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Bees are starting to hit the buckwheat field. This is my favorite time of year!

Exactly. It usually requires intensive sugar feeding.

Our doe had her triplets together for the first time this morning.

Folks near here are still catching swarms... I stop June 1st. Anything after that is just a problem in the making

Mom will leave them alone most of the day for weeks. We have them on our property every year. She leaves them hidden in grass during the day, she will come by and nurse them from time to time and they will play. Here it’s a month or more. They will also place the twins in different...

Next post. TYM front bearings need replacing already. Yep

Push type Earthway seeder. I have Northen Extra Sweet and Gotta Have It. The Northern Extra Sweet is much more vigorous. The Gotta Have It is supposed to make up to 3 ears per stalk.

Hoed and hilled 810 sweet corn plants today. 900 more to go!

A sun hat for gardening and a neck fan. I have 1800’ of sweet corn to hoe… and it’s 90+ degrees. Throw in 100’ of beans and 256 pumpkin vines… I’ll be busy.

Most beekeepers used to use skeps, which allowed the bees to draw comb naturally. Like they do in the wild. They are now outlawed in most states because you can't inspect the comb on removable frames. Did you know that bees live in trees without removable frames? 😂. They are never inspected...

I have a couple friends that go... But I don't know why. All of the cultural practices they tout run contrary to what the bees do naturally... And these friends of mine don't use those practices. I suppose, it's a good way to introduce a different view point that some never consider. Like...

That is how Langstroth beekeepers are mentored. It was a practice started wayyyback by commercial beekeepers to make more profit. Take the honey, feed them sugar. Langstroth beehives themselves were created for commercial/profit beekeeping. The cultural practices followed into non commercial...

An average full honey frame has 8 pounds of honey in it. Each winter nest frame has about a 2lb band at the top. I've learned this over the years. So I multiply the brood nest frames by (2)... Then leave full frames of honey until I reach 30 pounds

I never use queen excluders. The queen chooses to raise brood where temps and ventilation are optimal. I don't want to restrict that. We harvest in early October, when the last nectar flow is over. Bees will store excess honey in combs that do not contain brood. Any frame that has open...

Moved my last 4 colonies yesterday. Here is one of the swarms. The queen is laying in every open cell. I love the look of new comb.

It's just an Earthway seeder. I use the large pea plate for urea. Equates to about 1lb per 100' row. So, .46lb of nitrogen.

Nope. Trimec 992 and Barricade. Triclopyr should be fine. I'll be spraying that this fall for wild violet

I do love that I can easily meter it to 1lb per 100' row. So after 2 applications I'll have about 1lb of nitrogen for 100'. The seed plate is so precise

Graber built my 40x60 shop. Fantastic work!

Got my last three hives placed tonight.

I use Rotella T6

Deer had a learning moment this morning. This was before the video of her being snapped on the nose with 5000 volts 😂

Eh, just playing in the dirt with my son

Finally finished. Added the lower fork protection and front disc guard too

Maybe my pests are avoiding the electric fence already. I wish the rain would stop so I could get in and till the weeds between rows. Even then I have probably 6-8 hours of tilling/weeding to do in 90F heat

Getting some new graphics on my dirt scoot. What a PITA

No pests last night, but the weather was inclement

I use my earthway to side dress in the same way.

Well I got a trail cam for Father’s Day, so now I’ll see my adversaries

My Branson has a soft engagement. It's electronic, just a solenoid switch, but it feathers in. I wonder what the difference is

My Branson came with pink coolant, so that is what I used

Yah, those pulleys look like they are leaning out of alignment for sure. Wow

Man I’d take a small tractor with a flail mower over a ZTR. I love my ZTR, but ride isn’t like the tractor with those big fat azz tires

Yeah, I mowed 3 acres of 12" tall grass yesterday. Lots of rain this year

Right, but I thought he bought some last year that crapped out this year too

I will admit, horizontal hives are more like a natural home for bees. Well insulted and extra deep frames that allow the winter cluster to feed without breaking cluster. That is not possible in a Langstroth hive.

I feed them what they get fed in nature, their own honey. Winter feeding is a result of over-harvesting honey, or greed I leave them 30 pounds of honey per hive. They will use 15-20 pounds to survive the winter typically. Traditional beekeepers claim their bees make more honey, because they...

How many batteries have you purchased, and at what total cost? One of those 9ah looks to be about $140

I will also say this. Years ago when we decided to be sugar and treatment free beekeepers, we were told we would fail. I know a plethora of Langstroth bee keeps, and they all said the same thing, our losses would be astronomical. Over the years, the inverse has been true. We have lost fewer...

