# Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog



## Robbo

This is my typical apiary in the spring / summer ( a few months back)


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## Brian Suchan

How come your telescoping lids are so much bigger than the hive top?


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## Robbo

They arent a telescoping lid. I use all migratory lids on the hives that are the sane size as the super box.

What you are seeing there is insulation on top of the lid. I live in a tropical climate. We can get 40 (104 f?) degree days and heavy rain all in the same day. Rainfall per year is 2000mm or roughly 7 feet per year. That insulation keeps the entrance a bit dryer and helps the timber joints on the boxs.


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## swamprat

i noticed an electric fence.what do you have to protect you hives from in australia


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## Robbo

We have a few cows on the farm. Its just to stop them bumping into the hives, or scratching/rubbing them selves on them.

I dont use those the entrance sealers that are a nail and some metal - the kangaroos can shut the entrances themselves!!


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## Robbo

Bog filled and sanded slightly










1st coat of 2, water based paint. I love having the hives green and camoflauged into the bush slightly.










The staplers. 1 is a 6mm (1/4" crown) and the other a 12mm (1/2" crown). 6mm sizes go from 12 to 38mm. The 12mm goes from 1 1/2" to 2". I use the 2 inch ones - forget about taking the boxes apart if you make a mistake!!










Staple sizes - a 14mm would be handy. these are the 6mm, 18 gauge ones.


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## Robbo

Stuff I take to the bee yard with me for an inspection. I only found out about the cool suit, and the bee-z smoker thanks to this site. Imported them to Australia, and very happy with both items. I love the internet some times...










A few spare supers. Trying to keep in front of the game/demand for next springs busy times. The left pile is above a water/vinegar bath. These are stickies from last season. I dont use any chemcals in the storage process. I go 2 supers between metal seperators. Works ok for me.
The piles on the right have wired frames but no foundation fitted. I fit the foundation as I need them, normally 20 at a time. I prefer the foundation sitting in a box rather than on a frame in a super in the shed.










heres how I knock those frames together - short video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvUe5ikCwec

Shelving unit in my bee area in the workshop. (see the bee vac - haha - another thing I picked up fom this site)


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## swamprat

ok i do the same thimg with a few hives i have in a pasture.some beek in this country havea problem with bears and fence in there hives.


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## jhs494

Nice group of pictures Robbo. I have watched the video before. You have a lot of nice tips.
Thanks for sharing!


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## Robbo

The hives have been shut down for a few weeks now. I choke down the entrance to about 2 inches










Still knocking frames together - a quick 40 ran thru the jig one night over a beer or 2. A little each day adds up nicely.










Im over the branding thing - hit em with water proof ink.










Am pleased to say we are hosting this months bee club meeting at the property - I think we are as ready as we can bee - should be fun, and nice to meet up/catch up with similar minded people.


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## Robbo

this is a piccy of the hive tour at the apiary on the weekend. Opened 2 hives and had a quick look at what was happening, and a good bit of discussion. Had roughly 31 members from the club show up for the meeting.










the meeting part of the meeting in the afternoon.










this diatomaceous earth isnt working for me in the winter. will be switching back to the oil instead. DE is too clumpy and in effective in the wet so far.


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## earthchild

Your pole barn/workshop is so organized and sexy!


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## Mike S

Great thread Robbo, enjoyed your video, nice work shop too!


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## Robbo

Cheers guys - yea not a lot to report here - last weekend I had a few hundred bees working a tree in flower here. Pretty cool as this week is the middle of winter. My wife is onto what type it is - will report back over the weekrnd.

Might have a check in the hives this weekend if I get a sunny day. need to drop the oil in the hive traps.


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## Robbo

Not a lot to report this week apairy wise.

Put the queen excluders back in the hives 3 weeks ago, and then 7 days later checked if I had the queen in the right box. 6 from 7 were wrong, so had to juggle boxes. While I was at it, I opened up the hive entrance reducers on the bigger hives to about 60% open - we are still having cool nights,but lovely warm days.

1st of august looks like a good time for us next year to be doing that here (last month of winter).

I built a new hive stand as i would like to be @ 20 - 25 hives this year. Just need to paint the welds with gal paint, and water proof grease the upright legs. I should get 10 hives on there with room to remove the beetle traps between the hive bottoms.










