Apiary Diary February 2022

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tommy dave

Gold
BOP Club
230
263
mostly wellington, sometimes dunedin
Experience
Hobbyist
My dunedin hives underperformed on the honey front this year. There is an extraction yet to go, but might be as little as 30kg per hive, not sure what brought that on. In contrast, the community garden hives I manage in wellington have done fairly well, anticipating pulling the honey off this week or next, looking like 2xfull depth and 1x3/4 per hive. I'm debating adding the boxes from my single garden hive here in wellington to the community project mix to save myself the hassle of extracting and disposing of the honey.

Taranaki hives, I'll know soon for sure , but there was a fair bit of honey on last time i checked. I bought a second-hand four frame electric extractor off trade me for $200, so hopefully that will speed things up.

As for work-life balance. The last four months of not working have been good, although obviously impacting savings. Looking like I'll be working again starting in the next few weeks. I should probably stock up on fish and meat between now and then while I still have time. Smoked trout and goat curry have been dominant protein sources this summer.
 
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StephenB

Banned
199
85
New Zealand
Experience
Commercial
My dunedin hives underperformed on the honey front this year. There is an extraction yet to go, but might be as little as 30kg per hive, not sure what brought that on. In contrast, the community garden hives I manage in wellington have done fairly well, anticipating pulling the honey off this week or next, looking like 2xfull depth and 1x3/4 per hive. I'm debating adding the boxes from my single garden hive here in wellington to the community project mix to save myself the hassle of extracting and disposing of the honey.

Taranaki hives, I'll know soon for sure , but there was a fair bit of honey on last time i checked. I bought a second-hand four frame electric extractor off trade me for $200, so hopefully that will speed things up.

As for work-life balance. The last four months of not working have been good, although obviously impacting savings. Looking like I'll be working again starting in the next few weeks. I should probably stock up on fish and meat between now and then while I still have time. Smoked trout and goat curry have been dominant protein sources this summer.
Honey might have been washed away over the weekend
 
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Reactions: tommy dave
5,764
6,323
canterbury
Experience
Commercial
Holy Heck ….. she been a goodie today taking honey offf…… thermo popped 36c in the bee yard and we retreated to the trucks and cranked the diesel aircon for afternoon smoko.
And i bought a house for $500 ….
This was the old Jacksons Honey House that the present owner was gonna torch…

Hi Ho , Hi Ho ….. Mahe Mahe…..
The Misso has packed a saddde….
But i figure it might keep the crew busy over a quiet time…. And preserve a bit of history…..
So tonight i am in thedog box…. Camping on the beach
Livin the dream!!
57EC2A46-6222-4298-A6DA-0CACE1F8E384.jpeg
 
Last edited:
5,764
6,323
canterbury
Experience
Commercial
Holy Heck ….. she been a goodie today taking honey offf…… thermo popped 36c in the bee yard and we retreated to the trucks and cranked the diesel aircon for afternoon smoko.
And i bought a house for $500 ….
This was the old Jacksons Honey House that the present owner was gonna torch…

Hi Ho , Hi Ho ….. Mahe Mahe…..
The Misso has packed a saddde….
But i figure it might keep the crew busy over a quiet time…. And preserve a bit of history…..
So tonight i am in thedog box…. Camping on the beach
Livin the dream!!
View attachment 1233
772C936B-E2E6-4FF5-949F-27ACA3E44120.jpeg
 
175
116
West Coast
Experience
Hobbyist
Holy Heck ….. she been a goodie today taking honey offf…… thermo popped 36c in the bee yard and we retreated to the trucks and cranked the diesel aircon for afternoon smoko.
And i bought a house for $500 ….
This was the old Jacksons Honey House that the present owner was gonna torch…

Hi Ho , Hi Ho ….. Mahe Mahe…..
The Misso has packed a saddde….
But i figure it might keep the crew busy over a quiet time…. And preserve a bit of history…..
So tonight i am in thedog box…. Camping on the beach
Livin the dream!!
View attachment 1233
The last beekeeper to use that place was Rod Buchanan It was used to store his 3/4 extraction boxes .As far as I know it has never been used for extraction
 
1,311
1,791
North Canterbury
Experience
Commercial
While my hives are chipping away waiting for the Honeydew to make an appearance I’m out and about slapping out the Vespex, I’ve been doing bee sites for a mate up in the high country, those hives weren’t up to much foraging with the wasps in high numbers forcing defence bearding.
This stuff is such an effective tool after 24 hrs it’s not easy to even spot a wasp.
I’d like to invent an open ended wax paper pellet for it to be delivered via chopper en mass.
 
445
327
Mid Canterbury
Experience
Semi Commercial
While my hives are chipping away waiting for the Honeydew to make an appearance I’m out and about slapping out the Vespex, I’ve been doing bee sites for a mate up in the high country, those hives weren’t up to much foraging with the wasps in high numbers forcing defence bearding.
This stuff is such an effective tool after 24 hrs it’s not easy to even spot a wasp.
I’d like to invent an open ended wax paper pellet for it to be delivered via chopper en mass.
Would you use beeswax!!!!?
 

tommy dave

Gold
BOP Club
230
263
mostly wellington, sometimes dunedin
Experience
Hobbyist
Took a couple more boxes of honey off each of my Taranaki hives today, had escaped three boxes per hive, but decided to only take two. Will probably take another few boxes off in march. Extract tomorrow or this weekend I guess.
And done today, about 130kg this time - second honey pull. One more honey pull to go from my four Taranaki hives this season. Looking like I won't hit the 100kg/hive from up here this year.
 
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Reactions: James

yesbut

Staff member
11,939
7,039
Nelson
Experience
Hobbyist
And done today, about 130kg this time - second honey pull. One more honey pull to go from my four Taranaki hives this season. Looking like I won't hit the 100kg/hive from up here this year.
I'd be pulling my hair out (whats left of it) if I had that much crop to deal with.
 
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Reactions: southbee
5,764
6,323
canterbury
Experience
Commercial
Been busy as a bee today making the most of the rain….moving hives back over The Hill.
I generally dont pay for diesel as I fill up at the bowser at home ….. but on the road I have tp pay market prices.
Burnt over five hundred bucks worth today ….. ouch ….. its got quite expensive!
 

southbee

Gold
315
264
Southland
Experience
Commercial
Ouch alright, hope the little critters will produce more than 1000 bucks worth for you to come back home as well! But seriously, the fuel costs are going to be a real drag on everyone, lets hope the honey prices are coming up a bit more.
 

StephenB

Banned
199
85
New Zealand
Experience
Commercial
Been busy as a bee today making the most of the rain….moving hives back over The Hill.
I generally dont pay for diesel as I fill up at the bowser at home ….. but on the road I have tp pay market prices.
Burnt over five hundred bucks worth today ….. ouch ….. its got quite expensive!
Joys of driving a beast
 

yesbut

Staff member
11,939
7,039
Nelson
Experience
Hobbyist
Filling up the bikes on Thursday at Arthur's, the 91 was exactly 20 cents litre cheaper than anywhere else.
 


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