BLACKBERRY TRELLIS - This is version 2.0 of our blackberry trellis. We are modeling this after our grape trellis and using knowledge gained from building our muscadine grape trellis.
TRELLIS - POSTS - The ends of the blackberry line are 4"x4"x6' pressure treated posts that are sunk in the ground 2 feet with 50 pounds of concrete and tamped dirt.
YELLOW LINE - We used yellow tree climbing line to eyeball where our trellis was going to go.
...

BUTTERFLY BIT - Drilled 4 holes in the wooden posts, 2 in each post, for wire vices for 9 gauge wire. The holes are about 1 1/2" in diameter.
RUN THE FIRST WIRE - We inserted the wire in one post and ran it the length of the blackberry line cutting off the excess 9 gauge wire before running it through the other post.
GREEN HEAVY DUTY METAL FENCE POSTS - We observed other vineyards used heavy duty metal green fence posts to support the 9 gauge wire in the middle of the line. We used 4 posts for about a 100 foot line. The metal posts have metal hooks that can be opened and bent over to support the wire.
TENSIONER - There is a tool that tensions / tightens the wire.
2 WIRES - Run the second line and we are done. Saw where someone else uses 3 wires and tilts the poles at a 30 degree angle for easier berry picking. Perhaps that will be version 3.0.

 

Where does our honey come from???

 

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has been cherished for its unmistakable aroma and its therapeutic properties for thousands of years! Lavender is widely used and acknowledged for its calming and relaxing qualities. Our bees love our Lavender and there is a little bit of Lavender nectar and pollen in our honey. 

 

Stay tuned for more posts on what are bees are landing on!

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Millions of bees swarm Georgia interstate after truck overturns

Just posted to Yahoo News.  Thought you might bee interested.

http://news.yahoo.com/millions-bees-swarm-georgia-interstate-truck-overturns-184635021.html?action=-1746220161

ATLANTA (Reuters) - An overturned tractor-trailer let loose millions of honeybees on Sunday and left a sticky mess on a major highway south of Atlanta, after hitting a guardrail and spilling its cargo of hives and honey.

"It looked like there was a rain cloud around everybody," Monroe County Emergency Management Agency director Matthew Perry said on Monday. "There was a giant mound of honeycomb and bees."

A portion of Interstate 75 was closed briefly, and clean-up of the honey and swarming bees took 15 hours, Perry said.

Authorities sought help from beekeepers, who arrived with protective gear to assist with the potentially dangerous swarm.

The debris was pushed to the median with a small bulldozer and then beekeepers began piecing the broken hives back together so the bees would return, Perry said. The hives were loaded back into bee boxes and hauled away.

No one was stung or injured, in part because the weather was cool and the bees docile, Perry said.

"When you have an interstate like I-75, you never know what's going to come passing through," he said.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alden Bentley)

Dinner on Plan Bee

It has taken us awhile but after years we are becoming more comfortable on our property we have named "Plan Bee".

As beekeepers we have been taught that the most valuable item for a healthy bee yard is a trained beekeeper.  Therefore we want to be sure to take good care of the beekeepers on Plan Bee. 

Er ah, that would be us. :-)

Now that the Bee Inn (our new shed) is up and mostly finished, we have place to spend a night.  We strategically placed the Bee Inn behind our picnic shelter.  This compresses the human footprint on Plan Bee's 23.5 acres and is more convenient for the Beekeepers.

As you may be able to see above, we are eating our dinner of chicken, pitas and Turkish coffee at the picnic table.  I cooked the chicken on the grill using charcoal right on the table.  One the other end of the table we have a Coleman stove that is used to heat water we use for coffee, tea or oatmeal.

If you want to come and visit, send us an email  at  BeeBoy@WildThingsInABox.com and we can work out a date.

