Bees

[white.grant]

There's a fruit shop on the highway near Bathurst that sell 10kg buckets for $40 which is where I quoted the price earlier.



But just today I saw 1kg tubs at Harris Farm on special for $5. Down from i think 8 bucks.

Is it unpasteurised?

 

[taztiger]

Have 12 hives here in Tassie. Good for my honey porter and a bit of mead.

 

[jimmythehuman]

Try to answer as many questions as i can, got couple fo single malts for the birthday...an they are goooood.

Dont worry about extra bee stings if you're allergic. If you have bees in your yard now you wont have any more with hives, they forage far and wide, not close and narrow.

My dog got a few stings early on, but dogs are smart enough to stay clear of hive after a couple of stings, my kelpie hunts bees now...but had a few issues ealry on

Sean, its great to see considered opines, but some of yours are very conservative. It is as safe to keep bees as it is to keep flowers. If you dont want to come into contact with bees, then dont go outside. Bees are NOT agressive when foraging and only some hives can become agressive when you get close or disturb the colony...this is dealt with by destruction (as you said) or re queening. Swarming is when bees are at their safest.

Anaphaltic shock chance will not increase by your neighbours having bees, much more likely by you neighbours having flowers. A long and separate discussion, but your concern is common, just not realistic.

Setup costs are cheap. Suit (or variation of), couple of hand tools, some boxes, bees, honey harvesting stuff. Like homebrew this can mean copper pots or plastic buckets Could be cheaper or more depending on how ingenious you are. I used a $3 painter suit for the first year.

Honey is worth a max of $6 per kg wholesale...getting rich from it is not likely.

Wolfy, we can work something out with your hive and some bees. Did you make your own Warre hive? We could swap BBq, Beer, bees, hives and long stories

Extractors are like triple copper all grain home breweries...nice to have. Far from essential. I have a home made one but i mostly crush n strain.

Most major cities in Aus and now the world (eg NY) have re allowed bee keeping in the CBD and its no a thriving business...no pesticides, good for plants, good for bees and good for people...nothing will ever stop people from telling you crazy anaphylactic shock stories, but the reality is the world is full of bees and few hives here or there wont impact your neighbours. see urbanbeehive link by Grantw.

Wakkatoo seem to be usng a similar approach to me. I have 10-15 hives varyingly in mornington.

Native bees dont work well in Vicco, so no practical knowledge.

Hoppy2b makes it clear,. but i disagree about the excluder for noobs, but either way will work.

Hope it helps and above all i hope it generates interest. Bees are awesome and we need them and like frogs they can be a barometer of the health of the local ecosystem...in which we live!

 

[Muscovy_333]

Now i am even more excited Jimmy. I'm in Mount Eliza!
When are you putting on a demo?

 

[jimmythehuman]

Now i am even more excited Jimmy. I'm in Mount Eliza!
When are you putting on a demo?

Lol. Not sure about a demo but happy to help.

I know people in MTE on Allison rd that keep pigs (2/3 acre out there)...they were gonna get bees from me but moved on to farming fish in their yard. Anything is possible if you're keen...its easy to do with out upsetting your neighbours etc.

 

[Muscovy_333]

Lol. Not sure about a demo but happy to help.

I know people in MTE on Allison rd that keep pigs (2/3 acre out there)...they were gonna get bees from me but moved on to farming fish in their yard. Anything is possible if you're keen...its easy to do with out upsetting your neighbours etc.

Fair enough,
I need to do a bit more homework first.

It has been on my agenda for a while, to set up a few boxes on my folks property near Berwick but then i went and changed careers, had children and got bogged down in life.

Just starting to rear my head again, so it will be back on the agenda soon.

 

[jimmythehuman]

Fair enough,
I need to do a bit more homework first.

It has been on my agenda for a while, to set up a few boxes on my folks property near Berwick but then i went and changed careers, had children and got bogged down in life.

Just starting to rear my head again, so it will be back on the agenda soon.

I got a city job and long hours and small kids too...thats why i keep bees and ducks n chooks n stuff...adventure! Its not a lot of work...its a pleasant distraction and like beer you make stuff you can share with people...very satisfying

 

[lmccrone]

I live in Ascot Vale and our local council (Moonee Vally) does these open garden things where you go and check out local gardens, they all have bee hives. i doubt the council would be encouraging us to get a bee hive if it was so dangerous.

Also honey in coffee instead of sugar, delicious!

 

[jimmythehuman]

Of courses its not dangerous...kinda like dogs...until you walk up to a dogs bowl and grab his bone he is no harm to anyone.