Checked on two small swarms that I brought home a month ago, according to my notes. These are sisters of a VSH queen that I bought last year for a split. So far that split has yielded me three colonies. The queens lay eggs like a mason lays bricks. Solid and uniform. Of seven frames, all...

Don't buy, trap swarms. I've not bought bees in years, and amassed 20 colonies just playing around. When you buy bees. You are definitely buying bees treated for mites and fed with refined sugar... Hate to say it, but you are getting compromised bees. I bought two colonies (5) years ago...

Just completed.my second tractor job for my neighbor. My tractor is a blessing to them too

As a hobbyist, if you don't treat bees, and you let the non resistant bees die, you are helping. Because the bees you do propogate, year after year, and allow to swarm, will be genetically superior

Our approach https://civileats.com/2025/06/11/honey-bees-learn-to-fight-deadly-varroa-mites/

First year with the giants… so, we will see how the fare

Finished planting today. The totals for sweet corn are 1800 plants. 16 Atlantic giant pumpkin vines. 44 Autumn Buckskin pumpkin vines. 196 Renegade PMR pumpkin vines. 8 tomatoes 8 jalepenos 8 cabbage 8 cucumber 300 bush beans assorted onions and carrots Plus an acre of buckwheat.

5.5gpm pump, and yes, easily

My pumpkins will pay for the fence this year. I need it to protect my corn. Deer ate about 98% of it last year

An acre of buckwheat will bloom in three weeks to darken our honey crop.

Got our fence up this week. Planting 650 more sweet corn and 120 more pumpkins today. Will have 180 pumpkin plants and 2400 sweet corn, 300 bush beans, and other assorted veg.

It is a blessing. My shop and my tractor have been real blessings.

Busy day building. Aluminum roofs. Paint.

I can see the return port that they use for agitation in that photo above. I know, because I have the same unit, except I have the 12' boom attached Your 26 gallon doesn't have it?

You really only see issues on LS units. Rarely if ever from the other brands

I saw a post the other day on a beekeeping forum. The guy had a queen cell in the middle of a frame and asked "why are my bees doing this? I keep crushing these and they keep making more." I thought, you know, they probably wonder why are YOU doing this? Why are you crushing queen cells...

Space is not the only factor. Mine will swarm with half the hive empty. Bees will do what they want

Bees will swarm regardless of space available. It has a lot to do with genetics. Bees are programmed to propogate, and swarming is that mechanism. Colonies can change their swarm behavior over time too, since each time they swarm, the queen mates and takes on new genetic traits. I've had...

PTO neutral is a luxury item. Mine has it too. When you attach a PTO implement, it lets you turn the PTO by hand to align splines

I did see an article yesterday about the honey bee losses this last year for commercial beekeepers. They have attributed it to a virus being carried by varroa mites that are resistant to chemical treatments.

Until they mate with local bees, then you have mutts 😄

Swarm #10 today. This year has been double what we see in a typical year

What’s the alternative? Buying a high hour used unit and hoping for better results? I suppose buying new, is probably a valid option. When we bought, used units were as mush as new, and most were not stored well, or looked awful abused for the few hours they had. So a new unit made sense...

Yeah, mine basically tills ground. Maybe 15 hours per year. But it's not something that is cost effective to hire out either.

Yeah, in the US you have big ag, and you have homeowners. Not much in between. So a low hour 35hp unit is common. A small farm in these parts is 200-500 acres.

In the US a 35hp compact with 30-50 hours per year is pretty common to see.

Well, when I also consider the # of emissions failures that I do see posted across forums for brands like LS, yeah, it's rare. Not all LS owners are on forums either I suppose 😂

Wow, that is rare.

I don't think the tier IV TYM diesels ever regen. Pretty incredible when every other manufacturer does it between 35-50 hours.

My tractor is low hour... Because it's a compact, not an ag tractor. It sits in a clean, dry barn with a concrete floor. Maintenance done on time. I guess someone could avoid it, but that would be dumb 😂. I'll put 12 hours per day on an ag tractor, tilling acreage. That's just not what a...

The batteries, if you want run time, are terribly heavy. The gasser is hard to beat

I have the 80v saw... It's awful heavy and the battery doesn't last very long. I don't think I've used it since the week I bought it. My gasser is just lighter and runs longer. I'd definitely not recommend the 80V

With pre-emergent it's an easy battle 😂

Only 250 hours .

