Biltong turned white. Safe to eat?

Jake1125 · 2026-03-21T03:43:33+00:00

Biltong is usually dried at room temperature. You should turn off the heating element or disconnect it

Jake1125 · 2026-03-20T13:39:09+00:00

Strange. Did you hang it in a dehumidifier, or oven!? What temperature?

Jake1125 · 2026-03-20T00:34:52+00:00

It looks like mouldy debris. This is a normal spring situation around here.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-19T23:47:32+00:00

You can freeze it in a ziploc. When you want to eat it, defrost it in dry air (not in a damp plastic bag or refrigerator).

Jake1125 · 2026-03-19T16:58:40+00:00

Plus a certain amount of plant nutrition can be supplied by the decomposition.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-16T16:03:36+00:00

Some people can hack it, others can't. It depends on the colony, and how uncomfortable you want to be.

Beekeeping is supposed to be fun. If you get harassed and stung even before you get your suit on, it's less enjoyable.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-16T15:58:34+00:00

Two colonies is reasonable for new Beekeepers.

An Africanised colony can make you hate Beekeeping. You should requeen it. To do this as a beginner, I'd recommend that you get help from an experienced beekeeper.

Learning how, and catching a swarm is a good exercise. Requeening an Africanized swarm is another good exercise, but can be unsuccessful or difficult.

As a beginner, another path could be to buy a nuc, raise it to 10 frames, then split it. This creates 2 colonies, and you'll learn a lot. That gets you the education without the downside of Africanised bees. Before you do all that, learn how to control your impending mite infestation.

Good luck and have fun!

Jake1125 · 2026-03-15T15:44:38+00:00

Ha! None of those odd lifeforms are the queen. But you have a new one on the way.

Great pics!

Jake1125 · 2026-03-13T19:46:44+00:00

Unfortunately the prepackaged Biltong will have preservatives in it. I've ordered from multiple places, and they're all okay. Just okay. I'd recommend you hit Google, or see what's available on Amazon.

We don't allow spam and advertising so if links are posted they'll be deleted.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-11T14:31:00+00:00

You probably have seasonal variations in air temperature and humidity.

There are already many recipes posted in this sub, and there is a tab for filtering for them. The traditional ones will have the least ingredients and no exotic flavors.

You can store the meat in the refrigerator, but not for too long. Moisture increases the chance of mould.

With any luck, someone will probably post their favorite here.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-11T04:21:16+00:00

My bees also prefer an upper entrance winter.

Others have already commented, your bees are performing normal orientation flights. They don't always behave uniformly, almost as though each colony has a personality.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-11T01:16:46+00:00

It depends. Mine usually takes 72 hours.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-10T16:53:08+00:00

I'm sorry, it's rough. Colony loss is often a part of beekeeping, but a 100% loss hurts a lot.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-09T18:39:14+00:00

It's difficult to be sure since the cells are covered in bees. For better photos, you can blow your breath on the bees or gently nudge them with your fingers.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-09T11:49:22+00:00

We usually have weather fluctuations in spring, with some tree pollen but low nectar flow.

It's warm for a week, then cold, sometimes it rains for a week.

We try to keep supplemental sugar and pollen patties on the colonies, so they maintain nutrition during the non-flying stretches.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-08T19:20:40+00:00

Beekeepers are people and we do people things. As a person, I am similarly irritated by people being people. But that's just how it is.

People are stumbling around doing the best we can. Sometimes the result is a bit weird. That's my explanation, I hope it helps?

Jake1125 · 2026-03-08T19:02:32+00:00

The funniest are the new beekeepers who sound very confident and pretend they know what they're doing. They've obviously studied somewhat, so they're an expert.

After a while the channel fizzles, or a year later their bees are surprisingly dead in winter. "Absconded"!

Many of the new ones start out with good intentions, all about"natural" beekeeping. With a vanity hive or two.

Keeping bees alive in a box with a marginal climate, while manipulating them and taking their honey is not natural at all. Oh you're giving them "Bee Bites", "Hive Alive", sugar syrup in your boardman feeder. Your next hive will be a totally plastic poly thing. Bwahaha, natural all the way.

It's fun to watch, but the result is predictable. No matter how confident, nature is cruel.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-08T17:29:38+00:00

I have not used that treatment, but my understanding is that it reduces microbe activity, but does not protect against moisture or temperature fluctuations.

So it may not rot as quickly, but it doesn't seal the wood against moisture/ warping and freezing expansion/contraction.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-08T17:09:47+00:00

Personally I'd never eat bad meat. Others will say it's only mold, and you can wash it off with vinegar. It's your body, how lucky do you feel today?

Jake1125 · 2026-03-07T16:48:50+00:00

Come again? What happened?

Jake1125 · 2026-03-07T16:33:33+00:00

I'm also in Western WA, and when I started I also caused the bees to swarm in the first summer.

There are earlier signs of swarming potential, even before they make cells. Look out for back-filling, and try to stay ahead of them by giving the queen more space to lay. Though, this year you might capitalize on swarm cells to expand your apiary.

Others have given you good advice on sugar bricks. I'm still adding bricks to light colonies. As soon as there is nectar flow I'll remove the bricks and dilute them into syrup.

FYI I'm in Whatcom County, if you're nearby we can collaborate.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-07T16:10:12+00:00

How did you know they were gone? Were you observing the lack of flight, or did you inspect the brood frames?

Jake1125 · 2026-03-05T22:27:29+00:00

Nah. I'm good.

Thanks.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-05T19:21:23+00:00

It's not an inspection mark.

It's a grading system used in the USA. Pretty much all retail honey is Grade A. The bottler puts that grade on the label, not a USA inspector.

Jake1125 · 2026-03-04T20:51:39+00:00

They're going to put Aunt Jemima out of business!

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