a GOOD bee suit you would be capable???
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Mrs. Propolis :D
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mrs. propolis....that's a new one, and very funny..... :D
i didn't want to sidetrack this thread with anything i had to say, i have my own thread to do that on..... :D
this thread really was a good thing for me, and yet, was so hard for me to read everyday. kind of 'wish i could be there', or 'yeah me too', type thinking.
my doc has a bit of a specialty and interest in venom immunotherapy, and thinks 2 years at the minimum irregardless of the protective gear. we all know the bees find a way to nail us......she's just being a good doc, and i appreciate that. this will be my second year, or second season. she says, "can you work the bees without being stung whatsoever, don't tell me you can because if you do, you are fibbing and be prepared to face a great risk".........
uhmmm, i can't add some extra words from her advice in here...... :D doesn't matter, but she's right...
so to get back on topic, it would be interesting to come back to this thread and find out how many of us have met our goals for the upcoming season?
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I will keep you in my hopes and prayers Mrs River!! Or, err, Mrs Propolis!!!!
Indeed.. I sit staring out the window in the morning with my coffee thinking about what to do, and how best to go about it.. I have second guessed and re thought my plans a hundred times, and in the end, I realize.. Wait!! Isnt that what I planned the first time around?
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thank's lazy, i know you do, you will never know.
"Indeed.. I sit staring out the window in the morning with my coffee thinking about what to do, and how best to go about it.. I have second guessed and re thought my plans a hundred times, and in the end, I realize.. Wait!! Isnt that what I planned the first time around?"
that's so true what you said lazy? isn't it? have done it over the years, and looked back and said, ok, next year........ :D
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Ed ""It smells nice when you Cook it, but its nasty to chew on""Something about bovine liver that I can't even smell cooking or chew it! Gives me the willies
We give all those parts to the dog. He seems to like them.
We were 4 kids and the poor dog couldn't eat all of the horrible food that we didn't like to eat .
It was my oldest sister's dog so she thought that he should eat the food she didn't like first, but the dog Always ate from my other sister first .
It took some time till we found out how she got the dog to eat from her first.
She never told us, but looking under the table at her fingers, she had covered in gravy.
So the dog Always when to her because she made it more appetizing for the dog.
mvh Edward :P
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maybe i am off topic, but.......and the thread is about........ ? :)....... :D
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about our goals for this year.. It didnt say we couldnt say our goals were about NOT eating liver!!!