Self-Reliance: How do you?
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For the military minded folks OPSEC is the word of the day.
I will change the below saying to meet the challenges of today’s environment.
Loose lips will absolutely sink ships!
Not being critical of anyone on this board, but our enemy is within our very midst, be careful my friends.
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Chef Ah I forgot to mention my bees, how could I have forgotten those girls! I’m new to them, on my first year. I’ll have honey soon! Pulling the supers this weekend for processing!
RafterW Chef I’ve only had bees for a few years, but have a great 80 year old mentor. Since our winters can be long at times, I did not rob honey the first year from any of my hives. Keep in mind that honey is their natural food source and what sustains them throughout the year. We do feed them as well, but its not like their natural food. Bees are the ultimate example of working hard to put up food and sustain themselves through the year. For those of you who garden, both flowers and veggies, I think you will find out those little girls will help by polenating many of those plants. Also be aware of the insecticides on your plants. Even some “organic” insecticides can decimate our winged friends.
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I never think of my self as a prepper, it was the way I was raised. We always had a garden and my uncle raised cattle, hogs and chickens. We helped process the chickens which I hated because it was always a Saturday in the fall or late summer. Plucking chickens was not what I wanted to be doing. Always canned items from the garden for use in the fall and winter, I realized later it was probably to save money but I always told my friends the vegetables were better than what their parents were buying from the store.
bocephus been doing it for longer than prepping & all that business has been cool, long before it was cool. Sadly, we have now slowed down a lot & that part does bother me some.
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bocephus been doing it for longer than prepping & all that business has been cool, long before it was cool. Sadly, we have now slowed down a lot & that part does bother me some.
calldoctoday old age is overrated.
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RafterW Chef I’ve only had bees for a few years, but have a great 80 year old mentor. Since our winters can be long at times, I did not rob honey the first year from any of my hives. Keep in mind that honey is their natural food source and what sustains them throughout the year. We do feed them as well, but its not like their natural food. Bees are the ultimate example of working hard to put up food and sustain themselves through the year. For those of you who garden, both flowers and veggies, I think you will find out those little girls will help by polenating many of those plants. Also be aware of the insecticides on your plants. Even some “organic” insecticides can decimate our winged friends.
GWG8541 our winters can get rough at times too. In Kansas it is generally ok to give them one deep for the winter but I added a second deep this spring during peak flow shortly after I got them settled in. I supered on top of that and will leave both deeps for them through winter. Both deeps on my two hives are full. One hive filled the super quite well, the other didn’t but that’s ok. They’ve got what is needed to get through winter now.
Matt W.
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GWG8541 our winters can get rough at times too. In Kansas it is generally ok to give them one deep for the winter but I added a second deep this spring during peak flow shortly after I got them settled in. I supered on top of that and will leave both deeps for them through winter. Both deeps on my two hives are full. One hive filled the super quite well, the other didn’t but that’s ok. They’ve got what is needed to get through winter now.
RafterW good deal on the honey. I didn’t mean to infer you cannot pull honey on the first year. I know plenty of keepers that do. I just don’t to make them feel more at home on the first year and build up the hives health. I understand that part of the formula is also when the hive was established and the size of the hive. I have bought packaged bees in the past, but I do not buy packages any more, I just trap after being taught how to do it and have had better results with the trapped bees.
My nephew works for KDoT and he definitely plows a lot of the white powdery stuff in the winter. Im lucky here, zbigjeff and Jonesy really get the brutal part of the Ohio winters. -
RafterW good deal on the honey. I didn’t mean to infer you cannot pull honey on the first year. I know plenty of keepers that do. I just don’t to make them feel more at home on the first year and build up the hives health. I understand that part of the formula is also when the hive was established and the size of the hive. I have bought packaged bees in the past, but I do not buy packages any more, I just trap after being taught how to do it and have had better results with the trapped bees.
My nephew works for KDoT and he definitely plows a lot of the white powdery stuff in the winter. Im lucky here, zbigjeff and Jonesy really get the brutal part of the Ohio winters. -
Brianzipperdog123 to help the bees get through the winter it’s important to deal with the condensation that forms on the inside of the lid of the hive. When this ice melts it wets the bees and causes deaths. Putting a child’s diaper that absorbs urine will absorb the water produced by the bees and is an easy and cheap solution for this issue. Works well in the Great White North
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Finished jarring our first batch of honey. I’m waiting on labels at the printer. Ended up with about 30 lbs. one of my two total hives produced the excess honey that we were able to harvest and I didn’t get the bees until late spring. Hoping for 70+lbs next year. I was able to fill 33 jars with 12 oz of honey in each, plus a couple 16 Oz jars that I gave away already.