Gee we had a bad weekend last week, We were doing some scrub clearing and one of the guys got a bee sting on the forehead. I took him to the house and gave him a anti inflamotroy pill from my bee gear and a large glass of water. Roughly 10 minutes from the sting time he passed out in my lounge room in the house. The ambulance officers said he had a (not sure of spelling) anafilactic?? reaction. That means something like he had a sting a few years back, and the body leashes out on the follow up sting. 

he had low/poor bllod pressure and I didnt have any adrenaline or an eppy pen or anything here. NSW ambulance service got to the farm in 7 minutes (these guys a heros - fair dinkum) from in town. He spent the day in hospital being monitored and was released that afternoon, and went to work the next day!!

Very, very frightening for me to say the least. Im not used to people getting knocked out in the garden!!! I have spoken to a few beekeepers this week, and my dad also who has done bees since the 50's and none of them say they have heard of anything like this reaction wise. Just a sign of the times I spose - dunno.


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## HobbyBeek

Wow, crazy events down under Robbo!! Glad to hear everything worked out OK. Thanks for sharing the photos of your yard and shop. Very nice and also quite helpful...

Passed through Briz a few months ago, great place to visit mate.... hope to have a chance to get back down there someday. :thumbsup:


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## Kingfisher Apiaries

So you have how many hives?


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## MAXANT

Thanks for sharing, nice setup you have. Very clean and organized!


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## Robbo

Ah cool - Brisbane CBD is about 2 1/4 hours north drive for me here. I work in between the gold coast and brisbane with my real job, but have a client or 2 in the CBD. Yea, next time your out, let us know - no dramas at all showing you around our parts.

Im down to 9 hives ATM, and on the lookout for 10-12 more for this season. I think 20-25 would be a good number for us for this year. My wife has pledged to help out a bit more, so 20 should be a good number. I have been sold out of honey here for 10 weeks now.

Cheers Maxant - Anytime you want to ship some of that surplus stock of yours over to us here, you let us know hey!! I love the quality gear you fella's make. Very rare these days to find such nice equipment.


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## Robbo

Just finishing off most of the painting for this winter - had the little fella helping out. Got 120 frames foundationed, and read to go on the table.










The stuff stacked outside on the new stand in between coats. Will be glad when the painting is done.


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## Blackbrood

hanks for posting the frame and foundation video. very useful, some great pointers


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## Robbo

No worries - Cheers mate 

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I had a bit of a bash at this wax rendering.

Heated up all the blown out frames in the extractor and other bits of wax from under the lid of the hives. My cappings generally stay on the frames as I use one of those sideliner uncappers.

Got it all boiling in some water for about 10 minutes










Had a skim on the surface and picked up all the floaters.










Ran this thru some of that muslin cloth into a bucket










Managed to get some little shapey things happening and a few blocks for later - Im keen on a bit of candlemaking, or some foundation making later this year i think.










I'll see if I can dig it up, but probably one of the best posts you will see on wax rendering is from Linda's blog.


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## Robbo

Had the little fella up in the workshop on the weekend helping me unpack some new boxes to knock together 










Knocked up a few boxes then got to filling the joints where the big crown staples are holding them together.



















Not a lot else to report just at the moment.

Took a few kilo's off the hives on the weekend. Just a couple of frames out of each really. I think things will get busy here in the next 3-4 weeks.


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## Capricorn

Robbo you running 8 frame boxes? Your whole setup looks great! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work! :applause:


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## Robbo

HI mate,

No, I am running all 10 frame gear. Because we had to move across the country I had a fresh start as I wasnt able to bring my supers with me. I'll be ok lifting the 10 frame stuff for its life (15 years maybe??) I am thinking. My dad runs all 8 frame stuff, and I can see the benefit with that less weight for handling. I'll switch over later on.

Have had a pretty good run at the honey flows the past 2 months. We have a brown Kurrajong in flower here, as well as a few wattles. I notice that all the trees are about 200% more prolific with their flowering this year. I guess happy tree-happy bee??

The honey is very dark, and very strong. I'll keep a jar or 2 of that for winter when the coughs and colds are here. It just about makes the eyes water!!!



















