What are you doing today?

[Alice B]

What do you consider a good harvest? I use to make mead from my brother in law’s honey.

Anything over 3 gallons here. There is not much forage. I keep bees mainly for fruit tree pollination

 

[Alice B]

OMG! I absolutely LOVE Mead! Sadly it is just too expensive here in Wyoming for me to justify buying.

Keeping bees is expensive, lol

 

[jaylach]

Keeping bees is expensive, lol

Why is that? I'm not doubting you but I don't understand why it would be expensive.

My step father had a couple of hives when I was a teen and didn't spend a penny that I could see. Granted in that it was like the perfect setup with a wooded area directly out the entrance for the house and the back yard was something like 250-300 feet deep with a lot of clover.

Don't bees, if in proper conditions, pretty much maintain their own hive? Not arguing here or anything but I'm curious as to why keeping bees would be expensive as I don't have a clue as to what is actually involved.

 

[Alice B]

I'll bet your father just cut that tree down and planed the boards and built his own equipment then. Where I live if I don't feed them during drought or summer, they die. I just spent $117.57 for 2 deep hive bodies, unassembled, 2 entrance reducers and a bucket of pollen substitute. Those boxes are still unassembled, I put the bees in older equipment I patched up and did fresh paint on. Frames cost money. Varroa mites entered the US in the 1990s requiring miticides and careful management or the bees simply die. the mites carry viruses which can't be killed, but taking the mites out helps a lot. I spent About $190 for a new treatment device to apply oxalic acid vapor, and I don't remember what I spent when I bought my filter mask to make it safe for me to treat - it has replaceable filters and looks like a gas mask. A bee suit runs about $200 for a good ventilated suit, and where I live there are still traces of Africanized bee DNA in local populations. On the bright side africanized are more mite resistant. So When I charge a dollar an ounce for my pure honey that is carefully taken to not have pesticides in it (oxalic acid is naturally found in honey, spinach, etc) and is not mixed with corn syrup, I don't even care if you buy it. I get so little I want to keep some for my family. and I need to leave most of it for the bees. I forgot, last time I bought queens they were $60 apiece.

 

[Oldspartan]

We found bee keeping to be both expensive and occasionally painful when we tried it in the late 1970's. The harvest was not worth the trouble for us although I can see if one wants an interesting hobby or is willing to invest time and effort in a side gig it would work for them. We decided maple syrup was a more attainable homestead sugar source. I do use about 20 pounds of honey each year to make mead and another 8 pounds or so for a honey-based ale. Linda also uses a few pounds each year at the oven or stove or for cold remedies. I am able to barter some carpentry or other chores for what I need normally although the past few years I have needed to sweeten the pot with some cash. I am fortunate to have two fairly large bee keeping operations within a 25 mile radius and one or the other usually needs something done within my ability to do so.

I tip my straw hat to beekeepers because what they do helps or food supply in ways most people are completely unaware. So, a tip of the hat to Alice.

 

[Oldspartan]

Just finished 40% water changes on three tanks and a deep gravel vac on one of them. Seems the bigger the plecos get the bigger the job of waste removal. We do not mind though as we find them an interesting fish. We only have bristlenose for now but aim for a larger one when the bigger tanks are set up.

Later today we have a family and friend get together in honor of Cousin Patty. Carnival style hot and sweet sausage, pasta salad, pizza salad, BBQ chicken, grilled Salmon cakes, baked beans, fruit salad and more. I will also break out some raspberry mead as well honey ale and the last of my German style Kolsch.

The party has grown from a dozen or so to about 30 people because Patty invited some of her Class of 65 friends and Linda invited a couple of neighbors.

I will spend the morning setting up the Jarts, badminton, and Bocci ball games. The horseshoes are always in place. The RV is hooked up to water, and electric and the waste tank is connected. We take keys for affairs such as this and use a breathalyzer. Anyone failing the test needs a driver or they can sleep here. This was agreed to long ago when a friend received a DWI on her way home. Never again will I allow an impaired driver to leave my house. This has caused some consternation at times, but it is what it is. Personally, I will have a snifter of Mead and perhaps two beers after which it will be seltzer with lemon. The better to keep watch as I do not really know the people Patty has invited.

The weather is supposed to be perfect so it will be a grand day.