A Sweeter Tax Than Most

Beelieve it or not, some accountants have a sense of humor.  One in particular I have the pleasure of knowing is Ed Lloyd of Ed Lloyd & Associates, PLLC ( ed@elcpa.com, www.elcpa.com ).  I just received permission to post one of his sweet honey related tax articles that is both informative and funny.  One point in particular to be sure to harvest from this article has to do with Chinese honey and transshipping.

Here is the article

When you hear the word "tax," you probably think of something the IRS takes out of your paycheck. Or you might think of something they take out of an inheritance. But taxes affect virtually every financial transaction you make. Take, for example, that simple jar of honey lurking on the shelf in your refrigerator.

Americans eat more honey than anyone else in the world — about 400 million pounds of it a year. Most of it goes towards sweetening foods like cereals, cookies, and breads. Even whiskey producers are adding honey to their blends to attract younger drinkers. (The Scotch Whiskey Association just stung Dewars for labeling their new "Highlander Honey" as "scotch" rather than "spirit drink.")

Where does all that honey come from? Well, China is the world's largest honey exporter. But Chinese beekeepers sometimes use pesticides banned here in the U.S. They sometimes dry their honey by machine, which lets the bees produce more, but leaves the honey with a foul taste similar to sauerkraut. Worst of all, Chinese producers sell their honey at prices as low as half of what our domestic producers charge.

Back in 2001, the U.S. government slapped Chinese honey with punitive tariffs, currently set at $2.63/kilogram, to protect American producers. Those taxe$ can triple the cost of Chinese honey. So today, about 40% of our honey comes from here in the U.S., with the rest coming from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and other countries.

What's a poor Chinese beekeeper to do? Enter the "honey launderers." Chinese producers send their honey to nearby countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, India, or Korea, and re-label it as coming from those countries. They add rice sugar, molasses, or fructose syrup to hide any unpleasant tastes or smells. (Ick.) They filter the honey to remove the pollen, which palynologists, or pollen specialists, can use like a natural "fingerprint" to track down a honey's origin. And they pocket the savings they create by evading the tax.

How much tax does the illicit honey avoid? A lot. Back in 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials charged 14 people with a globe-trotting scheme to evade $80 million in payments. And in February of this year, officials busted two of the nation's biggest suppliers for evading $180 million more. In a scene reminiscent of Donnie Brasco, officials launched "Operation Honeygate" and planted an agent "on the inside" for a year. The agent served as one supplier's director of procurement, and the investigation led to five individual guilty pleas, two deferred prosecutions, and $3 million in fines.

What's the lesson? Taxes are baked into the price of everything you buy, whether they're even paid or not!

There's not much we can do to help you avoid hidden tariffs on baked goods. Fortunately, we can help with the taxes that really count — taxes on your income, your payroll, and even your estate. If you're busy as a bee, you deserve to keep everything the law allows. So call us for the plan you need — and remember, we're here for everyone else in your hive!

If you liked Ed's article and would like more advice on Tax $aving$, you can contact him @ 704-544-7600.

 

Bee sure to let him know the Bee Boy sent you.

Minding our own BeesWax --- and making candles

Many years ago I heard the expression, "mind your own beeswax".  I thought it referred to minding your own business.  Turns out I may have been right for a change.

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There is an absurd story, much repeated on the internet, that 18th-century ladies used to fill in the pockmarks on their faces (this was when smallpox was a common and disfiguring disease)with beeswax, which would melt if the lady sat too near the fire. If someone else warned her about this, she would retort "mind your OWN beeswax!" This story is only mentioned to say that there isn't a shred of truth in it. Though beeswax was often (and still is) a component of cosmetics of all kinds, it was not used as a pockmark filler in this way. The beeswax saying is of 1920s origin, a garbling of "mind your own business." While it might seem harshly rude to say "mind your own business," changing the last word to "beeswax" softens the blow, and makes a jovial point of the same sentiment.  http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_mind_your_own_beeswax_originate
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Transition --- As my wife and I are working more with our honey bees, we are looking for other products from the hive.  The Bee Boss gave us a 5 gallon tub of the beeswax years ago and my wife dutifully promised to make something from it.  Well, time slipped away from us.  We bought a crockpot to melt the stuff and after seeing another beekeeper simply melt wax and pour it into a mold we thought it would be easy.  WRONG!

sO like many things bee, we had to go back to the beeginning. 

