Honey!

Chaserwilliams

Chaserwilliams

Barefooters
Dec 15, 2010
866
114
43
#1
I just had my first interaction with honey bees yesterday. My mom and step dad built a new house next to his old house about 4 years ago, and since then the old house has recieved extensive storm damage and they are almost ready to tear it down, but since the kitchen area was full of bees they decided not to just yet.

Then I found out that the head boss at work is also a bee keeper on the side! After a few talks he brings his gear to work Friday and we go to my moms after we get off work and suit up.

Now, I have a fear of animals that can sting, fly, and are small enough to dodge my defensive manuevers. So a giant swarm of bees is the last thing I want to go into... With that in mind, I open the kitchen cabinet to the hive of thousands of honey bees. We spent about 10 minutes talking about different bee related things before we started to remove the honey comb from the once kitchen cabinet and set them in a cooler for transportation.

All in all I was surrounded by the only animal in the world that scares me for about 40~45 minutes. Talk about nerve racking!!!

Today I spent about an hour and a half extracting the honey from the comb and filtering it out into jars. I ended up with about 70 ounces of honey, which is great cause I love honey!

Anyone else ever done this? Im now considering building some bee boxes and farming some honey.
 
#2
Wonderful! Good for you and

Wonderful! Good for you and your friend. Most people just go with their fear and nuke 'm.

I kept bees in college and hope to again, maybe as soon as next year. Honey bees are threatened critters and do lots of good things for our environment.
 
#3
Chaser, I haven't done that

Chaser,

I haven't done that before... but I was close! At the end of the day I knew we would be moving down to Atlanta and that I wouldn't be able to finish the season out for the "Bob the Bee Keeper," so I, unfortunately, had to turn it down. A lost opportunity. It sounds like it was fun.



Gracia y paz,

Aaron
 
#4
Honestly, it was very

Honestly, it was very rewarding IMHO! Not only did I get a good few months supply of honey, I also faced a fear Ive had for a long time. Kind of like when I was 11 amd afraid of heights. I jumped from the second story of our barn and when I landed and realized I was still alive and not hurt I realized that the adendraline rush was unimaginable and did it over and over and over again untill I finally landed wrong and hurt myself. Come to think about it, I did that BF! lol.
 
#6
For some reason fuzzy bees

For some reason fuzzy bees dont scare me much but wasps I am terrified of! Maybe because I've been stung by wasps many times as a kid and I dont think a honey bee has ever stung me.

Had something similar happen at my mother-in-laws. Her attic was infested. I dont know how much honey she got but some bee keeper came in and made a bunch, we got a jar.

Out were I live in rural middle of nowhere there are atleast 3 properties with hive boxes on em in a mile or so radius. Seems to be popular around here. And I see tons of the bees in the garden which is good.

Local honey is also said to be good for your allergies but I dont know if thats truth or just old wives tail. Its suppose to contain the local pollens so you build up an immunity I guess.
 
#8
I was (might still be?)

I was (might still be?) highky allergic to waspi (is that the plural or wasp?), so critters that fly, sting, and are too small to defend myself against scare the shat out of me....

Yes, local honey is excelent for your allergies.
 
#9
I hope to harvest honey in

I hope to harvest honey in the future. Our farm is in a conservation program and one of the enhancements was to plant 1/2 acre of pollinator plants. It was hard to establish, but it is now a nice plot of wildflowers. I had a friend bring over a hive to put by it. I hope the bees will survive the winter.

My uncle has been harvesting honey for over 30 years in Wyoming and when we are ready he will set us up with equipment and knowledge.

Read a few articles on how other sugars are processed and I bet you will be eating only honey and maybe aqave nectar for your sugar needs.
 
#10
My boss claims she sits in a

My boss claims she sits in a kid pool in her back yard in the summer and that thirsty bees come to drink water off of her shoulders... very odd. Not as odd as the wierd colostomy bag hooker conversation I just had, but you know.
 
#11
I don't believe that wasps

I don't believe that wasps will attack just for the fun of it. I've had wasps nests form around my home (before kids), and I just left them alone. They would be right at my front door too, and I would look them straight in the eye/s, I kid you not, and tell them if they didn't mess with me, I wouldn't mess with them, and we lived nicely in peace and harmony.

I've mentioned this here before, but when I was walking home after school where I had just showered after my gym class during the summer, I was swarmed by bees and stung eight times on the hiney. OUCHIE MOMMA!
 
#12
Tj, its cause you got a sweet

Tj, its cause you got a sweet ass!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Im sorry, I just couldnt pass that one up!
 
#13
 ^^^ I'm looking more into

^^^
bigsmile.png




I'm looking more into this as the more I read about processed sugars the more honey sounds perfect. And it tastes great too! But I have never used it as an ingredient to replace sugar I'll have to give it a try. I've always been a big fan of pure maple syrup too, my aunt and uncle used to make it (a big enough operation they sold it at several local stores). Unfortunately it was too much work along with farming and they sold thier evaporator and equipment a few years ago. I'm trying to go more natural and organic and self sufficient (but more in theory than in actuallity so far). I usually get enough deer for our main sorce of meat for the year (I process everything myself too), we have a decent size garden that I plan on expanding, a small greenhouse, some fruit trees and I plan on adding more fruit trees and berry bushes and more perrenial veggies in the next couple years, and maybe even chickens. Honey would be great! I just dont know about the stinging insect part of honey though. I dont mind em buzzing around but the actual getting the honey out of the hive...
 
#15
Not now, but in the future I

Not now, but in the future I hope to live a self sustaining life. My in-laws are planning on buying a ranch withib the next few years and being as close to 100% self sufficient as they can regarding food and energy. Oh, and organic.

The plus here is that they want to buy enough land for them and us to live on! HELLS YEAH!!!
 
#16
Oh? Do tell? Were there

Oh? Do tell? Were there midgets involved?



Honey rocks my world! I replaced refined sugar with it.
 
#17
I'm very interested in

I'm very interested in swapping out refined sugars for natural honey, but my question is how do you know how much honey to use? I tried switching out in my coffee a while back but I could never seem to get the sweetness right. It seemed I overdid it and made it syrupy or I under did it and didn't have enough sweetness. Is there some sort of conversion chart somewhere to help with making this transition or is it all trial and error?
 
#18
Alright!  That does it! 

Alright! That does it! You're banned! Ha!
 
#19
I would love to discuss my

I would love to discuss my "health fanaticism" with anyone interested. Send me a message.

Anyone interested in chickens should get some. You can't beat home raised chicken eggs when it comes to taste and nutrition.

@Tristan - It sounds like you've got a great setup.

@Chaser - It sounds like you've got great in-laws. Don't get banned, I've enjoyed your posts.

@Nick - Trial and error. For recipe conversons, just Google.
 
#20
Im trying not to Rick....

Im trying not to Rick.... lol.
 
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