I bought 10 nucs of bees about 6 weeks back when they became available. I am very impressed with them. They appear at this stage to be better at keeping the beetle numbers down, and also are a lot more gentle to work with. 5 out of the 10 nucs needed a second box above an excluder after 4 weeks. I am due for an inspection this weekend if it stops raining. The weather data for spring showed that we had 25 days out of the 93 where it didnt rain - It has been wet!!! The first 3 days of summer has seen about 100mm of rain already!

Here is the 4 framers










And after transferring the 4frames into my boxes. I had 60 stickies in my boxes to transfer into as well which was great


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## Robbo

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.


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## David LaFerney

Great pictures. You have quite the setup. You should look into a paint spray rig though.


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## Robbo

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.


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## Robbo

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.


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## Robbo

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.


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## max2

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.


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## David LaFerney

That's a good idea. I made some frames last year as an experiment that were divided vertically (2 frames for mini nucs) and I noticed that they tended to keep the comb *straighter* in the smaller areas. Have you seen the same thing?


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## Robbo

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


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## Simply Peter

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.


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## max2

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!


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## Robbo

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 


---
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


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## max2

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)


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## Countryboy

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.


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## Panhandle Scott

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.


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## Merlyn Votaw

You have a lot of good pictures Thanks for sharing From what I saw your hives were all a dark color.Most of us here use a light color to reflect the heat more.


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## Robbo

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.


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## max2

Regarding how colour affects temperature have a look here as a guide only:
http://www.colorbondcolours.com/go/...sification-of-colorbond-steel-colours-for-bca


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## max2

"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.


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## Robbo

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


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## Robbo

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


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## Robbo

Just starting to think about touch screen design for the control unit.









more ideas etc









Still working on the whole process. It sort of looks like it might work - more to come on this.


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## max2

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


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## Robbo

After all the posts on here I knew I had to make the aussie equivalent of a presto pot. This ones the Sunbeam!! 










Im still fiddling around with cleaning wax. The latest trial for me is the shortening filters in paper.


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## Robbo

My labourer is only too happy to help undo the mold's.



















We had a small holiday with my mum and dad. I hung around dad while he was doing his bee jobs. This one is supplying a school with bees for their garden / agriculture studies setup


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## Robbo

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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## max2

G'day Rob,

Looks great. Would love to see more photos.

I've got a website started here: http://ecovillageresearchgroup.com.au/?p=198

Needs more photos

cheers

max


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## Slow Modem

This is an amazing thread to me (but, I've only had one hive for four months so I'm easily amazed). Thank you for sharing some great pictures and ideas.


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## Robbo

Well, after 2 bad wet seasons, this year we have a surplus of honey.

We started selling at the local markets last month (learnt a lot the first day), and had our second market day today. Here's a few pics of our stall 

Its amazing how many local people, and also visitors to our town want to talk about bees!!! I love talking about the subject anytime anyhow, but today my lungs and throat are sore I spoke so much. Brings a tear to the eye how concerned people are with whats going on with general bee health.


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## Robbo

Well my apiary bees have good taste!!

Had a little helper while bottling off the other night for the market stall - had to fish her out


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## max2

"Well, after 2 bad wet seasons, this year we have a surplus of honey."

Hi Rob,

yes, an excellent season here too. The Brush Box have been flowering ( maybe the first time in 8 years?) and bees are still bringing it in. We took off 260 kg of honey off just the wife and i with our little set-up. Working well but still room to improve. I have been bottling and labelling and cleaning up....and in the next couple of days we will be starting again. Not complaining!

I will have a bit of a stockpile for when the rain hits. Some I will store on the concrete floor and it should go crystalised. Sells well. I may have to have a look for another outlet. We sell at two markets - smaller then your market but we sell about 60 to 80 kg of honey on a good Saturday morning. We charge a bit more then you do - $ 6.00 per 500g and $ 10.00 for a kg and we give a dolar back when they return the glass jar. We can get more then 20 jars returned on some days - a guarantee to make another sale. We also sell Beeswax Candles. A good product at Christmas but at other times a little slow.
Our main product is vegetable seedlings which we grow ( and some buy in in bulk).
The combination of seedlings and Honey is a good way to get return sales. Most are regulars which come to each market and buy.
I put out a little Gardening Newsletter ( for free) and this allows me to keep in touch with my clients.


