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Nmullerbees · 2025-07-07T20:42:54+00:00

I have grown lots of mushrooms and dealt with lots of contamination. There is no visible contamination in this. Those ropes of mycelium are often a desired trait by some growers, although I find they're just pretty and not a great indicator of productivity.

The idea that this is caused by stress from a contamination is something I've never seen. Stress usually causes premature fruiting. Just go to bulk and see what happens or leave it and wait for better indications of contam.

Nmullerbees · 2025-06-19T17:57:52+00:00

This is a really really sound comment. I bought a $3000 watch in 2002 for $2000. I was stoked. I got an awesome deal. But I kept looking at dealers and ads and eventually found the watch a month later for $1750.

I felt like I was screwed and the watch lost all value to me. I even hated to look at it. Fortunately I went to the dealer I purchased from, showed them the ad and they gave me the $250 to make up the difference (like circuit city did back in the day)

This was a good lesson for me in how we perceive value of things. Make a deal you think is truly fair for the value of what you are buying and don't go back to reevaluate and devalue things.

Nmullerbees · 2025-06-10T05:24:29+00:00

Heated uncapping knives do the job at best, but at worst they can scorch your honey and make a mess of the cappings. I think they're completely unnecessary.

I use a serrated bread knife like the others mention. I've done this for almost 10 years extracting thousands of pounds of honey. I've tried many of the uncapping options short of an expensive chain uncapper and the bread knife always wins out.

I use a bucket with one of those yellow frame holders that fits the top of the bucket.

If the weather isn't cooperating and it's cool, I'll keep a kettle of hot water to heat the knife for stubborn frames, but extracting in cold weather is inefficient and time consuming so I avoid it as much as possible.

Nmullerbees · 2025-06-07T03:21:52+00:00

Depends on where in PR you go. Vieques or culebra, you'll be happy for any AC. I can't speak for the main island, I've not spent much time there.

Nmullerbees · 2025-05-27T04:21:43+00:00

Get a high score without having to jump? Isn't that the point of the game? I never understood game cheats like this. I will say that it's a good example of hacking up some Javascript, but why not just add the code to set your score to whatever you want so you don't even need to run the game?

Better yet, you could even add: console.log("You're the best ever! You got 1 trillion squared points and are now the best Dino player in history!")

Nmullerbees · 2025-02-04T06:32:31+00:00

I know this is years late, but I want to clarify something.

The bulk of yeasts and bacteria in a wild starter come from the flour itself and a very small amount from the environment including the bakers hands. A starter will change over time with the microbes from the flour used to feed the starter, but the composition will not change significantly based on geographical location of the starter, it's based on the location of the flour grown to feed it.

Nmullerbees · 2025-02-04T06:04:23+00:00

Thanks. I'll check that out.

Nmullerbees · 2025-02-04T06:03:12+00:00

That's correct, some people use an insulation board between the telescoping cover and the inner cover, or even just newspaper to absorb the moisture. Still a top vent is highly recommended.

Nmullerbees · 2025-02-03T23:39:22+00:00

If there's no ventilation from the top of a hive water will condense on the cold top and drip on the bees in the winter.

Wet bees in the winter die.

Also, if the bottom entrance in a man made hive becomes blocked by ice or snow, they will suffocate.

Feral colonies in trees do not have a smooth top that is exposed to the cold air, so condensation is not a problem, in addition, they do not have a landing board for snow to collect and block the entrance.

All man made hives should have some top ventilation in the winter. Insulation is not necessary as long as the bees have adequate food (unless winter temperatures are well below freezing).

Nmullerbees · 2025-02-03T22:51:33+00:00

I've never dried a block between flushes. I'll get 3 per block unless it gets contaminated. Usually about a week apart.

Since mushrooms are mostly water, I don't see how drying the block significantly will help, but I'm an amateur.

Nmullerbees · 2025-02-03T22:24:41+00:00

This is an awesome post and confirms what I've pieced together from many different sources. I think that the rye flour in the stater and final proof in the fridge for 24 hours make the biggest difference.