The fencing veil still allows for them to sting my bald skull sometimes. I need to wear a ball cap underneath

I get stung a lot. Maybe 10x per year, with a suit. Good therapy for arthritis

If I had a small property I'd definitely look at electric. I just don't, and probably never will. Aside from the lack of ability to manage large properties, it's perfect

First oil change! Exactly 4.3l of Rotella T6. Maybe placebo, but the engine sounds quieter. It'll need another change in about 8 years 😂 Also topped off the coolant reservoir. Hydro change at another time.

Fuel, oil and filter run me about $165/yr. I've never done anything else to the machine in the past 250 hours. The bonus is that I can mow 3 acres in one go, and it only takes 2 hours. Too bad the highest rated aftermarket batteries on Amazon were garbage. And the Ego batteries are like $150...

15 hours per year, cutting 2 acres? How? I run about 40 hours per year with my 72" Hustler. I also mow the yard at the barn which is about an acre, on top of that. After 6 years I'm at 250 hours. Just did my 6th oil change yesterday

How many batteries does it need to cut say, two acres at a time? I burn about 48 gallons of gas per year as it stands.

What does a battery cost? Looks like OEM is the only viable option

I changed the oil in my Hustler today, and took a look around while under there. Clean as a whistle. It's never once had the deck cleaned

Thank you. Been building it up with cover crop for about 4 years now

Planted and packed an acre of buckwheat.

I also just never cut wet grass. 6 years on this mower. Never scraped or cleaned. The deck gets blasted each and every mow, so nothing will be a long term solution IMHO. The time spent maintaining a deck is time I could spend mowing dry grass

I lived there for 25 years... And still go there to work on the farm. We will go into winter with 14 hives... Next year I'm shooting for 20

They said Michigan is having the worst year, in two decades. Everything I've read is that this year has been one of the worst.

I chalk it up to being a blessing. No idea...

Got a call... Another swarm. That is #8... Plus my one split. Now I'm short hives. Wow. Wow. Epic year. We still haven't done a single cut out this year. I'm taking down all swarm traps next week. No more swarms. It's time to take care of what I have and get more hives built. One...

.9 tilling an acre on the 4820.

Prepped the summer dearth buckwheat plot for seed.

This guy lives on about 80 acres, and backs up to thousands of state forest... Said I can place as many hives as I like. So, we started today! Bonus, he is only 4 miles from me.

Moved a little swarm to a big box. Queen is laying.

Probably best to spray and no till. Agree, once you till you are replanting seeds. It's taken me years to wear out our seed bank

Ha ha yep. It does. I often strip on the porch and clothes go to the wash. This spot is an annual producer of swarms... But very dicey to enter and exit 😂

Went to pull some swarm traps down today, because I only catch until the end of May... And looks like I have another. This is #7 I think

I'd buy a commercial unit. I have a Hustler X-One 72"... It's been a beast. About 1300lbs. Parker pumps.

These bees refused to go into the trap, after 5 days... Building comb on the tree. So, they got the vacuum. Now they have to live in a beautiful condo.

100 pounds of buckwheat seed

Ryan Hall has a great channel. He tornado warns before the NWS often. He is my go to.

Our little tractors are awesome, my Branson included. But Im always in awe of our 70's and 80's Ag tractors and the work they have done and what abuse they can take. My Kukje is a good motor, but not a DT436 turbo. My 48hp Branson is like a lawnmower 😂

You'd literally see smoke/oil vapor from the crankcase breather. I'm sure your tractor is in superb condition... But I run a lot of 1970s large ag tractors, and you see real blowby 😂. We are pushing 12,000-15,000 hours and no overhauls

Blowby is very visual...

I ran this tractor 22 hours in two days... And often thought, this thing has had no error codes and no fuel issues since 1982! 😂. 12,000 hours.

Let me see... We have 6 saws, chaps, helmets, fuel, oil, bars, chains etc...

We were there too. Often we are reaching individual homeowners with needs. Last winter we worked with a utility in Evansville after the ice storm... But often individuals need help, even if there isn't broad damage like Sullivan, IN 2023. They are mostly neglected if infrastructure is...

People seeking an FHA, are usually cash strapped. So the credits and the fee for the buyers agent are probably mostly necessary. My wife has had a few sellers balk at paying ANY of her buyers agent fee. Those sales only work if the seller takes an equal concession on the sales price. The...

Indiana Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Yeap

Looks like we are headed to Linton, IN with the chainsaw trailer next week. Bloomington as well

The worst thing that can happen, is they produce honey and die. Which I still see as a win. Poor genetics should never be allowed to survive, and I do like honey 😂

He can visit any time. I have to get some ground worked next week for sure. Been running heavier stuff this week 😁. Back on the little TYM soon

11.0 hours in the IH 5088 today. Put down about 80 more acres between the chisel plow and disc harrow. So 22 hours and about 150 acres by myself in this 115hp relic. Great tractor though, she has done a lot of work in her life. Saw three bald eagles and 9 deer midday.

