Weekend project

Great pics and updates, you are busy!


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I have never messed with bees. Can you explain how you paint the queen bee?

Like the idea of see which one is queen but have never heard of this before. Got a good friend that is eat up with bee keeping. He loves it - Diamond Hunter on this forum. Always enjoy hearing his excitement when he talks about them.

Wayne

Wayne,
Thanks for the message. I’m new to this bee thing but really enjoy it. If your a lover of creation and outdoors then don’t miss out on understanding the honey bee.

Regarding marking queens I just googled it and jumped right in. I went to one of the craft stores and bought a red paint pen and went to town.

From what I understand queens have a stinger but want sting you like a worker bee. I simply grab her by her mid sections as I hold her in a way I can mark her round backside. I then put her in a small cage for paint to dry or if I don’t have one out her back.

Like anything else in life , guess you gotta do it to find out. Good luck.

e




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Love your updates! Honestly, your thread makes me realise how lazy I actually am;-)


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Lol Goldentriangle! Thanks for checking in. Haven’t done much lately. Been lazy, ha. I did burn my Christmas Tree for the first time and I will definitely be doing that again next year. Also put in a ghost system gate. To keep the deer in.






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Goldentriangle said:

Honestly, your thread makes me realise how lazy I actually am;-)
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Click to expand...

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

nice gate setup,did you bury your battery or do you not have any thief's around there do you have solar panel

Buck,
I put the battery in a box on a block under the electric board. The solar panel is up high on the other pole.

I do have joy riders coming down my road so eventually I may have to build a lock box for the battery. Stay tuned.



Joy rider.



Update on sand box. These are ready to be pulled and planted. Chinese chestnut, swamp whites and sawtooth. Very happy with the sandbox method. Going to try some dwarf chinks in it next spring.



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If you don't mind, will you explain your sand box approach in great detail. I am a chinese chestnut guy and like what I see in your photo.

I am guessing you put hardward cloth on the top to prevent the squirrels from dining whenever.

Love the gate.

Wayne

No problem Wayne. I’ve got some pics on page 6 #116 of my set up.

1. Overwintered nuts in slight damp peat n fridge
2. Planted in sand
3. Cover SB with chicken wire to keep squirrels out. I needed something smaller to keep chipmunks out.
4. Had a mist system on twice a day running about 20 seconds
5. After they started popping I added lime, osmocote and micronutrients to acorns and added same but Sulfur to chestnuts.
6. When the trees got to top of cage I took cage off and twisted nut off so squirrels didn’t uproot small seedlings.

That’s it. I will say having them in partial shade helps. I will pull them soon and plant.




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Trees look mighty healthy! Good luck with them

Update! Also I need some help on my diseased plums, please!! I Think they’re medley or Chickasaw.






My plums have black knot disease. I tried pruning them heavy 2 years ago but it’s back on them. Does anyone have suggestions what to spray? I hear the best solution is to cut them down and plant something else. I pruned them even heavier this time. I hate cutting down 10 years of growth.



I pruned my Yates and Arkansas black apples with the sthl pole saw. Now I’m taking Advil for my neck.




Some of my moonglow grafts did good but I forgot to take off electric tape. That wasn’t a good idea and I suggest removing your tape the first summer.





Some other moonglow graft where I left tape on and one good one on the last pick where tape was removed earlier.


I lost another hive at the farm. It was full of mites. I got a screaming deal at the coop for some expired mite away strips. Sometimes it pays not to be so cheap. I saved 20% and lost $105 worth of bees and priceless honey for my friends n family. Live n learn.






Installed a new water device on my side of meter. Supposed to cut your water bill by 40%. Currently it is $800 month for the warehouse. Hope I don’t lose more bees over it. Ha!

Lastly, I’m preparing some bee traps for this spring. I’m a trapper and now I’m going to try my hand at trapping bees. Should be a challenge. Here is my secret weapon. Stay tuned!







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I have several cardboard nuc boxes that i used last year without luck i used lemon drop scent as bait

Where will you place the "traps?"

bill

Bill, I’ve never done it but plan on strapping into trees about 10’ up. Get em hung by end of March and run to July.

I’m going to use some nuc boxes with bottom extensions to make bigger. Planning on using some old comb and add propolis on newer boxes. We’ll see what happens. Are you going to try again?


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I will

This year will follow your cue and add old comb and propolis

i have a ladder stand overlooking a clover plot that looks promising

honey bees and native habitat go together like PB&J

bill

No one can help me on the black not disease?
Did some burns yesterday and found a buck from 2015. I had one pick of him.









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Good morning February. Planted south eastern wildflower mix at a friends house. That stuff ain’t cheap. I prepped this field this summer by burning it down with gly and planted it with buckwheat and oats. The groundhog disk did pretty good. Can’t wait to see it pop!










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Make sure you post pictures of that wildflower plot when they are growing.

Man those big bags of featherweight seeds make me nervous!