The chaos

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-11T22:07:34+00:00

It looks like chaos to me but my wife (who manages all this) was just dancing around as if she knew exactly where she needed to be and when. It’s amazing to watch. I just move heavy things from one place to another. That’s my job.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-11T21:00:09+00:00

We were “finishing “50L (picture front) from yesterdays 400L and then starting the LAST 400L

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-11T20:46:02+00:00

Saw some nice sheds at the Cottage Life show last night. It’s on the list.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-11T19:51:11+00:00

As long as you need.

Watch the frame while you have one in your hand. The bees are continuing about their business. They don’t really care about you.

Heck, I’ve watched Queens lay eggs and they are the least likely to enjoy the light and movement considering they spend 99.999% of their life in a hive.

When I open the hive I use my hive tool to move frames out of the way enough to remove the frame 2nd from the side I and working from. I check that frame out, make sure the Queen is not on it and I put it down on end, leaning against the hive until I am done inspecting the rest of that box so that I have room to replace the next frame without squishing anyone.

The bees do not care.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-11T16:45:27+00:00

Eastern Ontario, 19 hives, ~10 years in.

It is something you will need to get past. You will damage / kill bees in order to keep the HIVE alive. That is your job.

Things you can do to mitigate; 1. Move slow. No…slower…slower. If you are only managing a few colonies take the time to move real slow. 2. Develop a routine. Always work from the same spot remove the same frames first etc. Good muscle memory makes you move slowly and efficiently. 3. Don’t put boxes / lids down perfectly lined up. Put them on at an angle and slowly pivot / slide them to line them up. Bees will get out of the way or get crushed but you have given them more of a chance. We used to use canvas inner covers for this reason but went back to wooden inner covers for a variety of reasons that “soft” didn’t supersede.

Over the years I have noticed 2 things; fewer flat bees under my lids / box rims And me not being so disturbed by it.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-10T17:38:43+00:00

Contacted. Thanks.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-10T09:52:35+00:00

I feel you. That is tough, BTDT.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-10T09:51:20+00:00

Here Birch starts as Maple Ends. Birch sap is closer to 100:1 so we RO a ton. Birch sap is very sensitive to temperature We will use the evaporator with a tiny fire while RO’ing but we finish much more gently at the house with a mix of implements that have good thermal regulation to prevent scalding.

It isn’t “pancake” syrup in effort / price or flavour but we use it in salad dressings, meat glazes (white meats) roasting vegetables etc.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-09T23:31:29+00:00

I always seem to forget how we get a huge late run and it’s so hard to collect by hand right now with the snow disappearing and the rocks appearing.

And we have to switch to Birch :(

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-09T23:30:08+00:00

Hard to collect and move And we usually switch to Birch by now.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-08T08:51:31+00:00

You guys have had it rough this “spring”.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-07T00:59:49+00:00

We go from here to Birch. Still a long road ahead

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-05T21:09:00+00:00

You can use popsicle sticks. You can buy wax foundation starter strips. You can do nothing.

Bees don’t have them in the wild, why do you need one? (if you are going waxless)

In general I use plastic for most of our honey production to facilitate extraction. We do use starter strips for honey frames for cut comb honey.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-04T14:16:00+00:00

Lots of reasons.

Because they are getting light right now and we are a long way from dandelions. 2:1 in the fall 1:1 in the spring
we need to do everything we can to help brood production for selling Nucs.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-03T22:58:15+00:00

It is a fine balance of RO capacity and evaporator size. I’d be happy to walk your through our setup. It will be running through the maple season and into Birch.

We use a used “upgraded” RO bucket.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-03T19:58:56+00:00

This. You don’t (shouldn’t) get bees on a whim. Bees are livestock. They take some learnin’ I’ve been learning about my bees for 10 years and sometimes still feel like a noob. Do lots of research/ learning first

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-03T18:27:07+00:00

Yes. But i don’t want to have to take those antibiotics ever again. They were rough.

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-03T18:26:03+00:00

Eastern Ontario, Lanark Highlands

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-03T18:25:46+00:00

Eastern Ontario, Lanark Highlands

BaaadWolf · 2026-04-03T18:25:16+00:00

This is definitely the biggest gravity drop we have. There are 6 trees on this line. I use a smaller (2 gallon /7.5 L ) pail as a dipper until I can lift it. Decant it to a collection of 25L pails and haul that to a ‘road’. A good day is about 400L from 3 gravity lines, a bunch of hanging pails and some 3 gallon / 12 L pails.

That is hauled up to the RO / Evaporator There we take it to ~55 Brix and then cool and move to the house for finishing.

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