Good thing volunteers do. Government is terrible at most things. Same happened with the tornado in Sullivan, Indiana a couple years back.

Got 11.0 in today on the IH 5088. Plan the same for tomorrow. We chisel at 5.5 mph. Very few rocks. I picked them all when I was 10 😂 Ran about 80 acres today!

4.0 so far in the 5088 running the chisel plow. Probably do another 6.0 with the disc

I have a friend who is a new beekeeper, and he now has two hives ON HIS BACK PATIO, 3' from his house. I advised that probably wasn't a great idea, but he is forging ahead. I think when the dearth hits, he will regret his choice. We all learn, sometimes painfuly

15 tornados on the ground in Indiana at the same time, that same night. One traveled a solid 50 miles... We are assessing now to send in disaster relief groups. Rough year for tornados

We are in Central IN too. Welcome

I've lost count. This was at 1pm today! I think I've added 7 free colonies in 5 weeks

Wow that is cheap honey

A couple more hives in the paint phase. They may sit a bit as I go do tillage work onthe farm in Michigan. I've got three swarms still in boxes in trees waiting.

The ones strapped down are un-insulated, and rangefrom 7-14 frames... Weight is much different. Those are temporary boxes for swarms and splits. The large gabled roof hives are much heavier and need no securing. The straps are probably superfluous... One isnt strapped. My wife feels better...

Just did that task today

You will definitely get stung. I got hit about 30' from one of my hives yesterday. I wear a jacket and veil when I mow near them and trim around them.

I like Musk... Not the shills 😂

Got these girls moved today, and I will get them in a big box tomorrow. Black locusts are in bloom, so there is plenty of work for them to do

Some used to tout this as the best selling EV truck in the US. Not anymore https://insideevs.com/news/759788/tesla-cybertruck-q1-registrations-top/

People call me all the time. I'm in my shop about 8 hours per day now

Failed for a second year. Came in nice and thick, grew to 3" tall, stunted. That was two months of growth. It got tilled under and buckwheat will be planted soon. I won't plant it again.

Swarm #5 tonight. Safely in a small swarm box. We are up (6) colonies so far this year... Hoping for a couple more! Twelve total 😁. I love retirement... But it's a lot of work

You cut the lang frames down to 12.125" long, from 19", then screw them in. The Layens frame is already much deeper than the lang.

Do dealers not even actuate the controls?!

I heard that I should side dress after it gets some height on it too... ?

She doesn't go far. Stays on property... Always indoors. Hope she lasts another 10 years

46-0-0 granules. Used the walk behind seeder with a large pea plate to insert it about 1.5" under the soil

Last year our sweet corn did pretty well... This year I'm trying side dressing with urea to see how the growth compares

Urea is for sweet corn planting. Wool is for hive builds

Building.

40 pounds of raw wool

Got (5) 100' rows of sweet corn in. 15 more to go. And 300 bush beans planted

50lbs of urea

Just used her to haul the urea to the sweet corn plot, so I could side dress the newly planted corn. She has a whopping 1200 miles on her at 10 years of age

Nope, just a circular saw, a drill and a few screws!

It requires a circular saw and hand drill... 🤣

Looks like tomorrow I am doing a Langstroth to Layens transfer for a guy... I'll try to get photos. These can be exciting

Yeah, we have several new queens, some laying, some just mating. We have 10 colonies now and expect two more to arrive in the coming weeks

New queen laying eggs

Mine are filled with a sealer. I don't know if I've ever punctured them, because they automatically seal

Spent a half hour tilling up a raised bed from an old playground in my neighbors yard, and leveling it with the loader. Then gave it a final fluff to prepare it for seed. Float mode on the loader for the win! Also, auto throttle for the leveling work

Tilled 1.25 acres in 1 hour flat!

Man, I'm lucky, even the Buell 1125R is only $120/yr

My annual insurance on the FZ is like $110.

Pretty positive mine does

Plastic tanks are the norm now. I've had no complaints with my TYM, though it is a legacy Branson model with some engineering improvements. Still has the A2300 engine, all mechanical, no goofy computer or sensors in seats, brakes, clutches etc... turn the key and it will run.

The FZ also has the ECU flashed. Removed the speed limiter, added a few HP for the Akra exhaust and enabled quick shift. Also adjusted the throttle by wire, because the 2014s were a little "unrefined"... And added a quick turn throttle in Mode A. If I have my way, I'll never sell it.

