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Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

49K views 92 replies 30 participants last post by  cerezha 
#1 ·
I'd like to update a thread weekly or fortnightly on whats going on @ my apiary. Bare in mind, Australia is 6 months out of season for you fella's in the states - Im smack in the middle of maintenance time here right now!!


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I run about 10 hives as a hobby on the farm here (Ballina, NSW, Australia) I have a real job that lets me pay for all this - haha.

Anyhow, just got thru making up some bottom boards - I modified them slightly for beetle captruing etc



Knocked together 10 full depth supers, and a few lids I had lying around in the flat. I assemble everything with the crown stapler these days - no nails.



Had to timber bog fill the holes left over from the crown stapler, then give the edges a bit of a rounding off with the sander. A coat of oil based primer (thats the white paint). All the exposed edges get 2 coats of primer. All done with a 3" wide paint brush.



 
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#27 ·
We have been changing this around with labelling and product sizes. We are in the middle of getting a new styled batch of labels. Labels I guess is one of those things that gets tweaked here and there until you settle into it.

For a long time we have just used a 500 gram jar. Anyhow, listening to what the customers want has been interesting. So we hav settled on 250 gm, 500 gram, 1kilo bucket, 1.5 kilo bucket, and 3.8 kilo container, as well as the cut comb slices. That cut comb absolutely walks away - we cant keep up with it.

I started doing a few foundationless frames for the cut comb. Maybe 1 per super box - that sort of thing. I thought I had some piccies in the phone - will have to grab them on the weekend.

 
#29 ·
Cheers David,
Yea, I have been looking at those electric type splatter guns. I am hoping someone I meet thru the club has one, so I could have a bit of a test with it for next winter.

A better piccy of whats in flower at the moment here :



My original 12 hives from last year. 7 of them are still with me. I lost a couple to bad management, and I think 1 was a dud to start with. With my 7, I have one of the new ones, + 1 swarm from about a month ago.



This is the new 9 of 10. I have them in full sun as well. They need a looking at this weekend if I get a break in the rain. That tree in the background is having a hard time holding its flowers. Every time a bud opens, there is a bee on it. The tree has a buzz about it when standing underneath.

Im still using the migrating foam jammed in the front from when I picked them up. I break a little off each time I think the hive is stronger, and needs more entrance room.

I use the brick pointing method still to remind me that something needs doing. That reminds me, #4 there needs a new bottom board.



 
#30 ·
I have been having a fiddle with these foundationless frames. I drop in a 19mm square section tilted on its side, so the point is up and down. I did the wax starter strip, then drop in 1-2 of these frames per super. Since we are selling cut comb on its own, I'd like to be selling the completely made by the bees product.

I mark the frames with a F so I can see that they are foundationless. A BLACK F is my 2010 frames. Will change colour for next year.



Heres how they turn out. I normally get 14 odd out of a frame like this, then just toss it back in the hive.

 
#31 ·
For making comb honey out of frames with wires inthem, I modified my embedding transformer with a push button and some alligator clips.

I place the frame in the stand upright, cut the wires so there is 20mm hanging out each end.

Connect the alligator clips, then press the button for a few seconds. This heats up the wire so it can be pulled out without breaking. Then cut the comb up like normal.





 
#32 ·
Hi Rob,

what a lovely set-up you have.

We are getting heaps of rain too and I'm afraid some of the nuc's are not going to make it. A year ago I had 8 hives and now I'm up to about 20. The trap hives really worked for me. And a good number of swarmes too.
I took about 200 kg of honey off about 10 days ago. I have to try some comb honey. When we had some sun the honey flow was unbelievable.
We are building a honey house at the moment - it will never be as neat as yours!
Good to see the pic's!

Thanks mate.
 
#34 ·
Hey G'day Max,
I got your email the other day - good stuff hey!! Yea, Im a lot down on honey because of this weather. The bees are still flying in the light drizzle, but it has poured and poured here. All the honey we had is all sold out. Am waiting for about a fortnight of sunshine here!!! I think that long leaf paperbark is about to come on soon. Really looking forward to that.

Hey David,
The thing I have seen is that when the Foundationless frames go in next to drawn frames they keep them nice and straight. I put one in next to some foundation by mistake, and had to pull several frames out to get the mess all seperated back out.
It appears that if there is a start point and a end point, they can figure it out and make something how I want to sell it. Its reasonably inefficient doing it with the dowel as I get 21 combs from a standard frame. I might look at doing foundationless with a full frame in the future - Need to look a bit harder at what other people have done - I just dont trust them in the extractor at the moment :)
 
#35 ·
Robbo, I enjoyed your post and had come across your video when I was out on you tube. I was wondering if you built or purchased the electric embedder that you used. It looks relatively simple. I have never installed foundation but it looks like it would work better than the spur wheel type.
 
#36 ·
G'day Robbo,

the weather looks like finally improving a bit. No rain today and the bees are going crazy - one of my workers got a sting and I kept an eye on him after your experience. He is OK.

" Im over the branding thing - hit em with water proof ink." - can you tell me what brand it is? Sounds like a good idea.

