Hamilton Heritage Honey

Hamilton Heritage Honey A start up beekeeping business with hives located in the Lockyer Valley. I have nucleus colonies av

final part in this story :)the house super has been added to a new colony just ready to go up. the hive is moving at the...
02/10/2021

final part in this story :)

the house super has been added to a new colony just ready to go up. the hive is moving at the lightning pace of a metre or so every day. It's heading to a new home in the garden. I could have taken them to another apiary, left them for 5 days and brought them back. That's just unnecessary stress on the girls and a lift I don't need to make.

checked out the other hives and nucs in the nursery...time for a few more to leave home to make room for more.

Awhile ago i picked up some inserts and in between priority jobs ie knocking up frames and supers i have been modifying ...
29/09/2021

Awhile ago i picked up some inserts and in between priority jobs ie knocking up frames and supers i have been modifying a super etc.

When using the cheap inserts there is no guarantee they will fit a standard full depth super. These were all out by a few millimetres. Solution: extend the box by 2mm and add 4mm strips all round the base.

This box is going on top of a brood box that was established from a nuc beginning of sep. That hive is currently on a trolley and moving 1 m a day to its final spot in the back garden and it will be the house hive. I figure a useful training item ie siting a house hive, pros n cons of Flo etc

I painted it simply because...so now i have gold leaf paint all over my hands... a new thing for my bee husbandry journey...golden hands

23/09/2021

So far for this season my focus has been on requeening as necessary and expanding the number of hives, as well as building up strong nucleus colonies for sale.

I have 4 available and will be having nucs available weekly. So if you know anyone...

A problem i never thought I would have... hands covered in honey :) . Easy solution after extraction finished and ready ...
21/09/2021

A problem i never thought I would have... hands covered in honey :) . Easy solution after extraction finished and ready for clean up...lick fingers....wow I do enjoy ironbark honey. Yep second flow for the year on house block and district.

Today's extraction went better in terms of work flow etc so glad with the rearrangements. Great having stainless bench top to work on. I was able to spread out.

So the solar wax smelter is in its first run. It's just a broccoli box painted inside with some aluminium roasting pans ...
20/09/2021

So the solar wax smelter is in its first run. It's just a broccoli box painted inside with some aluminium roasting pans (lifeline etc dont have old cake tins to recycle) , some stainless wire for supports and cling wrap on top. The cling wrap is the interim solution whilst i find some perspex or glass to insert into the lid.

It's starting to work although i think the final solution will be a full size box.

Now to go and extract and add to the capping bucket

18/09/2021

Why is it you can never find a queen when you want one? Went through all the queen right nuc's this morning, paint pen at the ready to mark the girls with this season's haute coutre colour, white. Managed to find only 2...yep the other nucs are queen right with fresh eggs just timid queens or those who aren't slaves to fashion.

Old lesson relearnt... always have paint pen at the ready when checking nuc's.

Now to reconfigure workshop from woodwork to metal work for next set of hive stands :)

The exciting bits no one tells you about on your bee husbandry journey... cleaning...So the laundry had a big clean up t...
17/09/2021

The exciting bits no one tells you about on your bee husbandry journey... cleaning...

So the laundry had a big clean up today. A pallet load of my stuff is now looking to be stowed in the rest of the house...the crap you find...why do I have 2 sets of webbing and a pack and it still smells the way it did 20 years ago...I digress.

So the deep freezer is great for storing honey when it's not on...insect proof and constant temp. When its on thats where stickies will eventually go when i have enough... the stainless steel bench top ( Peter it has a home) will get folded for a splash back and so more effective work space. So for now this is as good as it gets.

Next steps ... decent stainless sink, fix up the ceiling, gaps openings etc. Then if im staying here longer look at slowly making it food standard. It's pretty close with a few days work. So little bits at a time

16/09/2021

What a day :)

It started with morning coffee and a quick chat to baby Rachel, then as i was off to the ute i discover mum n dad duck have decided to promenade around the house to show off the ducklings... then i was able to set up 4 hives in a great little spot with about 50/50 Silver leaf ironbark and river gums...all new hives which had a super added. I'd say there will be some rapid comb drawing there. Also picked up some frames to extract from the other apiaries.

Back at the house apiary I was privileged to see another duck parade and then whilst working the hives near the chook shed was able to see the hens and 6 chicks venture forth from the chook yard for the first time...australorb chicks are fluffy like a stuffed toy. Quite cute.

And wow arent some the hives cranky. One can be docile as and the one half a metre away is trying to compete for Olympic gold in ouchiness.... might be something to do with where they are foraging ie which species. I've also noted neighbours can have radically different honey ie pure ironbark in One, eucalyptus mix in another...

There are times when i feel i haven't achieved much at all. Looking back on this week...There was a graft, second set of...
10/09/2021

There are times when i feel i haven't achieved much at all. Looking back on this week...There was a graft, second set of hive stands and rails, 7 more hives painted, nucs cbecked and a bucket load of frames knocked up n wired as well as gardens tended to. So yeah a busy week and tomorrow i get to go harvest and add supers... :)

The bee husbandry bit that doesn't get talked about much...record keeping. Heaps of ways of doing it, I use exercise boo...
01/09/2021

The bee husbandry bit that doesn't get talked about much...record keeping. Heaps of ways of doing it, I use exercise books...one per hive. Then there are other mandatory records that have to be maintained

31/08/2021

Long morning :)

Set up a new apiary this morning. Typically it was light drizzle and then drive out 200 m...fine sunny day. A008 is surrounded by mixed eucalypt woodland with a wattle understorey and mixed native grasses groundcovers n herb layer.

So dropped off a bunch of new hives that need a kick start before i add the supers. More frames needed for next week :)

New hive stands just drying. The gas ran out so had to abandon TIG and keep learning stick. Not my best welding effort :...
31/08/2021

New hive stands just drying. The gas ran out so had to abandon TIG and keep learning stick. Not my best welding effort :) however im quite happy. Afterall im a beekeeper not a welder. The more I do the better i will get.

Simply slot RHS, SHS or timber in and the legs splay down.

Address

Woodlands
Gatton, QLD
4343

Telephone

+61455278478

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