IT'S ALIVE! (making mead)

i had a 5 gal sugar syrup pail full of "bee honey" from last year. it was "broken comb" and misc. honey scrapings that i set aside for "emergency feeding". i used some - but of course by this time - it's all crystallized into a solid state.

i melted/heated it all down - got the wax out separated from the honey....and ended up with 15# of honey...(10 to 15# is what you need for 5 gals of mead).

this years recipe is seasoned with orange zest and several "spice teas" (good earth, lemon zinger, etc)

technically - an "herbed or spiced" mead is called a METHEGLIN. (a fruit juice/honey combination is called a MELOMEL)

so - it's BUBBLY and ALIVE in it's "mash" state - in the crock. stir once/twice daily for 10 days.

ok - what is a swarm in AUGUST?

july - not worth a fly

august - A BUST?

recaptured a swarm (from one of my summer swarm hives) put them in a hive box SATURDAY...and RE-put them in a box SUNDAY. they did NOT want to stay. I gave them some "incentive" on sunday. i both SPRAYED the comb with sugar syrup....AND i gave them a SUGAR SYRUP BUCKET.

decisions - decisions. there's NO TIME for this swarm to make it. NO TIME for them to build comb and store enough food for winter.

i'm pretty sure i know which hive this came from - when i RE-HIVED them.....some seemingly wanted to drift back "home". knowing this.....i might put these two hives back together for winter. i could separate the two queen boxes with a queen excluder (and the whole newspaper method) - put the "honey" box above them......or....i could look for the "stronger" queen and pinch one.

need a quick queen?

If anyone needs a queen in short order, contact Greg Peyer. He has a good queen he would like to sell. Contact Greg directly at gregpeyer@hotmail.com

poll

the results of the poll (only TWO VOTED!) where are all of you? one for august - one for september.

the reason for the poll....to see how EARLY (or late) beekeepers were harvesting. the TREND has been heading for EARLIER (Late August) HARVESTS for northern beekeepers. in August - the bee population is starting it's decline and the varroa population is at it's peek....this is the time to get the honey off and start your FALL TREATMENTS for varroa if you really want to hit them hard before the winter.

i really had my harvest set for the last weekend of August - but then something came up....so i had to push it to labor day weekend.

the "bitter" end?

the goldenrod has started blooming - next will be the purple asters....for me - that marks the "bitter end" of the nectar season. the goldenrod and aster honey will make the hives smell "sour" by month's end.

where has the summer gone? it seems i've had no "enjoyment" of the backyard - running from the mosquitoes! who knew it was going to rain every 3 or 4 days this year? it made for a HUGE CROP of "wisconsin's state bird - the mosquito". after i checked the hives this weekend - i opted to KEEP THE BEE SUIT ON ...to harvest the garden!