Where does beeswax come from anyhow??  Found these nifty photos on Bing that show you the source of beeswax.

A honey bee worker has four pairs of wax glands in her ventral abdominal segments. 



Note that PURE beeswax is clear. (See the three small beeswax chips above and new wax on the abdomen of a honey bee below.)  

This is a direct product from a honey bee worker.   Honey bees use this material to make the comb that is used by the honey bee colony to store honey.  The queen lays eggs in hexagonal (6 sided) cells that are between 4.5  and 5.4 millimeters in diameter to make more honey bees. (brood)  From what I have read, honey bees naturally make their cells 4.5 millimeters while commercial wax foundation is the larger 5.4 millimeters.  The purpose of the larger cell size is for larger bees and more honey.  This has made for some problems in the honey bee world that are not so sweet.  Back to the subject.

Our purpose in using the comb for now is to make beeswax candles.

Why use beeswax to make a candle? 

One reason My wife found in the write up below @ http://www.busybeebeeswax.ca/waxfacts.html.  If you go to the web site, note the other types of candles, their composition and byproducts.

 BEESWAX is the only all natural candle wax. It’s a sustainable and renewable resource. When you buy a beeswax candle you’re supporting beekeepers, which means supporting those busy little insects that pollinate food crops and keep the world green naturally. Beeswax candles burn cleaner, brighter, hotter  and longer than other candles. When natural golden beeswax burns it gives off a soft glow* and sweetens the  room with its natural scent — no artificial scents or colors required! Many people are allergic to the  artificial waxes and artificial fragrances common in today’s candles, even in church! Beeswax is non-allergenic and is a natural air cleaner, recommended by the American Lung Association. It’s the best choice for asthma and allergy sufferers. Beeswax candles burn cleanly, don’t drip when properly used, and have long burn times,  saving you money. Be sure that the candles you buy are 100% beeswax – some countries allow as little as 10%  beeswax in candles labeled as ‘beeswax’.

*The light spectrum emitted from a beeswax candle is the closest of all waxes to natural sunshine

 

Another reason to use BEESWAX for candles has to do with their efficiency in burning.  I read somewhere, can't find the source, that one of the reasons beeswax candles were used exclusively in medieval cathedrals is they release NO SOOT.  Beeswax candles actually clean the air whereas all other candles leave impurities (soot) in the air.  Soot /ˈsʊt/ is impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soot

 

So whether you want to support a beekeeper; see pure light (sunshine) or experience cleaner air, beeswax candles are a really neat option.

 ONE WAY TO MAKE BEESWAX CANDLES

We will offer classes in making beeswax candles.  If interested contact me @ beeboy@wildthingsinabox.com.

 We are now going to discuss how we make beeswax candles.  My queen bee and I have spent many hours over the old stove and read many an article to get where we are.

Step 1 - Gather beeswax

The best beeswax to use is either the cappings off the end of the comb (a byproduct generated when harvesting honey) or newly formed and unused wax comb.  This wax will be a white color and have a minimum of impurities in it.  BEESWAX with impurities will NOT BURN.  We know we tried. We used a crockpot with no temperature control and reheated some old beeswax.  We did a minimum filtering of the wax and poured it into a neat glass candle form with a medium wick.  The results were a candle that would NOT sustain a flame. Useless!

Step 2 - 5 -- Clean/filter your beeswax

You will need a double boiler and a wax thermometer to melt your wax.  Beeswax has a relatively low melting point range of 62 to 64 °C (144 to 147 °F). If beeswax is heated above 85 °C (185 °F) discoloration occurs. The flash point of beeswax is 204.4 °C (399.9 °F). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeswax

Pour your melted wax through panty hose, t-shirts or whatever your little heart desires into Tupperware or other container and let it cool.  The neat thing about a Tupperware container is you can see the wax separate from the honey.  The wax will be on top and the honey on the bottom.  Depending on the quality of your wax/honey mixture, you can retrieve some additional honey in addition to the beeswax.  Pour off the honey; rinse off the beeswax in water and repeat.

     Why do I have this step listed three times?  So far we have found it necessary to triple filter our beeswax to get all of the impurities out.  After the first filtering it looks like we have everything out of the beeswax however once we repeat the melting/pouring steps more impurities are revealed.  In step one above you will note our experience with impure beeswax.(The candle does NOT remain lit.)

     Interesting note -  Biblically the number 3 is the number of perfection.  Turns out the third word in Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew refers to Elohiym (God).

Step 6 - Selecting your wick and candle form
From what we have read the best wicks are pure cotton and thick.  We tried medium and wooden wicks with no success. By no success we mean the candle would not stay lit. 

Step 7 - Pouring the wax
Once you have everything ready:

• Pure wax
• Wick secured into candle form
• Candle form stable and ready to receive beeswax 

 Pour in your melted beeswax.

Step 8 - Letting your wax cool
 We let our beeswax candle cool overnight.  The color of the candle is a light brown/tan color.


Step 9 - Burn baby burn

Now for the moment you have been waiting for, light your candle.  The wick should have been trimmed to about 1/4 inch above the wax.  Keep your candle out  of the wind as beeswax candles are very sensitive to air movement.

The glow is magical and after all of your work you can really appreciate the gentle sunlike glow of the candle.

Bee Boy out!

Getting ready for Spring

We had planned on taking a quick look at our honeybees but knew that if the weather allowed we wanted to provide them a little extra food.  We are focusing on raising survivor bees so we don't want to spoil them.

As you can see in the picture above it was a nice day and the temperatures were actually above 60°.  We had fed all of our hives sugar fondant to help them through the winter but to avoid such detrimental issues as moisture dripping onto the cluster and hive beetle hiding places with a normal hive top feeder.  The hives that were surviving had consumed ALL of the fondant.  The hives that died had fondant left.

Yep dead bees don't eat. 

We took all of the sugar fondant we had prepared and spread it out on all of the remaining live hives.  We started the winter with 6 but have lost 2.  So for us 3rd grade math students, we have 4 hives left.

Who is making it?  The two hives that died were Russian bees.  We bought one hive (second year for this hive) and the other was the result of a swarm from the first/mother hive. (2012)  We took NO honey from either hive but fed them little as well.  Both hives were is some of the more exposed areas of the property so they may have gotten colder.  So far this season we have touched the 20's but not colder.

The four remaining hives include our original 2010 Aleph and Gimmel.  One hive is a Minnesota hygienic we bought from Carl Chesick & Stuart Van Meter of the Center for Honeybee Research in the Hendersonville, NC area.  We split Gimmel last year creating Hey (using Hebrew letters for our hives) and that hive is surving so far as well.  The last survivor is also from Carl Chesick & Stuart Van Meter of the Center for Honeybee Research  and we have them in a Warre` hive.

When we looked at the dead hives, it was interesting to observe not ONE small cluster but a number of them in each hive.  Little honey so I am guessing they may have starved out.  Does this make me a bad beekeeper.  Perhaps.  It is interesting to note that we applied the same methods to our other 4 surviving hives.

WINTER IS STILL NOT OVER.

We inserted mediums boxes on the bottom of our 3 Langstroth hives (nadiring instead of supering).  We have done nothing so far to  our Warre` hive but may do a split in March/April.

Well that's about all of the news that is news from Plan Bee.

Bee Boy out.