A good bit of this batch will be saved for gifts to friends and family but I’m hoping to have enough to sell to cover my materials cost on the jars and labels. It’s been fun getting to find jars and design a label. Already have a design started for next years batch.
Matt W.
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Finished jarring our first batch of honey. I’m waiting on labels at the printer. Ended up with about 30 lbs. one of my two total hives produced the excess honey that we were able to harvest and I didn’t get the bees until late spring. Hoping for 70+lbs next year. I was able to fill 33 jars with 12 oz of honey in each, plus a couple 16 Oz jars that I gave away already.
A good bit of this batch will be saved for gifts to friends and family but I’m hoping to have enough to sell to cover my materials cost on the jars and labels. It’s been fun getting to find jars and design a label. Already have a design started for next years batch.
RafterW way to go. I really need to get into the
bees. -
cdavis it’s been a fun process. Way more work and thought goes into them than I initially guessed. Not the cheapest hobby to get started in but hopefully we can sell some locally and cover some costs. It’s less expensive than many of my hobbies though. All the fun ones just cost money.
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Finished jarring our first batch of honey. I’m waiting on labels at the printer. Ended up with about 30 lbs. one of my two total hives produced the excess honey that we were able to harvest and I didn’t get the bees until late spring. Hoping for 70+lbs next year. I was able to fill 33 jars with 12 oz of honey in each, plus a couple 16 Oz jars that I gave away already.
A good bit of this batch will be saved for gifts to friends and family but I’m hoping to have enough to sell to cover my materials cost on the jars and labels. It’s been fun getting to find jars and design a label. Already have a design started for next years batch.
RafterW good job on the harvest, I’ve been keeping for 5 years now and them insects are far more fascinating than I ever could have imagined.
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cdavis it’s been a fun process. Way more work and thought goes into them than I initially guessed. Not the cheapest hobby to get started in but hopefully we can sell some locally and cover some costs. It’s less expensive than many of my hobbies though. All the fun ones just cost money.
RafterW yes I know all about those hobbies. Lol
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RafterW good job on the harvest, I’ve been keeping for 5 years now and them insects are far more fascinating than I ever could have imagined.
Ridley Acres I’ve had two deep hive bodies on each hive since May. Both are pretty well filled up with stores for the winter. Hoping that will get them through, I’d like to avoid feeding them if I can. I’m going to throw the extracted frames back in a super after I treat with OAV so they can clean them up and salvage the bit of honey that got left behind.
I’ve heard that many say one deep body is enough to get them through winter here in KS, with some supplemental feeding so hopefully the two deeps will be enough food for them.
I’ve got the equipment for a third hive so I’m going to learn more about splitting hives, might try that in the spring on the one hive that seemed to be doing best (the one I pulled the excess honey from).
Matt W.
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Ridley Acres I’ve had two deep hive bodies on each hive since May. Both are pretty well filled up with stores for the winter. Hoping that will get them through, I’d like to avoid feeding them if I can. I’m going to throw the extracted frames back in a super after I treat with OAV so they can clean them up and salvage the bit of honey that got left behind.
I’ve heard that many say one deep body is enough to get them through winter here in KS, with some supplemental feeding so hopefully the two deeps will be enough food for them.
I’ve got the equipment for a third hive so I’m going to learn more about splitting hives, might try that in the spring on the one hive that seemed to be doing best (the one I pulled the excess honey from).
RafterW said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
I’ve heard that many say one deep body is enough to get them through winter here in KS, with some supplemental feeding so hopefully the two deeps will be enough food for them.
There is a delicate balance between trying to make sure they are large enough to keep themselves warm overwinter, making sure they have enough food, and trying not to give them too much space that they have to heat.
In SE WI and I have 8 frame equip cuz that stuff is heavy, I got all mediums except for a couple hives have a deep box. I’m planning to over winter on either 3 mediums or 1 deep and 1 medium depending on the hive. But I also have the ceracell top feeder which I will fill with dry sugar when it gets closer to freezing. Hopefully any condensation will collect inside there and get absorbed by the sugar.
