Or even better, if you have suggestions how or where to sell honey that would be appreciated.
The Florida Bee Farm" is a mini eco-farm located in Clearwater Florida and completely solar powered. Our eleven hives of pampered (spoiled) honey bees produce delicious local honey. We utilize organic growing methods with naturally made compost and tonics to repel pests. Irrigation system fed by a rain barrel collection system powered by solar electric.
Honey Bee
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Bottling Honey
Another batch of honey is bottled and ready for sale. If you or anyone you know needs natural pure local honey call the number found on the main page of FloridaBeeFarm.com
Or even better, if you have suggestions how or where to sell honey that would be appreciated.
Or even better, if you have suggestions how or where to sell honey that would be appreciated.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Wild honey bee party at the Florida Bee Farm
After doing honey extraction, you're left with a pile of sticky frames and a couple large plastic containers with a good amount of wax and honey that's dripped off the frames. The best way to clean this mess up is to let the honey bees do it. And let me tell you, they enjoy this work immensely.
Three minutes after laying out the frames there were 40-50 bees buzzing around as their sense of smell is so acute. After ten minutes there were thousands of honey bees having one heck of a good time cleaning up the frames and containers. It was nuts is the only way to describe it.
This happened all day long. I also noticed that the gardens were loaded with honey bees busy as can bee. Some were even on my tomato plants and it looked like they were chewing on the leaves or ??? I really don't know what they were doing. They were in the soil of the pots and gathering wood fiber for propolis. They were just everywhere which makes the Bee Farm so much fun to just hang out and observe nature at it's finest. Today was especially relaxing and enjoyable.
However ...... the next day was like coming into a college dorm after a wild party. The cloud of bees around the frames were significantly more active and the feeding frenzy escalated. As I walked toward the frames on the long platform, a few bees buzzed my face and seemed a tad too defensive for what I felt like dealing with today. Kind of like they had hangovers from a tough day of honey cleanup.
So I'll wake up early tomorrow and put away the frames while the bees are still snug in their hive. Before the sun comes out and it warms up. The frames should be pretty clean by then anyway.
Three minutes after laying out the frames there were 40-50 bees buzzing around as their sense of smell is so acute. After ten minutes there were thousands of honey bees having one heck of a good time cleaning up the frames and containers. It was nuts is the only way to describe it.
This happened all day long. I also noticed that the gardens were loaded with honey bees busy as can bee. Some were even on my tomato plants and it looked like they were chewing on the leaves or ??? I really don't know what they were doing. They were in the soil of the pots and gathering wood fiber for propolis. They were just everywhere which makes the Bee Farm so much fun to just hang out and observe nature at it's finest. Today was especially relaxing and enjoyable.
However ...... the next day was like coming into a college dorm after a wild party. The cloud of bees around the frames were significantly more active and the feeding frenzy escalated. As I walked toward the frames on the long platform, a few bees buzzed my face and seemed a tad too defensive for what I felt like dealing with today. Kind of like they had hangovers from a tough day of honey cleanup.
So I'll wake up early tomorrow and put away the frames while the bees are still snug in their hive. Before the sun comes out and it warms up. The frames should be pretty clean by then anyway.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Honey extraction and uncapping experiments
After the swarming activity this week, it was time to pull some honey from the hives. I believe the bees were becoming concerned with the packed honey supers and felt they needed more space ... thus the swarming. The solution is to pull some honey and put empty frames in the hive giving them room to expand without having to move to new digs.
I really should have done this in November but there were too many things on the "to do list" and before I knew it, 2016 had arrived. But I don't feel it matters with the weather we've been having as long as you leave the bees plenty of honey which I did. The downside of pulling the honey this week was it caused a bit of a robbing frenzy among the hives. It turns into a big free for all among the bees with all the honey smell in the air and it gets kind of crazy. No big deal as they calm down a few hours after you button things back up. I try to pull the frames as quickly and efficiently as possible to minimize the stress of the bees.
Also while in the hives I removed all the "penthouse" covers and replaced them with more traditional screened inner hive covers until I can transition to migratory covers. The extra ventilation idea just wasn't as beneficial to the bees as expected. Especially since they would seal up the ventilation screens with propolis.
After pulling the frames, we brought them home to uncap and extract. This time we tried a different uncapping method (unsuccessful) using an uncapping roller which just made a bigger mess, more work, and mutilated comb. The frames that were uncapped with the roller needed to be extracted several times to get all the honey. A real pain. So finally we went back to uncapping with a bread knife which is also a pretty sad tool to uncap with. Next time we will have a hot uncapping knife like most beekeepers use. Another good lesson.