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## Moon

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing all the wonderful photos Robbo. When I make it back down to Oz to see family maybe I could twist your arm into letting me swing out and check out your operation?


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## Robbo

Yea, that would be cool  
We have a few months left to go on house renovations, but after that, that would be great.
Will have to get you working though - haha - just getting to that stage where I am doing something bee related every weekend of the year 

We are getting into the Market thing Max. Its definitely better when you are the only bee keeper there. We have met so many great people wanting to have a bee chat. Im 1/2 way thru getting on to facebook with 'ballina honey' as that will be my 'flyer' I think. People are coming around to supporting local products so thats bee awesome.


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## Robbo

Went out to one of my apiary sites for a peek today - It was so hot!!! - Hot and no wind.

Check out those beards!!

I ran out of frames and spare supers 3 weeks ago (when I thought the last 20 would 'do me') - haha

I flipped out the entrance reducres while I was there.


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## Robbo

If there was a thread for 'best thing you bought for beekeeping in 2011', this would be mine.

One of these scissor carts. Im amazed how much I use it!!

This one pumps up enough to get a super to the bench, then can go on top of that super which is great. It gets a bit hard to pump up with 5 or 6 supers on it, but will apparantly lift 350kg's (umm about 800 pouinds I think??)


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## Fishman43

Thanks for sharing, your photos are great! With an off farm job, farming, a family, AND bees I don't know where you find the time!!!


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## max2

Hi Rob,

yes marketing!
I have had an amazing December/Jan with the Brushbox flowering. I averaged more then 30 kg per hive for December alone. One hive filled up the 8 frames I extracted in 4 days. I ran out of time and added another super. I'm teaching this week and will be working OS from the 2. Feb - a busy time in between if the weather holds.
At all the markets I have competition. At my main market - a Farmers Market - I have two other stalls selling honey. One under-cuts me. He is buying from a large producer, not local.
I stick to my pattern - local, rwa, honey in glass, take jars back and give a dollar and have tastings of 3 honeys at the markets. It works. I have a great bunch of customers.


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## max2

"Went out to one of my apiary sites for a peek today - It was so hot!!! - Hot and no wind."
Great photos!
It was 36.9C here yesterday in the shade and a few very hot days still ahead.
I wonder if the corrugated iron addes to the discomfor of the bees? The bearding is rather extreme and one theory is that this is the time when the SHB sneek in as fewer bees are inside.
The tempe droped to 23C over night and the bees seem quite comfortable in the morning.
I also ( at least on some hives) put a second roof on for some insulation and shade.


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## Robbo

I took a few piccies this week of some bees wax cleaning that I do here. We get lots of rain so the solar wax melter doesnt go with that. Also with the Small Hive Beetles being so bad this year I find it easier to clean all my cappings up and turn it into wax within a day or 2 of extracting.

Heres how I clean my wax - you commercial fella's can start laughing now - haha - Im still working frame by frame individually and rather than removing a whole super at a time, and I normally extract between 40 and 70 frames each batch so there isnt a great deal of wax for me to deal with each time.

I start with a gravity strainer - A bucket with a Stainless Steel perforated piece in the bottom. 



















It looks like this with the cappings after it strains out the honey for a few hours










I go 2 parts water and 1 part wax and bring that to the boil with a portable gas cooker.


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## Robbo

I bring it to the boil for a few minutes










4 layers of cheese cloth or muslin cloth and a 75 micron filter. I have probably 2 litres of water in the bucket below the filters.










All the left overs - Bee's, dust, pollen etc










It comes out like this after a few hours


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## Robbo

I water spray off the bottom of the cake










To break this piece back up for the presto pot, I hit it with a scutch chisel



















Drop them into the pot for remelting to run thru the final filter


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## Robbo

I filter thru a coffee filter - Its probably 20 microns? COmes out pretty clean anyway.