 

[Alice B]

I took up beekeeping around the time I had to give up my reef tank when I became allergic to both the anemone and hauling saltwater buckets for water changes. (lacking city sewer I didn't want to wreck my septic tank.) But to be honest I did not want to be a beekeeper, it is difficult. However alzheimers or an elder dementia runs on both sides of my family, so continuing to learn new and difficult things, and abstaining from alcohol are my best preventatives to have a long and healthy life, including mentally fit and healthy. So that's why I keep bees. That's why I am learning to fix sewing machines. Today the bees are orienting and I have some other things to attend to - business, pond customers, etc

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Sorry I've been AWOL again, my laptop died and took time to find a half decent but not overpriced reconditioned one!

But, back online again, and lots going on with fish and tanks Missed y'all!!

 

[Rocky998]

Sorry I've been AWOL again, my laptop died and took time to find a half decent but not overpriced reconditioned one!

But, back online again, and lots going on with fish and tanks Missed y'all!!

Welcome back!

 

[JuiceBox52]

Filed a ton more paperwork today. Why is the legal system so impossible to navigate? Why are lawyers so expensive? Why do people purposely try to make things difficult and make my life harder? Why is everything so sad?

 

[JuiceBox52]

I survived the day. Was meant to be a happy day, will be sad every year. Hopefully tomorrow won’t hurt so bad

 

[Oldspartan]

We had a wonderful day at the gathering. The highlight was a reunification between my brother and patty. They have been estranged for many years. Sat them down and chewed them both out. They spent much of the day together. It was fantastic to see.

Today we will police the party area and put the games away, it will take a couple hours after breakfast. After that we plan a quiet day, perhaps a game of mini golf on the way to the not so local fish store. Linda wants a couple of specific Molly for her breeding experiments, and I am hopeful they will have them. If not, they will be my first online mail order of fish, not something I am comfortable doing.

 

[gwand]

We had a wonderful day at the gathering. The highlight was a reunification between my brother and patty. They have been estranged for many years. Sat them down and chewed them both out. They spent much of the day together. It was fantastic to see.

Today we will police the party area and put the games away, it will take a couple hours after breakfast. After that we plan a quiet day, perhaps a game of mini golf on the way to the not so local fish store. Linda wants a couple of specific Molly for her breeding experiments, and I am hopeful they will have them. If not, they will be my first online mail order of fish, not something I am comfortable doing.

If you order on line make sure the shipper offers UPS next day delivery. Fish usually arrive before noon. I trust Aquatic Arts (cheapest shipping charge) for common fish and Dan’s and the Wet Spot for less common. I recently used Direct Fish Live for 6 African butterfly cichlids. They did a great job but shipping cost was more expensive than the other shops I mentioned.

 

[Oldspartan]

If you order on line make sure the shipper offers UPS next day delivery. Fish usually arrive before noon. I trust Aquatic Arts (cheapest shipping charge) for common fish and Dan’s and the Wet Spot for less common. I recently used Direct Fish Live for 6 African butterfly cichlids. They did a great job but shipping cost was more expensive than the other shops I mentioned.

Thank You for that!

 

[jaylach]

If you order on line make sure the shipper offers UPS next day delivery. Fish usually arrive before noon. I trust Aquatic Arts (cheapest shipping charge) for common fish and Dan’s and the Wet Spot for less common. I recently used Direct Fish Live for 6 African butterfly cichlids. They did a great job but shipping cost was more expensive than the other shops I mentioned.

I will also recommend Dan's Fish although I have never gotten a delivery from them as it just happens that their warehouse is like a two minute walk from my apartment so I just walk over and pick up. I told them one time that, since I was so close, they didn't need to individually package the fish, just put them all in a larger package but they refused. Their reason for the refusal was due to any catching and packaging causes stress which could result in fights within the packaging. Makes sense if you think about it.

I was going to just post a link to their main site but had to go with the following instead as this fish being specified as a new offering is just TOO cool! It is a Reticulated Hillstream Loach, Sewellia lineolata

Reticulated Hillstream Loach (Sewellia lineolata)

Reticulated Hillstream Loach (Sewellia lineolata) for sale from Dans Fish at $19.99 each. Shipped Next Day Air.

dansfish.com