Bee Photographs

@Suses70 That is “sort of” my first jar. I harvested into quart jars and this is the first jar I portioned out as a gift.

The major sources of nectar immediately nearby were blackberry, white clover and privet but there are also some tulip poplar trees in the area. Late in the season there was some sour wood, but not much grows close to my house.
I think there are only 3-4 of those trees within 1500 yards.

Blackberry honey is very, very light.
Here’s a picture of someone else’s I found online:

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Hi all,

Jam packed my double deep Flow-Five with 15 frames of a super Nuc/Swam I got two months ago.

Two days ago I checked n inspect "Maple Hive (my name for it)… In less than two weeks it went from 70 to 75% but now about 90% so had to do something. I had just added a pollen trap (two days later I’ve already collected 2/3 cup of fresh pollen). But the second thing I did was add my Flow-Frame Super.

Now I’m waiting to see if they’ll move up. I’ve coated the frames with hot wax. And sprayed them with sugar/syrup. Done all I can … Might be little late but nothing venture, nothing gain. Plus it’s a learning curve.

Here’s some pix’s:

. Hard to believe it was only 6/28 I transferred my super Nuc into the Flow-Hive … Let’s see where it goes from here.

Gerald.

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Hello Gerald,
Are you going to put the pollen on your cereal?

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Bobby, thanks for that, we have blackberrys here to but they are considered a weed and so sprayed and the tulip tree I have grown in the past but now live a bit too close to the sea. All the best. S

Heavens. Bramble is a huge proportion of any honey we get here.

Yes they have taken over large areas of bush in the cooler damper parts Australia. It is the gums that supply most nectar and pollen for honey production and they have very uncertain flowering times.

Uncertain flowering times?

Dee.

Hmmm ! :smile: not sure … Is pollen GOOD on cereal ? Maybe I could sprinkle some on my morning toast n honey​:honey_pot: with my coffee :coffee:️… :wink:… Just kidding. I know some people do buy/use pollen for health n allergy reasons.

Nahhhh ! I collect it to see if I can make my own pollen pasties for my :honeybee::honeybee::honeybee:’s… Do you use pollen patties ? Most locals n my mentor here add a pollen patties on top of there honey super frames to help winter over the colony. I only have two pollen traps to try the process out on my own. It may be easier buying patties but if it is my own pollen I have less chance of introducing disease or other issues. What do you think ?

Thanks for the thot morning giggles. Sometimes I add wheat germ to my hot cereals with cream n a dab of honey. I enjoy reading ideas n thots about all areas of beekeeping. :+1:

Cheerio my friend,
Gerald

Suses,

We must be lucky here. Are you referring to the gum or blackberry ? We don’t have gum in our region … Blackberries is another situation. These bramble/vines are everywhere … In old pastures n along fence lines, along most roads n freeway. In my garden if I’d let it. It is our largest nectar n pollen flow of each year but extremely invasive.

here are pix’s I take yearly n daily records ( 08:00 Coalfield Wx data n notes. Clear n Sunny, 61.6 dgs, 70% hum, Wd: Calm (NNE), Bar: steady @ 1023.3 mbs, No Rain. Yesterday’s High: 73.0 dgs n Morning Low: 55.1 dgs. ))…

I have noted flowering/blooming times on calendars for years. I owned n operated a plant nursery for years n just had an interest. Each year varies on the exact week but seem to alway follow a sequence of order/bloom time. So I take note of my earliest blooming plants each Spring … I have also been a avid weather data/station hobbiest as well ( so keep records )… Analyzing the yearly Wx n order gives me a window of most flows (big n small). We do have variances n years some flows are limited or really huge depending on droughts, rainfall. temperatures n more but normally we are fairly stable n constant with nectar n pollen flows/blooms.

. This year I put this info to use to build my colony work force to maximum for our blackberry flow n was only a few days late with my peak of colony growth as our blackberries were about one week earlier this milder Spring. It’s not an exact science but works for me.

Ta ta,

Jerry

When I need to help brood rearing along I use pollen substitute which I either make myself (masses of recipes on Internet) or make up from Mann Lake’s Ultrabee powder.
You need lots of pollen in your patty to make much difference and I don’t think you can get enough sensibly from your own hives without depriving them. The best pollen is that stored by the bees and they are very good at it. Sometimes they store so much you can take a frame out and freeze it to be given back at some other time. I think extra protein helps in early Spring to build up the bees and in Autumn so that they have enough food to rear winter bees. I only give it if there is a dearth at these two crucial times.[quote=“Gerald_Nickel, post:414, topic:630”]
It’s not an exact science but works for me
[/quote]

How impressive

Here’s a few photos of a cut out I did on Tuesday. The colony had been there for a month.

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Pollinators!

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Hi all, not counting my chicken before they are hatched here but the bees seem to be looking the Flow-frames over. Just maybe it’s MOVING START ! Crossing my fingers. Depend now on a lot of circumstances that are out of my control. That’s what makes beekeeping sooooo darn interesting n keep you on your toe. :honeybee::+1:

Ta ta,
Gerald

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Not sure if this is the right place to post this photo.

The honey on the right is my honey from the Dallas Metroplex area mostly residential non-farming. Using the flow frame no straining or filtering directly from the hive

The honey on the left, is about 45 miles east of downtown Dallas, near Greenville Texas. Traditional harvesting method with a little bit of screening as it comes out of the

Absolutely amazed at the color and the taste difference.

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also thought I would post this also,

the photos show the frame opened, yes uncapped. need to read other post to understand why.

then the other shows same frame re-closed
and the girls at work.

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Marty, do you have traditional hives?
It would be great to have a comparison of honeys from the same source but different extraction methods rather than honeys from different forage.
I love your bottle

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I am a 100% new bee :slight_smile: I started reading and learning the day I put money up for the project. I was scared to have two flow frames. So No, this is my only hive. I don’t know of anyone else with the same floage as myself.

I am an Architect so everything is all about the total design. Thank YOU!! From the name, Robbing the hive a little bit sweeter and or lifting the honey out i.e. larceny, to the comb of the design and the dripping honey out of the comb, to the bottom of the name :slight_smile:

Expensive little bottles and cork but it’s more about the design again and me doing all this then making any money at all. I do sell the 4 ounce bottles for $6 and the 8 ounce bottles for $11

I do offer a dollar off for refills when and if I have honey

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Organ Pipe Cactus in bloom, and bees are loving it


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Something a little bit different, but thought I would share the photos I finally put together:
http://www.canberrabees.com/bee-keeping-in-an-old-chest-of-drawers/

Think I need a better camera to keep up with the quality of the competition!

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Wow what a difference, but as Dee said, it would be good to see 2 hives side by side with the 2 different extraction methods.
:bee: