Spring Harvest! | New Bee Yard, New Processes, New Equipment
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- For more frequent updates in between videos please visit the Bug Farmer Instagram page: / thebugfarmer
About this video: Today we will be looking at the 2024 honey harvest and extraction. Everything has been super sized this year including the harvest totals.
This Channel:
Although this beekeeping channel is primarily about beekeeping I am also a quasi pepper who believes in becoming self-sufficient. With that in mind, I have started a garden, planted fruit trees, replaced the hedges in front of my house with blueberry bushes, and have recently built a chicken coop. In short, I will share a lot more than beekeeping on this channel.
A little about me:
I am a person who believes you are never to old to learn something. Be it beekeeping, farming, raising chickens, painting, filming and editing video, making wine, beer, bread, cheese, and other fermentation consumables, play guitar etc... If I see something I want to try I start it immediately. If there is one thing I could choose to pass along to my children this would be it. Never be afraid to try. My wife famously told me once that if you are not willing to be bad at something, you will never be good at it. I am bad at quite a few things.
I hope you find my beekeeping videos fun and entertaining as well as get something out of them. I hope I inspire someone to get out and try something new. If you do enjoy my videos, please take a moment to spread the word about this channel and help it, and myself, grow. Have a great day and BEE Happy!
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The gear I use:
Primary Camera: Sony FDRAX53/B 4K HD
Secondary Camera: Sony FDRAX53/B 4K HD
Primary MIC: Sony ECMXYST1M Stereo Microphone
Secondary MIC: Sony ECMXYST1M Stereo Microphone
Tripod: GEEKOTO Camera Tripod
Editing Software: Adobe Premier
Graphics Package: Adobe Photoshop
Learning Final Cut Pro
Was actually surprised to see the uncapping machine, its usually reserved to a serious production operation. Your trip to help Mr-Ed showed you his honey room and how the equipment makes production. I'm expecting 50 gal myself, some hives have three supers.
I am working to become a side-liner and set up a small business for retirement. I will be building my honey house this winter :-)
Awesome harvest. I just ordered the HillCo 18 frame extractor. I have between 15-20 hives. Still small but using a four frame extractor took forever. Ready for the upgrade,
I went from hand spinning 3/6 to the 9/18 hillco last year. You’ll love it.
It is nice. I will do a review soon.
That's a sexy uncapper, the real star. It looks like it has a Cowen design. You gave no mention who made it, but that extractor you named a dozen times. Great harvest. Things would go faster if you didn't walk across the room one frame at a time. The extractor isn't bolted down if you know what I mean.
I know. It was a quick set up for this year and I still need to nail down the process. The uncapper is un-branded but is identical to the one Lyson sells.
I'm jealous. I'm 100+ hives now and I'm still using a vevor 4/8 extractor with a hand scrapper. Life is good when I can afford that system. Good video!
Time has value and if you can spend a little $$ to save a lot of time then the return for the cost of the equipment happen quickly. I also have a bottler this year that has expedited the bottling proccess for me. I just bottled and labeled 96 1lbs. jars in an hour. Before with the bucket and honey gate it would have taken me 4 hours. That said, the uncapper was pretty inexpensive as far as uncappers go and the Hillco is an investment I hope will keep me extracting for the rest of my beekeeping journey. I will be reviewing the new equipment in an upcoming video.
With a radial extractor it doesn't help to reverse. Nice harvest BF.
Thanks
Looking great where did you get the uncapper from?
I bought the unbranded version of the Lyson. www.betterbee.com/uncapping-tools-and-equipment/lyson-w2096000z.asp
@@BugFarmerBeesthis is the link of the Lyson…so you have the link to the one you actually purchased? Or did I misunderstand your answer?
@@meloneycrews I had the same issues too. The link took me to the Lyson branded one and I can’t find the unbranded one.
Have you transitioned to running your honey supers to 9 frames? This would be a good time to do it since they are drawn out and you had them off. I need to pull some of mine off to extract so I can make room. Thinking about sending you a jar of Missouri bootheel honey to try if that's ok.
I would love to try your honey. The mailing address is on the about page of this channel. I tried the 9 frame in one box and will do it in more next year. I didn't have enough drawn comb to do it in all hives this year.