I note that you have the hives on the ground. I think I would loose a lot of bees to the cane toads - mongrels sit in fron in the evening and eat themselves full. I go on regular toad cacthing expeditions. put them in a plastic bag and put them to sleep.

I was up to 23 hives- nuc's but assume that I lost some of the small swarms during the prolonged wet - and more coming.

My shed should be ready to move in in maybe 2 months. Making good progress.

Still have about 100 kg of honey but I do find it difficult to keep up at the moment. It will all change when the sun is out!
 
#37 ·
Hi Pete,

I purchased mine from John Guilfoyles in Australia.

I only had a quick look on the american web stores, and found one at the bottom of this page :

http://www.countryfields.ca/foundation.html

Yea the spur wheel - I have done a few of those!!! Got to keep them hot in water. The electric is a big improvement over that.

Cheers.

Rob :)


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Hey Max, im after another supplier - my waterproof ink turns out to be not so waterproof!! Next time I am in sydney, I am going to go to a factory I used to work at and get some of their ink - what ever it is, it doesnt come off - will let you know what that is :)
 
#38 ·
Hi Rob,
" Hey Max, im after another supplier - my waterproof ink turns out to be not so waterproof!! Next time I am in sydney, I am going to go to a factory I used to work at and get some of their ink - what ever it is, it doesnt come off - will let you know what that is"
Reply With Quote: I find it quite amazing that in 2010 we still can't find some products which seem simple. I can find quality black felt pens - but other colours seem to be rubbish ( to write on frames)
 
#39 ·
I obtained a used nuc box built out of plywood. The paint on it seems to totally protect the plywood from weathering. The paint is the exact same yellow color that is painted on the lines on roads. I'm going to guess that whoever built the nuc had access to some leftover paint from painting roads.

That paint seems bulletproof. You could always try getting some of that instead of waterproof ink.

Layout bluing for metal workers is waterproof, but can be removed with alcohol based remover. The old prussian bluing was virtually impossible to get off your skin - you had to wear it off.
 
#40 ·
Robbo, love the pics. Looks like you are in a fairly tropical looking area. Lots of times I think of Australia as a barren dry desert type of enviroment.

One question, with your hives being the dark green do you have any problems with temp building up in the hive. Always thought green was the mos efficient at using the sun's heat hence why most plant life or leaves are green.

Seems to be working for you though. Keep the pictures coming. Australia and New Zealand is on my bucket list of places I want to visit before I pass on.
 
#42 ·
Yea, I have some contacts in the packaging industry - that same ink that is used for printing expiry dates on packets of chips, cereal boxes etc I reckon would be the go.

Thats interesting with the green paint / leaves of tree's etc. I hadnt thought about the efficiency of that paint colour. I just use it purely for camoflage for theft / not alerting the neighbours etc. (I should paint the white insulated lids I have on them too - haha - as they stand out a bit). me personally, Im not a fan of multi coloured boxes - I like everything to be the same etc. The lids I am using are the migratory ones with the air vents in them. The bees seem to block that air flow off with propolis for most of the year, and there is always plenty of bees in the underside of the lid, so the insulation must be doing the trick.
 
#44 ·
"The bees seem to block that air flow off with propolis for most of the year"

Some of my bees also do this ( and I find it a nuisance as they also tend to seal off the AJ beetle traps) while others leave the place as clean as can be.
I'm trying to select splits more from the clean ones.
 
#45 · (Edited)
Well, not much happening here with the dismal summer. The local guys reckon its the worst production period since the early 1970's.

Hopefully thats the worst I will see!!

On a brighter note, the new hive stencil turned up today, and I gave it a small test drive. Love the new gear!!







And the old ones - not doing them like this anymore

 
#46 ·
The latest project around here is a small scale de-humidifying cabinet to reduce the moisture content of some honey crops at different parts of the year.

I'll have the cabinet as a multipurpose unit as well Im thinking - some for wax straining, and wax melting.

1..Buiy a big box


2..Fit out with some outlets for heater lamps, fan, and dehumidifyer unit


3..start looking at electric controls
 
#48 ·
Hi Rob,

my beehouse ( for storage and extraction) is as good as finished. I will take some photos and put them on my website soon.
Good honey flow on at the moment and looks like I will have a pretty good store for winter. Lots of markets coming up and the local IGA is buying a lot and paying a fair price too.
I have no need to reduce humidity/moisture if I take the honey fairly fully capped.If I have a bucket full of honey flowing to slow I place it in the car in the sun. Works well.
Still dealing with the SHB - the Department has sent a letter to all Bee Keepers with some advice. Must be bad if they are getting seriously involved.
Autumn is looking pretty good and I have big hopes for a winter flow and early spring.
max
 
#51 ·
Hey fella's,
I have been doing my spring and summer bee keeping. I should update my photo blog here a bit more often I reckon.

One thing I have been playing with is a website.

If anyone has a minute or 2 to ckeck it out?? I would like some positive and negative feedback so I can finish that off - cheers for the help!! :)

www.ballinahoney.com.au
 
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