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I’ll just turn them into sausage…**
Chef , you have nothing to worry about. lol
Seriously though, A determined dirt bag who read our posts and decided we owned something significant enough… and they really wanted it… could conceivably look up name and address information if a user here includes their full name. The rest is all public record.
In the grand scheme of things, the actual risk may not be great, but IMO it still is good to think about this stuff.
processhead Man you are a mean ol son of a gun. We try to be a little more human & just string em up out back over a bed of ants.
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RafterW good job on the harvest, I’ve been keeping for 5 years now and them insects are far more fascinating than I ever could have imagined.
Ridley Acres Agree with you there. It was interesting to watch the bees. The crazy cost of the bees as they became trendy to do is nuts. Our hives would take a beating every year. The late winter storms and cold, wet springs would do in at least half of our hives that made it through the winter. Finally gave it up after 10+ years, maybe will re-attack after a break.
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Beleive it or not I am new to the gun/home defense world. Quick story on my background, grew up in a town in Upstate New York that was on the verge of being hoidy toidy (have never typed that before!) so guns were not part of my upbringing. I had one friend who became a cop that LOVED guns so he took me shooting shotguns, hand guns and an AK-style rifle a few times. I loved it but I also know myself, I can’t have something without playing with it and I didn’t have land or anything to go shooting on so I never got one. Moved to Texas, huge change in culture, went dove, turkey and some pheasant hunting more comfortable with guns but again, didn’t “pull the trigger”. Move all around and finally end up in Kansas, everyone here was hunting all the time, I was busy building my house and then doing projects on it for any free time.
Finally get the chance to go sporting clay shooting at https://www.flintoak.com/ and bought an Over-Under. Then Covid hits, immediately bought an 9mm handgun, single stack cause my wife has small hands and it has continued, that is all I will say!
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Beleive it or not I am new to the gun/home defense world. Quick story on my background, grew up in a town in Upstate New York that was on the verge of being hoidy toidy (have never typed that before!) so guns were not part of my upbringing. I had one friend who became a cop that LOVED guns so he took me shooting shotguns, hand guns and an AK-style rifle a few times. I loved it but I also know myself, I can’t have something without playing with it and I didn’t have land or anything to go shooting on so I never got one. Moved to Texas, huge change in culture, went dove, turkey and some pheasant hunting more comfortable with guns but again, didn’t “pull the trigger”. Move all around and finally end up in Kansas, everyone here was hunting all the time, I was busy building my house and then doing projects on it for any free time.
Finally get the chance to go sporting clay shooting at https://www.flintoak.com/ and bought an Over-Under. Then Covid hits, immediately bought an 9mm handgun, single stack cause my wife has small hands and it has continued, that is all I will say!
Jonathon We need to introduce more folks to the shooting sports. I understand many will not want to go and hunt, but I am amazed how ignorant many are about firearms in general. Walking around with preconceived ideas of what they are and capabilities because of misinformation and totally incorrect information. So, we need to be there to help them with hands on and learning opportunities. Off my soapbox.
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Beleive it or not I am new to the gun/home defense world. Quick story on my background, grew up in a town in Upstate New York that was on the verge of being hoidy toidy (have never typed that before!) so guns were not part of my upbringing. I had one friend who became a cop that LOVED guns so he took me shooting shotguns, hand guns and an AK-style rifle a few times. I loved it but I also know myself, I can’t have something without playing with it and I didn’t have land or anything to go shooting on so I never got one. Moved to Texas, huge change in culture, went dove, turkey and some pheasant hunting more comfortable with guns but again, didn’t “pull the trigger”. Move all around and finally end up in Kansas, everyone here was hunting all the time, I was busy building my house and then doing projects on it for any free time.
Finally get the chance to go sporting clay shooting at https://www.flintoak.com/ and bought an Over-Under. Then Covid hits, immediately bought an 9mm handgun, single stack cause my wife has small hands and it has continued, that is all I will say!
Jonathon I have taken many people new to guns and introduced them to shooting, both men and women. When women want to go I bring my wife along so they are comfortable. Some loved it and others didn’t. Make sure your wife feels comfortable shooting the pistol, only way is to get out and shoot. Also you might want to get a 22 pistol for plinking just to get comfortable shooting a pistol, used to be a lot cheaper and I have found that women find it easier when starting out, less noise and recoil. Just my two pennies worth!
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