Used the same Lyson automatic uncapper for the first time last week, did 42 boxes that produced 120 gallons, 1300 lbs. Did everything in about 8-9 hours with a Maxant 20 frame extractor. Watch all the Better bee videos on getting your uncapper dialed in. Also the blade temp needs to be right. Thanks for the video!
Awesome. Can you send me a link to the videos? Also, I had the blade temps dialed in pretty good but I found that the back blade was gunched up with some of the old black comb I ran through the system. After I cleaned the blade gouging stopped. Thanks for stopping in and I appreciate the information.
@@BugFarmerBees it takes a few times to get the blades adjusted just right
@@BugFarmerBees ua-cam.com/video/el1L3sJKLKQ/v-deo.htmlsi=b9IaT4-C1skWO-DQ
This from Better Bee complete setup, towards the end she talks about uncapper. I found to relieve the rail pressure on the front side it let the frame come forward thus relieving the gouging on the back. One thing I am trying to figure out, mine at times rolls the wax together on middle of frame instead of cutting. I think this is all about heat of knife and also warmth of room??
@@timmiller2192Send me an email. What is your knife set temp? I set mine at 65C/149F. Mine started rolling comb after trying to uncap some super old black comb. The knives couldn't melt it fast enough because it was mostly propilis
STUNNING honey house!!!!!
It's a magical honey house. Since the harvest it has magically turned back into an ordinary garage. :-)
Wow! You're legit! Wish I lived closer to come give you a hand on the extraction line! Seems like 3-4 people could help alleviate the bottle neck.
Thanks. I try hard :-)
Congratulations on your harvest.
Thank you. It was a lot of work.
@@BugFarmerBees yes, but so rewarding. Question: how long did you store the supers before extracting the honey?
This was great. Lots of honey! Great process.
Thanks. I saw your harvest and those two buckets looked good. Next year it will be 4 :-)
@@BugFarmerBees Thank you brother :) One day I may even be like you. That is impressive
Well done BF. Awesome harvest video.
Thank you. I really appreciate it. This was a hard video to make because I spent most of my time working and not filming. I also lost a giant portion of the footage to a corrupt video file. Yikes!
@@BugFarmerBees Ah man that sucks! But hey your video was still very enjoyable to watch in the end, as they all are. Nice job still.
I've been told with fume boards that you need to leave an open space.
Great spring harvest
You are correct and I did. Thanks for watching.
I’d really be interested in where the “unbranded” uncapper was bought from vs the continual posting of the link for the lyson. With well over 100 hives, I’d like to speed up my time and save $4k as well.
Email me.
@@BugFarmerBeeswhere do I find your email?
I’m going to assume it’s alibabba or that aliexpress. Pretty sure I found it searching.
I dont think the Hilco Supermax is reversible. It is programmable with some preprogrammed sequences.
Example... run 2 minutes at 20% speed the go to 30% for 2 minutes then run 5 minutes max then come to a stop automatically. All you have to do is press run button and you don't have to fiddle with the knob. This will help with the deep frames and self balance a little.
Also get 3/4 a sheet of plywood or a large pallet and screw the extractor to it. It will add weight and surface area so it won't walk if it's out of ballance.
Great video!
Thanks. I plan on bolting it to the floor next year.
I have the Hillco 18 framer. The first year it wasn't bolted down. I bolted it down the second year and that didn't the job. No more problems!!! I spin bother deeps and mediums.
I agree. My Maxant dances too when it isn't bolted down. Next year it will be bolted to the floor.
Record harvest means have to pick up another hillco extractor for next season to clean up that bottle neck.