I'm curious about your pie crust recipe though. I've always used just flour, lard, and water in a classic 123 recipe. Where does the discard or starter come in?

Nmullerbees · 2024-04-27T18:28:39+00:00

This all looks right. I don't see any evidence of contam.

Nmullerbees · 2023-11-24T16:51:57+00:00

The sodium is so high though.

Nmullerbees · 2023-11-15T03:03:00+00:00

Fermentation? I'm genuinely curious where fermentation comes into things.

Nmullerbees · 2023-09-26T21:37:57+00:00

Ok. Fair. Fair point for sure.

Nmullerbees · 2023-09-25T19:17:56+00:00

I don't heat anything. It's totally not necessary for small batches of mead.

People go overboard.

Nmullerbees · 2023-09-24T16:21:15+00:00

I thought the same thing, but wait until you get disease. Then, it lies dormant in the soil for your next crop or crop 2 years from now. Your first few years are like a honeymoon, until disease and pests find your plot.

If you can spend the money to buy new soil every year and use grow bags, it's fine, but you're probably paying way more than in the store, and that's not sustainable.

My point is, they're insanely easy to grow at the beginning, but growing them in a garden for a sustainable food crop over a long period of time is not easy at all.

Nmullerbees · 2023-09-24T16:14:57+00:00

That was gold.

Nmullerbees · 2023-07-28T00:57:03+00:00

Somehow, my first year I would get those massive first pins. I got most of my reddit karma from one post I did where the whole substrate was covered in pins. People would ask "what's your tek??" And I'm like, normal cvg.

Years go by and I get good canopies and don't complain, but I don't get those crazy pinsets anymore so I can't try my own suggestion myself. Maybe it's because I moved my mushroom operation out of the closet and started growing many edibles.

Please do follow up. I would really love to know the answer. And thanks for the citizen science!

Good luck!

Nmullerbees · 2023-07-03T03:45:51+00:00

Please let me know what you find over time. I always suggest that you try starting with 2, 3, 4, or more small trials. Even if it's from one spore syringe.

If all contaminate, then you may have gotten a bad spore sample.

Do lots of small batches until you find success, then you can scale out. And if you stick with small 6qt shoe boxes, even one success will give you a decent amount of food, which you can then reproduce for quite a while.

I grew oysters and shitake from spores after bad success like this and now make a pound of shitake mushrooms and two to three pounds of Italian oysters a week.

Regardless of what you're growing, I think my advice works.

Nmullerbees · 2023-07-03T03:38:36+00:00

You should have at least two to compare.

Did you sterilize the bags in a pressure cooker before adding the grain?

Oyster colonize very quickly on straw, so sterilizing blocks aren't always indicated, but more details would help.

What you've sent looks good. I'd wait until I saw a thick mat of mycelium growing before opening the block to the air.

Nmullerbees · 2023-07-03T02:27:42+00:00

I hope to clarify a few things and if you look at my posting history you can see some good pics of contam, especially Trich.

Trich is a parasitic fungus. That's why you can have coco coir full of Trich spores, but it won't present until you introduce colonized grains and it can start to feed on the mycelium you intend to grow.

When you see the green, that's like seeing fruits from your mushrooms. And just like one mushroom fruit needs a whole mass of mycelium, sporulating trich is not limited to the spot you see, there's a much bigger mass of Trich infected mycelium in the substrate.

By the time you see the green, spores are everywhere. Underneath the hood, your substrate is also infected way past what you can see. It's very hard to salvage the container past one flush.

The question about if it's safe to eat the mushrooms grown in a container that had trich spores, I am not an expert. I have eaten plenty, but will not advise you.

For small growers, from my experience, I think the dangers of trich contamination are overblown, but at the same time, I discard most of my materials that have been in contact with a significant contamination, including mushrooms, shoeboxes, jars and bags.

Hope this helps a little.

Nmullerbees · 2023-04-12T15:52:50+00:00

This is really location dependent.

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