Wine and bee keeping blog.

[Twintrades]

Well i dunno if any one has any interest but i started a blog about my wine making and bee keeping adventures. Plus a little family stuff throw in for good measure.

http://www.adventuresinpeterland.blogspot.com/

I just thought some one would like to see how i do things. And if you want you can follow me and you'll get updates as i post new stuff ! Feel free to chime in with advice and criticism.

I can keep track of my wine making with notes ( loose them ) but with the blog im encouraged to update it. Hope to see some one there.

 

[Hokapsig]

I'd be interested in that blog. Make sure you post a link. Please be detailed as I know nothing about bee keeping (except dont get stung)

 

[Twintrades]

http://www.adventuresinpeterland.blogspot.com/



Durrrr for the life of me i don't know why i didn't post it in the beginning !

Thanks

 

[Hokapsig]

I would be interested from the start. How did you get into this. What was the up front cost. How did you site the colony? Where did you get the bees from? How many did you get? Did you construct the hives yourselves? Do you have the plans?

I would like to see the background minutia...

 

[Twintrades]

How did i get into this ?

I just decided one day that it would be neet to have bee's. So i started looking at online forums. And found a guy in my town that sells package bees. It was to late to start with a package. But i found a lady 1 hr away that had a tree with bees in it. She was either going to let me cut the bees out. or would kill them. SO i did a cut out. And got some bees. It was late in the yr and they didnt have enuf time to make it thru the winter. So at least that got me some experience.
I ordered 2 3lb package's this spring and my uncle wanted some honey so he bought another for me to manage for him. So now i have 3 hive's. And couldn't be happy'r.


Up front cost
Its about 175 per hive for the basics. But i being a carpenter and unemployed thru the winter built all my own supply's. But i would recommend just buying the supply's. And yea i have plans but just google hive plans and youll find them. If you want any other info just pm me !


Siteing the colony
I picked a spot on my property to keep an eye on them the first yr. Next yr i might move them some where else. When you do some reading it will tell you how to pick a good site. I would recommend Bee keeping for dummys book.

 

[SarahRides]

The blog sounds very interesting! I'd love bees for the honey, except for this terrible fear of being stung!

 

[Wiz]

There's just one problem here. Beekeeping is like winemaking - it's additive. I was a beekeeper for over 10 years when we lived in the U.S. I also started with 3 hives and 3 years later I had over 50, did pollination for farmers moving bees at night until 12:00 to 1:00 in the morning, made bee hive products and sold them at craft fairs 8 months out of the year. Sold all these products wholesale also. This is in addition to my regular job.

Since I started winemaking I have tried to keep the brakes on and keep it under control. I don't kow if my wife would agree to this though.

Mike

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

We have been hosting hives for a beekeeper and this year decided to get into ourselves. I have 2 Langs and this morning we got a Top Bar hive to play with. Our goat is to have very nice rich honey, not just clover honey, to make mead with. Since we have been using our local beekeepers tulip poplar and locust honey and his wildflower honeys our meads have just gotten better and better. We have raspberries and blackberries near the hives, when they are blooming the bees fly straight to the berries and straight back to the hive, you can see them from all 10 hives in the Wineyard. Yeah Mike, I can see how it could get worse, I have room for lots more hives, I plan on planting a couple of acres of sweet clover and wildflowers for them in the future! Crackedcork

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Being a carpenter guy wouldnt it be cool to be called out on a cutout from an old house, dont forget to bring extra buckets and rubber bands. We just went for a night walk down to the hives, they are out on the front porch fanning as a group. CC

 

[Twintrades]

Yea i just started working for a pest management co. Im hoping to get a call to do that some day ! Its still coolish here. So there not out as much as id like. But its nice when its warm and sunny out. My neighbor like the bees she walks to the fence and watches them work when it nice. It cool to see her siting there looking at the bees. But maker me wonder about her sanity. Lol shes in her late 70's

 

[Wiz]

Crackedcork, if I'm reading you right, whenever I got a call from someone with bees behind their walls or in their eaves, etc., I always refused to take care of them because of the liability. I also was on the list for the northern Baltimore Fire Depts, the Baltimore Police Dept and State Police for swarms outside in trees. Collected many a swarm in addition of those from my own hives.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Wiz, I dont know what you mean by reading me right? I dont have the skills to do a cutout from someones house, it would be a mess, but a carpetener like Twin could easily figure it out. I have seen swarms but have yet to catch one, it looks like a lot of fun.

Is anyone making mead from their own honey?

CC

 

[Twintrades]

I hope to. Ive heard that its way better than buying store "honey"

 

[Twintrades]

Just updated it ! Now with pics of frames with bees !

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

TT, nice setup, what you got going in the nucs? You got some more painting to do so they dont drift. Nice brood pattern in some of those shots, not easy to hold a frame a bees and a camera at the same time! We insepected some hives with my mentor and as he was chatting away I noticed a queen walking across his jacket, so I count that one in my favor, how many newbees catch a queen right off in their first year! We got a top bar hive, if that doesnt work well I also just got a deep to use to transformit back into a lang. I got one queen kicking *** and might be ready for a honey supper in a week or two and another that isnt even close to ready to have a med super put on top of it to make a better brood chamber.
CC

 

[Deezil]

I've been wanting/looking into beekeeping myself as an addition to the winemaking fiasco ive got myself into.. Will be interesting to see how this progresses..