I am taking donations :-)
So glad for u I start extracting today. Hope I get a lot. I tell you what All my boxes is in the kitchen of my house I am still using a bucket to uncap but I do have a 18 frame extractor from hill co. It's going to be a long day for me as well no help here took 3 days to pull the boxs off. I do not know how many I pulled I hope I break last year record I got 300 lbs how did you clean out the extractors I put hot water in mine and ran it several timees to get it cleaned out. when I had the 4 frame crank I took it out side and let the bees do there thing then washed it. But I cant do that with this new 1 it is just to heavy for me. I use fume boards as well u gave me a good idea when u showed your homemade fume boards, I used towels this time with bee quick on them. and a blower. It was funny I had 2 fume boards store bought but I forgot where I had put them and could not find them. Anyway great video glad u and your good wife got a lot of honey. Have a God Blessed week
Good luck on your harvest. I hope you get a ton of the good stuff. I use the bees to do the primary glean on my extractor. Generally they will get every bit of honey and loosen most of the wax. After the bees I just hoes it out and hit it with a soapy sponge. The bees are the key.
Might try mounting the extractor to a heavy duty pallet. Bolt it so it can be removed and reused. Great looking honey what was the moisture content of the honey it sure looked great.
The moisture ran between 17 and 18%. It is a little higher than I like but I wanted to get the harvest done while there was still some nectar in the environment for the girls so I could save on sugar. Thanks for stopping in to have a look. I really appreciate you. Take care.
@BugFarmerBees always enjoy your videos and checking out the bees 🐝.
Thats a decent lil set-up. I wouldn't mind a hillco someday. I struggle just to sell my honey here. Makes it hard to grow a business. Keep on rocking friend 🤘😎
I would suggest asking local retailes to keep it in the fronts of their businesses. Honey sells itself when people see it. Just offer the business owners a 20% margin and they'll jump all over it. Hardware stores, tractor supply will set you up as a vendor and let you sell it at their checkout, hair cutting places, u-mail-it shops like UPS etc... are all independently owned and work on margins of pennies. All of these places will jump at the opportunity to have a product in their store that sells itself and has a 20% margin. You sell it to them for 8.00 a pound and they sell it for 10.00. I promise, you won't be able to harvest enough honey to get you to the next season.
What brand is the uncapped and where did you get the strainers? I like the way they curve. Nice job!
I got the strainers from Amazon (a.co/d/fpXYFJY) and the uncapper is the same model they sell at all of the bee supply stores. I bought the unbranded version of the one Lyson sells. www.betterbee.com/uncapping-tools-and-equipment/lyson-w2096000z.asp
@@BugFarmerBees the uncapper looks different than mine..
Wow. How much honey did you take off each hive? Lucky you. Our harvest is not till Sept!
Some of the hives(Enigma, new Crynock hives, Hive 20) didn't give any and others gave a ton. Heck hive 13 gave 7 boxes of honey and hive 16 gave 5. I will do a full video debriefing the demaree splits.
I’m curious about your position on the Demaree method now that you have gone through the extraction. Do you endorse the Demaree as a way for someone like me with less than 10 hives? Am I likely to see an increase in the honey harvest? Thanks for the video!!!
I will do a full video debriefing the demaree splits very soon.
Yeah, I have a hand crank 4 frame by Lyson. You burn off your dinner extracting at my house. Of course I'm usually running 15 boxes through. I'm very impressed with your equipment.
Thanks. I am working hard to try to get a honey house together.
Awesome video and harvest! How many hives are you running now ?
That harvest was with 40 hives. I am currently splitting the farm which should give me 60 for next year.
The extractor needs to be right next to your uncapping machine. That’ll speed up the process and keep the floor cleaner .
Thanks. Hopefully next year I will have a more robust proccess.
awesome vid, i don’t keep bees and probably never will but it always amazes me. keep up the good work
If you have a place for them you should give it a shot. It is a great hobby. Just set up a couple of hives in your yard and you are ready to go.
I think that square bottom bar at the uncapper needs to be moved a bit further to the edge so the honey and cappings don't drip on it.
I'll get the engineers on it ASAP :-)
00:10:31 flip the plug over. Ha ha... that only works with dc voltage 😂
:-)
What’s up Bug Farmer! Great harvest!
Thanks Jdiddy!
Just turn it off. Then turn it on and press the reverse button. I could take a picture of mine. But I did reverse mine many times. I also mix my deeps and mediums to max it out but it is u stable at first
Thanks. If you can send a pic to my email of the reverse button/proccess I would appreciate it. I am not a fan of the controller they chose for this extractor.
56 boxes pulled? I haven't even put 1 super on yet where I'm at. Can we say jealous/envious?