The extraction went well and we ended up with a nice amount of delicious honey. The flavor is amazing.
I really should have done this in November but there were too many things on the "to do list" and before I knew it, 2016 had arrived. But I don't feel it matters with the weather we've been having as long as you leave the bees plenty of honey which I did. The downside of pulling the honey this week was it caused a bit of a robbing frenzy among the hives. It turns into a big free for all among the bees with all the honey smell in the air and it gets kind of crazy. No big deal as they calm down a few hours after you button things back up. I try to pull the frames as quickly and efficiently as possible to minimize the stress of the bees.
Also while in the hives I removed all the "penthouse" covers and replaced them with more traditional screened inner hive covers until I can transition to migratory covers. The extra ventilation idea just wasn't as beneficial to the bees as expected. Especially since they would seal up the ventilation screens with propolis.
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| Poolside honey extraction with Maxant motorized extractor |
After pulling the frames, we brought them home to uncap and extract. This time we tried a different uncapping method (unsuccessful) using an uncapping roller which just made a bigger mess, more work, and mutilated comb. The frames that were uncapped with the roller needed to be extracted several times to get all the honey. A real pain. So finally we went back to uncapping with a bread knife which is also a pretty sad tool to uncap with. Next time we will have a hot uncapping knife like most beekeepers use. Another good lesson.
The extraction went well and we ended up with a nice amount of delicious honey. The flavor is amazing.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Ventilated hive covers experiment over
Since it gets so darned hot in the summer around here a couple beekeepers I know and I came up with a different type of cover that protects the bees from hive beetles and wax moths while still allowing a good amount of ventilation into the hives.
What these covers consist of is basically a finely screened inner hive cover with a couple inch space and lots of ventilation holes. This is then covered with a standard hive cover. While this may have worked, I don't think the bees really appreciated the ventilation as they pretty much sealed the screening with their thick gluey propolis which negates the ventilation aspect.
Now the downside of these little ventilated chambers is they also act as a penthouse suite for all sorts of critters. There have been black widow spiders in the past, lizards, and yesterday one penthouse suite contained three FROGS !!!. In another penthouse suite I found many white eggs?? from god knows what. I posted the picture on a very large beekeeper facebook group and received dozens of replies (guesses) but one person in the pacific northwest was pretty sure they were wax moth cocoons. Most people thought they were lizard eggs which is a possibility since I've found lizards up there also. But the eggs seemed to be the wrong shape for lizard eggs and they were too small. A couple people even guessed tic tacs : ) I wasn't about to taste one and find out.
The next Florida Bee Farm project may be changing out the hive covers to more of a migratory hive cover or a hybrid inner cover with standard outer cover. Will have to think about this some more.
What these covers consist of is basically a finely screened inner hive cover with a couple inch space and lots of ventilation holes. This is then covered with a standard hive cover. While this may have worked, I don't think the bees really appreciated the ventilation as they pretty much sealed the screening with their thick gluey propolis which negates the ventilation aspect.
Now the downside of these little ventilated chambers is they also act as a penthouse suite for all sorts of critters. There have been black widow spiders in the past, lizards, and yesterday one penthouse suite contained three FROGS !!!. In another penthouse suite I found many white eggs?? from god knows what. I posted the picture on a very large beekeeper facebook group and received dozens of replies (guesses) but one person in the pacific northwest was pretty sure they were wax moth cocoons. Most people thought they were lizard eggs which is a possibility since I've found lizards up there also. But the eggs seemed to be the wrong shape for lizard eggs and they were too small. A couple people even guessed tic tacs : ) I wasn't about to taste one and find out.
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| mystery eggs in the ventilated hive cover |
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Two Swarms in early January
A combination of crazy weather and busy bees found me scrambling to make new homes for two swarms that left my hives. One went into a nearby Nuc and one was swaying in a palm tree. This was partially my fault as the hives were at capacity and the bees were expanding so fast they had to branch out.
This isn't a bad thing as I now have two more hives (be careful what you wish for) and the amount of honey I'm harvesting (in January) is quite large. But the bees will all have plenty of honey to hold them over until official spring. As busy as they are now and all the flowering going on, they'll probably continue to be fairly active.
This isn't a bad thing as I now have two more hives (be careful what you wish for) and the amount of honey I'm harvesting (in January) is quite large. But the bees will all have plenty of honey to hold them over until official spring. As busy as they are now and all the flowering going on, they'll probably continue to be fairly active.
