With a proper jig, a skill-saw can be the safest and easiest way to cut plywood down to size.
2019 First Hive Inspection: Is All Hope Lost?
As I left the house, I felt as if I would vomit. Every plan I have for the next 5 years hinges on ending this year with 100 hives – and to do that, I need at least 13 hives to have survived the winter.
How To Save Time By Building Beehive Jigs: Supers
It saves me time but, more important, it saves me the frustration of trying to hold everything in place while I nail the super.
My Determination is Tested When a Pipe Ruptures
I was so tired and sore as I walked back to the hole, that if I had any other option I would have taken it. Nonetheless, when you are the man of the house, failure is not an option. So I manned up and crawled back into the mud.
Making Beautiful Hive Stamps: What You Need To Know
I am so pleased with my new hive stamp. It is 10” long and about 2” tall and, as you can see, works like a charm. I made it out of 1.5mm craft foam that you can get at WalMart or Amazon. In fact I had purchased some of this foam last Wednesday and had…
How Many Hobbies Can One Man Have?
I work/commute 64 hours a week. When I’m not working I am either beekeeping, building hives, or spending time with my wife. Every other Saturday (when my wife is working at the hospital) I lay on the couch and do absolutely nothing – then I loathe myself for wasting the time. Then there is the…
About
In 2006 I bought 50 beehives. Life happened and I was forced to abandon the project. In March 2015 I began again with the 3 surviving hives. Now I am trying to move from a Novice Beekeeping with 3 hives to Professional Beekeeper with 300 hives and a fully functioning homestead. I really have no…
When Building Beehives – If You Save Time, You Save Money
Beehives beg to be built from scarp lumber. With the outside dimensions of 16-1/4 x 19-7/8, even seemingly useless construction scarps can be used. I have built hives from old pallets. When people hear that, they immediately start posting comments about chemicals in pallet wood. Well I have built about 12 hives from pallets and…
Valuable Knowledge I Gained Harvesting My First Goose
Let me start with how it all went down. I didn’t mean to name the geese but, like an earwig that burrows into your brain, the name Bruce the Goose was named in my mind, even if I didn’t say it out loud. I later named the other goose, Bradshaw after Nick “Goose” Bradshaw from…
New Year – New Blog
Moving my blog from Blogger to WordPress. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —George Bernard Shaw
Other Worthwhile Blogs
A list of helpful blogs…
How To Blueprint: 1×4 Deep Beehive Super
If anyone is interested, here is the Blueprint for my 1×4 deep beehive super. “A Goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery (That’s is my new favorite quote!) As I mentioned in an earlier blog this super is built with 1×4’s and cost about $9.50 to build. Using nine 1×4’s…
11 Days Until I Murder The Christmas Goose… Maybe?
When I get home from work, I go outside and watch them – it feels perverse. Like I should tell them to rub the lotion on their skin or something.“Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe.” – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince I’ve said it once but I want to be clear…
13 days Until I Murder the Goose (warning: explicit language)
The reason I bought two geese was so I could kill the mean one for Christmas (which ever that one turned out to be) and still keep the other as a guard-goose for my chickens. However, on releasing the geese into my backyard, all hell broke loose. My chickens hauled ass in every direction and…
14 Days Until I kill the Goose
The goose is an experiment in farming for me. I have chickens and bees but both earn their keep and will eventually die of natural causes and so I have never had to murder an animal. Oh, I’ve hunted plenty but that is far different. In hunting, your interaction with the animal is momentary, distant,…
How To Make Cheaper, Stronger, Easier Beehive
This deep super cost me $5.40 to $9.40 to build (depending on the grade of lumber)! Here’s how I did it: If you’ve read my blog at all, you probably know just how cheap I really am. When I started to rebuild my apiary, I started off repairing old rotted boxes. When I ran out…
Progress 5.5 to 35gallons
This is just a note to myself: Looking back in my blogs, I found that in 2012 (the first year we ever harvested) we collected 5 1/2 gallons. This year in 2018 we harvested 35 gallons. “There are no secretes to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” –…
Making Memories
I can’t remember the last note worthy day I had at work. Each day blurs into the next. My job pays the bills but lacks any sort of fulfillment. This is not a complaint – work is work. My personal life seems to also be passing me by. Shower, work, dinner, TV, sleep… lather rinse…
How To Prevent Moth and Prepare for Winter
My last preparations before winter: #8 hardware cloth lined with dryer-sheets and covered with cedar chips. The whole feeder cost roughly $6 to build and fill. However, I believe it will prove brilliant on all fronts. The dryer sheets should catch the beetles – the cedar should deter moths – and both should insulate the…
How To Build Useful Hive Top Feeders
If you are one of the 1000’s here from Pinterest, checkout a few of my other Beehive Builds. Just click here. I’ve used a lot of feeders but my favorite one is Don “The Fat Bee Man” Kuchenmeister’s Hive Top Feeder. They are really easy to build and make checking on your bees super convenient. However, I…
Honey Homestead 