With 24 hives, I'll be fortunate to get 30-35 full supers all season.🤞
My back is envious of your back. :-)
@@BugFarmerBees Don't even go there. At 72 it's nothing to brag about.
P.S. I sent my pics of Bee Barn frame rack to John H., and he replied they are working on something. So check with him after a while.
You said you made last minute splits, I’d love to know how.
I had a couple of hives with queens in the upper boxes that I found during the harvest so I split the hives. One queen was left in the bottom box and the upper queen was moved to her own hive on a pallet. quick an dirty but effective. Next week I begin my splits of the entire bee yard because the hives were packed with bees and I don't want swarms now that I have removed 2/3 of their space.
Very nice sticky job
It was very sticky. I had to stop and wash the floor a couple of times. The big worry was opening the garage door and having a gazillion bees fly into the garage. It has been exactly one week since harvest and I just got the garage cleaned up and everything put away today.
What kind of moisture levels are you coming up with on your frames before extraction.??
Between17-18%. I harvested a bit early this year. I wanted to make sure the girls can still find nectar in the environment after the harvest.
Where are the 5gal bucket strainers from?
Hi ZoysiaRUs. Bets grass in the world BTW. My entire front lawn is Zoysia and I love it. The only issue is the cost of seed. I need seed right now and it's hard to find and hard to separate from that amount of money. Anyway, here is the link to the strainers. Happy harvesting : a.co/d/1a8qz3S
@@BugFarmerBeesyea I love my zoysia. I’ve seeded almost an acre at my house and have no regrets. It’s gone up quite a bit since Covid but it’s still worth the upfront cost.
I appreciate the link! Will be ordering some.
Where did you get the screens you use in your buckets
Amazon. Here is the link: a.co/d/3xu7j7p
@@BugFarmerBees Thanks
this is a 4 person operation
Yes it was. My back is killing me. :-)
Can you share how to get rid of your honey? Do you wholesale or what?
I sell it in hardware stores :-)
What brand of uncapping machine and holding tank did you purchase?
I bought the unbranded version of the one Lyson sells and saved about 4k. Here is the one from Lyson: www.betterbee.com/uncapping-tools-and-equipment/lyson-w2096000z.asp
@@BugFarmerBeeswhere do you buy an unbranded version? We’d like to save 4k too!!💞💕 looks like it’s working great!!
Yes please tell us how we may acquire an unbranded version!!
Please share the link for the unbranded!!! Need to save as much money as I can!!!
Where/how does one sell 1300 lbs of honey? No need to be specific, but in general terms.
It sells itself.... literally made a couple posts of FB last year and sold 750lbs without even trying.
I sell at hardware stores in the local area.
I love how the bee accidentally knocks the other bee into the water but is instantly pulled out by another bee 💕🥰 (in the first 30 seconds)
They are awesome that way :-)
@@BugFarmerBees definitely!! I just saved a baby bumblebee no bigger than a small finger nail 💕 they are precious creatures 😍🥰
Hello Bug Man! Hello! Brad here.
Question. Two of my hives are getting very packed with bees and don't want to add another super (already have two on) my question. Could I kill my queens, which would for one keep them from swarming, and two, it would give them a
5-6 week brood break-that is by the time they produce a new queen and she starts laying. Is this a good idea!?
Honestly Brad, I would add another box or two. The more bees the more honey. Or just have the bees draw out extra comb for next season.
I don’t see much benefit to reversing my Hillco extractor but here John shows how to do it around 2:20 mark... ua-cam.com/video/AI47k3-Xk-M/v-deo.htmlsi=UrL142XrcHhnmQyl
Thanks Robin.
#250 lol
Please elaborate. #250?
@@BugFarmerBees hives lol
Bees are not Bugs . .
Thank you for pointing that out.
@@BugFarmerBees accuracy is required for credibility
Where do you get your buckets? I hear the ones from Lowe's split on the bottom. 🫣🤔
I bought food grade buckets from amazon.
I don't know how to emoji you back. :-)
@BugFarmerBees * on the phone... there is a menu under the text, but above the keyboard... select the smile 😃 and a list to choose from pops up... at least it does for me!!