Monday, January 4, 2016
New Moose, New Shed, New Year
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| New Moose |
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| New roof for the shed |
Something that was a big priority and needed to be done was a rebuild of the shed. The metal panels that were used for the roof had just too many holes and places for water to seep in. After trying numerous times to patch the leaks my son Jeff and I completely rebuilt the roof. Not only did we replace the metal with plywood and shingles, we raised the roof a couple of feet to provide a better angle for the water to run off.
One of the benefits I didn't foresee was how much this would positively impact the storage space inside the shed. Now the extra bee equipment and spare hives are easily accessible and in a nice dry place. I also added windows for more natural lighting inside the shed.
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| New Shed for the Bee Farm |
Finally during the long new year weekend Yvonne and I decided to bring our Moose (Bob) out to the Beefarm and let him watch over the vegetable gardens. Bob was temporarily needing a new spot and the Beefarm was needing a moose so it worked out nicely.
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| Moose and new Window |
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| better angle and mounting of solar panel array |
Garden is going strong and even though my hard lessons keep on coming, Yvonne and I actually shared (one) delicious strawberry this week. We also had fresh green beans and eggplant which were also delicious. Tomatoes should be turning red in the next week or so.
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| Garden |
Friday, January 1, 2016
The good and the bad of harvesting Tumeric
Kind of falling behind on the blog posts again but a few weeks ago the healthy tumeric plants wilted up and kind of fell over which meant that they were ready for harvest. Tumeric is a root plant so they were all dug up and the nodules or rhizomes as they are called were harvested.
Quite a few were harvested so about 20 of them were re-planted in pots for next year. The others were washed and then boiled for about 15 minutes to remove any harmful bacteria. The next step is to cut the tumeric into small pieces and place into the dehydrator. After about 24 hours the tumeric is dry enough to turn to powder. We used the same technique we used when we converted the dried Moringa to a powdered form which is to place it into the nutra bullet and powderize it with the milling blade.
So far so good except for one thing. All that touches tumeric gets stained a yellow color. The stain is permanent too. Our cutting board, the nutra bullet plastic cup and even the dehydrator trays were stained. All in all it was quite a bit of work for a jar of pure powdered tumeric but a good learning experience too.
Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow color. There are many health benefits to eating tumeric. Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. However it is not absorbed into the bloodstream easily so many mix black pepper with it which enhances absorption by 2000%.
For more information about the health benefits of tumeric read this article.
Quite a few were harvested so about 20 of them were re-planted in pots for next year. The others were washed and then boiled for about 15 minutes to remove any harmful bacteria. The next step is to cut the tumeric into small pieces and place into the dehydrator. After about 24 hours the tumeric is dry enough to turn to powder. We used the same technique we used when we converted the dried Moringa to a powdered form which is to place it into the nutra bullet and powderize it with the milling blade.
So far so good except for one thing. All that touches tumeric gets stained a yellow color. The stain is permanent too. Our cutting board, the nutra bullet plastic cup and even the dehydrator trays were stained. All in all it was quite a bit of work for a jar of pure powdered tumeric but a good learning experience too.
Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow color. There are many health benefits to eating tumeric. Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. However it is not absorbed into the bloodstream easily so many mix black pepper with it which enhances absorption by 2000%.
For more information about the health benefits of tumeric read this article.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Better than a scarecrow
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| Beautiful Hawk overlooking the garden area |
Shortly after arriving at the Bee Farm yesterday I noticed a large bird overlooking the garden from a perch on the power line. It was a large beautiful Hawk. When the blueberries start to ripen, it will be convenient to have a Hawk around to keep birds away from the garden. At least in theory. Because after a few minutes of observing this Hawk a Blue Jay swooped down to engage the Hawk and they both flew off in a chaotic flight. Obviously the Blue Jay was a little more agile in flight and able to provoke the Hawk somewhat.
Our neighbor told a story that last year his wife saw a small Hawk take a baby Blue Jay from a nest. The baby Blue Jay got away so perhaps this was the now grown up Blue Jay remembering that fateful day and taking it's vengeance out on the Hawk.
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| Green Beans |
Green Beans are growing like mad and we'll be harvesting some this weekend. I tasted one yesterday and it was delicious. Eggplants are multiplying and growing fast. Sugar cane has sprouted and a couple are about 8" already which surprised me. Little tomatoes are on the vine and a few peppers are growing. Strawberries doing poorly still and I don't hold much hope for them any longer. I have enough papayas to supply an army. What was I thinking?