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## max2

This is magnificant wax you got there. I'm amazed the cloth does not clog up as the wax cools?
thanks for posting
max2


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## Bsweet

Great photos and blog. 1 question, the metal sheeting under your hive stands? is it for weed/grass control or is there another reason? Jim


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## seal62

Rob...great thread , i worked it backwards . The hive stands are great , the shop is spotless . When i got to the 1st page i watched the vid . Your "that guy " . I couldnt believe it . I watched that vid over and over last yr . I made that frame jig from what i saw and it works great . Do you have spacers inside the box ? Please explain how its made , my cross bars are not tapered . I'd like to thank you ,,you saved me so much time . I did over 1000 frames with it . I'm way too cheap to buy a embedder but another fella from OZ had a vid and i copied his . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRWWl8LeWhU . Its great that your winter is our summer , year around bees . Thanks again and keep posting ...Mike


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## Robbo

Hi Fishman, yea I think a few less hives next year for us. I reckon 25 might be the sweetspot. Am a bit too busy with it all just at this part of the season for it to be enjoyable like usual. Am learnign a lot about working smarter rather that longer/harder.

Jim, I use the sheets for Small Hive beetle. The way I figure it, rather than the grub be able to drop straight in to the ground and turn into a beetle, at least if it has to go on hot tin it might come up against an ant or a bird on the way. We have a chronic beetle supply here so anything that slows them down helps. Its probably not the ideal thing on those really hot days as I am sure there is some reflective heat that the bees wouldnt like.

Cheers Mike, yea thats the best part of our winter is looking ont he internet and seeing how hard you guys are working the bees while Im maintaining my boxes - haha. I'll throw a few photos int he thread of the inside of the box. If there is enough demand for it I'll dimension it off on a drawing or something.

Hi Max - I reckon its not the most efficient way to clean the wax as far as getting every last gram out, but in our busy situation here just at the moment, the yield is still pretty good. Its like 90% instead of 99% yield but the time is under 1/2, and less cleaning etc

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I mentioned above I normally do an extraction batch of 40 to 70 frames at a go. It works out well that figure as I can clean up and then bottle etc relatively easily on my own. Also I have just purchased a 500 litre chest freezer and as the frames come out of the extractor they go into the freezer for 2 days. Freezer has in the pic 6 full depth boxes and a few extra frames so will hold 80 if it needs to.

I turn the freezer on a day before I know I will be robbing the hives so its only on a few weeks of the year at 3-4 days at a time.


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## max2

seal62 - here is the way we do the frames ( demonstrated by two of my Willing Workers On Organic farms) known as WWOOFers!
We generally use tacks now rather then nails ( less chance of splitting) and I nail it into the narrow part of the frame - keeps it out of the way when you clean the frame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQMsYeQgSI&feature=BFa&list=PL3D06C385260B1EA1


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## Robbo

At the end of the frame wiring thread - last 4 piccys show the inside of the jig

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...mbly-Wiring-Foundation&highlight=frame+wiring


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## Bsweet

Thanks for the reply. Have you seen a change in shb by useing the sheet metal? Jim


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## Robbo

Probably not, but I think its just a small part of the defense while doing it chemical free. Its handy when you drop a hive tool though - easy to find!! 

I have lit an incinerator before and dumped in some beetles and larvae from the traps, and after being in the fire for 30 minutes the larvae are still crawling around in there - amazingly tough little buggers.


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## Robbo

Picked up some new trial items today. Will be using these to move honey around in the car when going to markets. These should be a great replacement for the cardboard trays we have been using. These are very stackable which is great!! Have already ordered a few extra sets.

All folded away to not much at all










Unfolded ready to use










250 gram depth at the bottom










500 grams on top of that


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## Robbo

And small buckets to stack above those


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## Robbo

Not a lot to report this past fortnight. Too wet to get into the hives and the markets cancelled due to rain.

I started on the next apiary build. Im pretty keen on an uncapping tub so got some 316 stainless bent up.



















These will be the end pieces










I like having everything on wheels, and will use a 50mm gate. All have a brake and can turn.


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## Robbo

Public Holiday here today and its raining so Im up in the shed having a fiddle. Feels just like winter so may as well get into my winter jobs early.

Threw a bit of paint on some hive parts :










All my frames I have been using for cut comb have to get rewired so am in the middle of about 40 of those.