It really is... But the CRF250R is a lot punchier (gearing). I love the Yamaha triple though... This replaced my Triumph Speed Triple

Heading to Lawrence County tomorrow with the boy. I'm loving retirement

Got the scooter out today. Needs all fluids flushed, but I'll get to that soon. After riding motocross bikes, this thing now feels gutless 😂

A little mowing

Heard yesterday VW is on the ropes too... Business is not great

I will say, I don't read about Kubota having DPF issues. The vast majority of emissions complaints are from LS owners.

Swarm #4 this week, showed up this afternoon. Different property where I've done two cutouts in the past. I knew this week would be epic... But wow

I like Elon. Tesla however seems to be on the struggle bus

I'm busy building hives until 9pm daily now 😂

They are entirely new.

Another swarm today. That's three in 6 days!

CT inventory has surged... Tesla isn't in the best shape at the moment. Time will tell how they fare

9... And I still have 8 swarm traps up... Half of which have seen scout activity. Swarm season is still not really in full swing at the moment. Hoping to have about 12 going into winter.

Essentially. Lifted the box up to it, gave it one solid shake. The rest of the bees filed in when they smelled the queen in the box. I'm running out of homes for them quickly. This is a second swarm from my VSH hive. This queen is a virgin, so I'll have to watch to make sure she gets mated

Second swarm

You don't. That's a risk

There is only one manufacturer that isn't using common rail injection, where you can remove a DPF and the tractor has no idea. That is TYM. For resale you'd just put it back in. The rest would go into limp mode and be unuseable. That said, most TYM tier IV diesels run 200+ hours, with no...

Some people should definitely buy a Kubota. I'll keepy Branson. But yes, some people should definitely just go buy a Kubota

No swarms settled today... Poor weather. So continued building new homes

I think it was a turd. Neat concept. Poor execution. Too high is the price. If Ford is out selling the CT... It's bad

This is horrible to hear... Based on my experience with my dealer and my 4820... I'd recommend them to any of my friends without hesitation. I've always seen such positive remarks regarding the 2515

Guard bees stayed in the trap all night... We are on swarm watch today. Cooler temps and afternoon rain forecast. Got another offer from a land owner to place hives on his property... He has a couple acres of DNR pollinator habitat planted. This year I'll probably need to expand there

Never. I'll just build more hives 🤣

Got about 100 frantic scouts at another box today... Here's hoping for another catch

First swarm of the year is in the box. Got a call from a property owner where I have one of my bee yards. This is a VSH queen, amazing egg layer. So, we caught her swarm, and I did a split off her hive with some of her queen cells a week ago. So we are getting her genes out there.

Ha ha, nope... Not me. But it's certainly time for splits

Wow, never heard of this. I stop all the time with my Hustler X One, and never had any spots appear. Between the fan on the motor and on each hydro unit, there isn't much of chance of heat buildup. Sounds like Hustler knows how to build a mower 🤣

Today I made a split. I have a hive with a VSH queen in it. That colony has about 15 queen cells right now. So I took one frame of brood, with 2 capped queen cells on it and put it in a box. I then went to another very strong hive and took 2 frames of brood (one of them had three capped...

I have the digital Creworks 10l. Heats fast. Works great. A tip on heating, turn on the ultrasonic while heating so it circulates fluid.

Probably just inflation

There she is

Then mowed 1.5 acres

Threw down some Trimec 992 today with the 12' boom

Sounds like an expensive project. Good luck!

Cashiers Check

You can use different colors to reduce or eliminate drift between hives, though I'm not sure people actually work to mitigate this.

What I mean by quality is, that I don't go to the paint counter and ask for a can of random discounted paint that was tinted incorrectly, to do the job as cheaply as possible. I buy off the shelf the same paint every time... And don't bother to have it tinted. I just use white.

Most bee keepers use the cheapest paint they can find. Often discounted at retailers because the colors were mixed incorrectly. That probably best explains it. I use the same paint religiously, because I care more about quality

Yessir.

Checked on the remainder of the hives today. Wow, lots of brood and queen cells... Even pulled out some honey from last season. Looks like I'll be making a split or two in the coming week with all these resources! Super stoked to be retired and have time to manage this.

Yep, and some would say they are an accident of nature.

Sold three more hives this week, and three more traps. I may have to pick up the pace with builds. Luckily I do have a couple 14 frame un-insulated hives that I can keep small colonies in, until some builds are complete.

I have a radiator genie, but rarely see the need for it

Simple egg casserole... Homemade toast. Coffee I'm down over three pounds in 9 days!