Urban bee keeping was normal since civilisation began until we sanitised everything and kicked them out, now most cities wants them back...good for everyone.

 

[Golani51]

I have friends in Inkerman Street, Eaast St kilda who have 4 hives. Loads of young kids around. Never been problems. Honey tastes delicious.

 

[hoppy2B]

Is it unpasteurised?

Several things effect the flavour of honey, heating being one of them.
Its necessary to heat honey to strain it properly. The key is not to heat it too much. By law honey has to be strained apparently.
The other thing that can effect honey is the process of extraction. As honey combs are spun and the honey ejected against the side of the extraction unit, it passed through the air and aroma is lost reducing its flavour.
Yield wise, if you crush honey comb and let the honey drip out it means the bees need to produce more wax to rebuild the comb, as apposed to merely uncapping, extracting and returning the empty combs to the hive. Bees use up honey to produce wax.
To sum up, honey from crushed comb is generally clearer and tastes better but commercial beekeepers uncap and extract mechanically because its more efficient and higher yielding. Crushing isn't practical except in the case of small scale hobby beekeeping where an extractor may be too expensive. If you want unheated honey from a beekeeper expect it to contain bits of wax, visible pollen and bees wings etc.

 

[wakkatoo]

If you want unheated honey from a beekeeper expect it to contain bits of wax, visible pollen and bees wings etc.

All depends on the strainer. If its fine enough, that will all disappear. I use a paint strainer 'bag'. The honey is as clear as any commercial variety and I can gurantee no heating occurred during extraction, it was all at room temp, I just made sure it was a warm day (mid march, around 25 degreesd IIRC).

My point bee-ing (sorry, REALLY bad pun), is that it is very easy to have clear honey with no heating involved.

 

[hoppy2B]

All depends on the strainer. If its fine enough, that will all disappear. I use a paint strainer 'bag'. The honey is as clear as any commercial variety and I can gurantee no heating occurred during extraction, it was all at room temp, I just made sure it was a warm day (mid march, around 25 degreesd IIRC).

My point bee-ing (sorry, REALLY bad pun), is that it is very easy to have clear honey with no heating involved.

Yeah it will go through a kitchen type strainer but not the really fine stuff from the beekeeping supply joint. There's a noticeable difference to clarity. I don't know how fine the strainer you're using is so can't compare. I've looked for paint strainer bags at Bunnings before to no avail.
For brewing I don't think you need it that clear anyway as the particles will drop out. And I'm not a big fan of honey in beer. I used it once at about 1kg for a standard brew. I would only use a small amount if I used it again. The flavour is just to strong for my taste. A small amount might work really well for beer, otherwise its not beer.

 

[jimmythehuman]

Several things effect the flavour of honey, heating being one of them.
Its necessary to heat honey to strain it properly. The key is not to heat it too much. By law honey has to be strained apparently.
The other thing that can effect honey is the process of extraction. As honey combs are spun and the honey ejected against the side of the extraction unit, it passed through the air and aroma is lost reducing its flavour.
Yield wise, if you crush honey comb and let the honey drip out it means the bees need to produce more wax to rebuild the comb, as apposed to merely uncapping, extracting and returning the empty combs to the hive. Bees use up honey to produce wax.
To sum up, honey from crushed comb is generally clearer and tastes better but commercial beekeepers uncap and extract mechanically because its more efficient and higher yielding. Crushing isn't practical except in the case of small scale hobby beekeeping where an extractor may be too expensive. If you want unheated honey from a beekeeper expect it to contain bits of wax, visible pollen and bees wings etc.

We crush n strain, but i am on a backyard scale not commercial. even though i have an extractor, its just easier and the wife likes to harvest the wax. Bees will draw out new comb very fast. You can think of it like giving everyone in the colony more to do, so they work harder, its good for the bee economy

You will not slow down an established hive by using up their wax. I have done a few side by side comparison and they often draw out the comb quicker and fill it with honey vs doing lots of repairs to spun comb. I follow the same principals as this guy mostly http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

I use his foundationless method so i dont have to worry about wire and wax foundation, so crush n strain is a LOT less work for me. If you wanna extract you really need to wire and use foundation.

 

[edschache]

I have native bees naturally.. unfortunately they live in the concrete slab of my chook shed (enter through the wall on the lower side of the hill it's on about 3-4 feet off the ground. Great for pollinating but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get any honey out of the concrete hive. At least they're safe at night from any predator without a jackhammer.

A bloke up the road keeps bees and sells the honey - I have been considering making a local mead... this thread might be the final inspiration I needed...

Cheers,

Ed