Monday, December 7, 2015
Good Nature
Despite the fact that I have a cold, working at the Bee Farm was on the agenda for today. You can be home and sick or outside working and enjoying the wonderful Florida weather. And it was a beautiful day out at the Bee Farm today.
Just being outside sets you up for living life to the fullest and puts you in a good position to experience Mother Nature. The last couple times out at the Bee Farm I witnessed thousands of crows flying around the area. Quite cool. They were communicating with each other and acting quite social. I like crows and they are quite intelligent. Once I read something where somebody wronged a crow and for a long time that crow went out of his way to harass the guy. On the other hand they also remember acts of kindness. A little girl in England would feed crows and they gave her little presents; beads, shiny objects, pieces of worn shiny glass, etc. Read that story here. I may change my tune when I catch the crows chomping down our strawberries or blueberries but probably not.
About an hour after the crows departed the area I was visited by two Bald Eagles flying around the Bee Farm. They flew directly over me a few times at only a couple hundred feet. One was talking to the other ... and one was bigger than the other which made me think they were probably courting. They circled and flew around our place for about 15 minutes.
And then while watching the bees going in and out of their hives, I caught another Monarch butterfly showing off in front of the bees. This is something I've seen numerous times. A Monarch butterfly dips along in front of the hives within the congested landing and take off patterns of the honey bees. Why do they do that? I have no idea but I'll stick with my hypothesis that they're showing off.
This is just another benefit of gardening and working outdoors. You set yourself up for seeing good nature. That's part of the good stuff in life. It was the perfect diversion for dealing with a cold.
A great day at the Bee Farm.
Just being outside sets you up for living life to the fullest and puts you in a good position to experience Mother Nature. The last couple times out at the Bee Farm I witnessed thousands of crows flying around the area. Quite cool. They were communicating with each other and acting quite social. I like crows and they are quite intelligent. Once I read something where somebody wronged a crow and for a long time that crow went out of his way to harass the guy. On the other hand they also remember acts of kindness. A little girl in England would feed crows and they gave her little presents; beads, shiny objects, pieces of worn shiny glass, etc. Read that story here. I may change my tune when I catch the crows chomping down our strawberries or blueberries but probably not.
About an hour after the crows departed the area I was visited by two Bald Eagles flying around the Bee Farm. They flew directly over me a few times at only a couple hundred feet. One was talking to the other ... and one was bigger than the other which made me think they were probably courting. They circled and flew around our place for about 15 minutes.
And then while watching the bees going in and out of their hives, I caught another Monarch butterfly showing off in front of the bees. This is something I've seen numerous times. A Monarch butterfly dips along in front of the hives within the congested landing and take off patterns of the honey bees. Why do they do that? I have no idea but I'll stick with my hypothesis that they're showing off.
This is just another benefit of gardening and working outdoors. You set yourself up for seeing good nature. That's part of the good stuff in life. It was the perfect diversion for dealing with a cold.
A great day at the Bee Farm.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Strawberry relocation and Bee Farm has everything including the kitchen sink
For the past couple weeks I've been keeping a close eye on my strawberry plants. They were really stressed out AND were getting relentlessly chewed on by some hungry bugs. Since I had no clue how guarantee the future health of these strawberry plants, it was time to switch up their environment. Maybe it had something to do with the mounds I planted them in. Maybe the soaker hoses weren't delivering enough water, Maybe the plastic on top of the soil was annoying the plants. I didn't know.
So digging all of them up and replanting was what I felt needed to be done. Fortunately after only a few days they seem to be much healthier. I also sprayed them with an organic insect control to keep the bugs at bay. It was some work digging them up but better than just watching them perish.
With all the potted plants I've been producing plus all the seedlings in line for being potted, it was evident I needed a bigger area where all these potted plants can reside. I used scrap lumber to produce a fairly good size table that was covered with 1/2" hardware cloth. It also will be tied into the watering system to automatically water the plants on this table.
And while working on this I decided to do something that has been on my mind for awhile now. Install a sink. It will dispense fresh tap water and add convenience when I want to wash my hands after digging in the garden. Ever try washing your very dirty hands while holding a garden hose? Try it. Needless to say, I can't wait for this project to be completed.
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| Relocated Strawberries |
So digging all of them up and replanting was what I felt needed to be done. Fortunately after only a few days they seem to be much healthier. I also sprayed them with an organic insect control to keep the bugs at bay. It was some work digging them up but better than just watching them perish.
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| Plant Stand |
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| Plants on their new table |
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| Kitchen Sink |
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