Beekeeping

[Eaglesfate]

Just curious as to the material you use for your main hives? Pine? have you tried hard woods like Maple, oak, etc.?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Just curious as to the material you use for your main hives? Pine? have you tried hard woods like Maple, oak, etc.?

Pine. I have considered using hardwoods for the dimensional lumber pieces.

 

[Eaglesfate]

I must have had a bad batch of pine this year boxes didn't hold up well this year, been thinking hard woods may fare better.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I must have had a bad batch of pine this year boxes didn't hold up well this year, been thinking hard woods may fare better.

Well my exteriors are all 3/8 pine plywood... With three coats of high quality exterior latex paint. Also, the gabled roof keeps the exteriors pretty dry

 

[Torvy]

As for bench building. A miter saw on a stand would be awesome for the dimensional lumber cuts. Circular will do it, just not as repeatable.
My MDF I cut to size with a circular saw and a long straight edge clamped to the surface. That is how I break down all of my plywood too. I wanted to make sure the top was square, because I use it to lay out sheet aluminum for rooftops

Almost done. Need to put mdf on top. Seriously considering drawers. The bottom shelf I cut from scrap cedar fence panels.

Wife is going out later to feed the bees. She wants to relocate the hive (not too far). Also wants to get a frame of honey.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Nice bench! We are bottling tomorrow.

 

[Torvy]

Here's what little she got.

 

[Torvy]

Frames in the extractor. She only used 2 frames. Left plenty for the bees.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I'm hoping to get maybe a 5 gallon bucket

 

[Torvy]

I'm hoping to get maybe a 5 gallon bucket

How many hives are you operating?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

This is from three... Minus the 30 pounds I gave to three new hives for winter.

We have a total of 6 now, but three are first year colonies. Looking forward to swarm and split season next year. I have (8) empty hives ready to be filled at the moment.

 

[lsgreg]

Nice bench! We are bottling tomorrow.

View attachment 1734392

I love my Hillco electric extractor. I hand-cranked plenty of frames before I bought it.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Had a few new beekeepers over to extract honey. Ended up with 54 pounds from 3 hives, who we also took 30 pounds from to feed other colonies. Three hours of fun!

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

We didn't batch blend the honey this year and that resulted in some awesome color variations! Moisture measured about 17%

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Look at this honey! Saving the dark ones for myself.

 

[EddieWalker]

Impressive bottling. Do you have a store in town that sells it for you?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Impressive bottling. Do you have a store in town that sells it for you?

Nope. I can sell hundreds of pounds from my own shop. We have a lot of repeat customers that contact us for honey. We have been invited to the community farmers market, but I sell out before it opens in the summer.

 

[EddieWalker]

Impressive!!!!

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Impressive!!!!

Local honey is incredibly easy to sell... And I am not the lowest cost option around either. I'd like to get to the point I can produce 1000lbs per year. I have to re-seed some clover and try to get my phacelia in early next spring.
The drought really hurt us this year, everyone has really low yields in this area. I'm making up for it with hive and swarm trap sales.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I have also found that local honey is easy to sell. I haven't ever advertised ours.