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## 100 td

Hey Robbo,
Those plastic? jars with the yellow lids, how much are they, do you have to purchase a large quantity of them? I give my honey away in washed glass jars, but I am having trouble getting access to them as my wife keeps them for jams etc., so there is never enough of them around. So I'm thinking of buying some cheap glass or plastic jars. I have seen the tubs at the bee places but smaller 500g jars would be my preference. I guess they would hold 375ml approx, maybe my wife would use them too. Do you know if they can be washed in a dishwasher, some of those plastic ones don't like the heat.


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## Robbo

semd us over your address by email or PM me - Ill send you one with some honey in it - you can do your dishwasher testing in it. Should be ok I reckon.

I get them from peopleinplastic in Brisbane - have to buy 312 at a time.


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## 100 td

Thanks for the info Robbo, but with only one producing hive I certainly don't need 312 of them! They have some nice looking gear though. Also thanks for the offer of some of your honey, please save your postage, besides, if I try your fine honey I mightn't want to go back to my cloudy, crush and strain variety!


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## Robbo

Been way too long for an update. Will just throw a bit of text up and a few piccies of whats been happening on the farm.

Got a new shelving unit which is pretty cool. The 2 bottom shelves are for 800 kg, and the rest are 300 kg










Have had a few of the wax catchers center fall out of the pans. Managed to get some new 316 stainless pieces to reinstall with rivets at the next break










Got hold of a all stainless fruit press - this is great!! Turns several days of gravity straining into about 20 minutes. Item will pay for itself in a year I reckon - Really happy with how fast it is


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## Robbo

all loaded up for first run










the cake she makes










once the wax is clean, I hit it with a log splitter to go back into the melting pot for filtering


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## leonard

. I only found out about the cool suit, and the bee-z smoker thanks to this site. Imported them to Australia, and very happy with both 

Hi Rob just had a look at the cool suit also the beez smoker, are they as good as they make out them to be? I am interested in both, but most in the cool suit, also roughly do you remember postage on them, thanks I awat your reply Len


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## Kirk Osborne

Wow! Excellent pictures. I do have to wonder though... I have read that beekeepers should not paint the inside of the boxes (Brood/Supers). In your pictures, it appears that you have painted the inside. Any advantages/disadvantages of doing so? Do you use a special paint?
Again, thanks for sharing this with us. Fascinating!


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## odfrank

Have you considered hooking up the fruit/wax press to the hydraulic log splitter?


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## sfisher

Brute force!


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## Robbo

Hey G'day Len. My wife is an Exeter girl (sallys corner road). Have had a few great weekends away at Brigadoon @ Bundanoon. Yea cool suit - still going strong - love it. Beez smoker, still going strong. Can highly recommend both items. Postage was reasonable and I must admit by now is long forgotten. You get what you pay for with long term quality items. I am surprised no one in Australia has picked up being an agent for this stuff - Still, no worries importing like I did.

Havent worried too much about the inside painting of the boxes to be honest. Always seen it done that way. Best part about bee keeping is everyone does it differnt. Water based paint for the final coats - over the original oil based sealer coat - I would like to give the wax dipping a go next time round.

In fact I am not buying any more of these modern boxes. I buy second hand now - preferably +20 years old at least - the prices havent changed for the past 10 years, but the quality is JUNK. I dotn mind paying for good gear, but the modern pine stuff is garbage. What used to be budget with knots and bad fitment, is now what you get for premium in the shops.

Yea workshop press driving the fruit press in stead of the screw is the go - nearly went that way - am happy with the manual version for this year tho - haha - cheers for the interest fella's


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## Goat Man

Great Blog!!
Thanks


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## bigluelok

thank you for documenting all of your work.


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## max2

Kirk Osborne said:


> Wow! Excellent pictures. I do have to wonder though... I have read that beekeepers should not paint the inside of the boxes (Brood/Supers). In your pictures, it appears that you have painted the inside. Any advantages/disadvantages of doing so? Do you use a special paint?
> Again, thanks for sharing this with us. Fascinating!


Rob abd I live in a rather humid part of Australia and painting inside of boxes means you make the timber last a lot longer.


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## cerezha

Robbo said:


> the cake she makes


 What is black in the wax cake, bees?


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