BC Honey Producers Conference

For the past 4 years while running the Motel, i sat and watched (and whined a little, ok  a lot!) how people got to go the BCHP's conferences. I was envious and swore once retired...I would go too damnit.
So I was pretty excited when the PG beekeeping club was going to host the next conference in Prince George in October.
James and I registered and were set to go for 2 of the 3 days. We opted to drive in each day since staying at a motel wasn't really going to work with our clingy 14 year old dog who howls when ever you leave. So this was easier.

Conference

They had a great line up of speakers from all over Canada and the US. The one i was really excited to hear was Ian Steppler from Steppler Farms in Manitoba. I follow him on You Tube and really have learned a lot from him. So to see and hear him in person was pretty neat. The conference was 3 days long but we only attended the Sat and Sunday. During one of the talks, we had a lesson in honey tasting. Like wine tasting but not quite as fun...heheheh. We were given  6 different samples of  honey to analyze by taste and aroma then write down what you tasted. It was amazing when you really concentrate what you can taste and smell. My favorite honey that day was from Meadowfoam flowers and it tasted like chocolate, vanilla and maybe a little caramel thrown for good measure. Each honey tasted so different.

 Ian Steppler,

For fun i had decided to enter some honey and Mead into the competition. I had never entered anything like this before so i was completely out of the loop on how it worked. The first thing i did was put the honey in too big of jars (it was suppose to be 500g or a pound) according to the rules. Then i didnt fill the jar full enough to hide the level under the lid. Oh and i didnt filter the honey through a fine enough filter to get the specks of pollen out.The honey were critiqued but disqualified because of the bottle size. But saying all this, i learnt so much and now i know better for next time. But we did get full points for taste and aroma, so i was pretty pleased about that!

But my mead looked good, it was clear and the right size bottles, so i felt good about that. But i entered it without any expectations since this was only the second time i had ever made mead...i didn't even know what it was suppose to taste like....but we liked it so that's what i went with.
Well Saturday night on Facebook a friend who was at the Banquet posted that my mead won 1st in its category....what??? Really??? No it couldn't of.
But sure enough when we arrived Sunday morning...i was given a blue ribbon. I was shocked.

Mine are the ones with no professional label or fancy bottle. (far right). Yup these were recycled Cattle Boyz BBQ sauce bottles!

Photo Credit: Bini Ball

The rest of the conference was great. The speakers were really informative and we brought home a ton of info and some goodies. One of the best things of the whole weekend was meeting in person, some of the folks i had only chatted to one some beekeeping pages i belong too. We even brought home a gift of 2 jars of honey from friends in Terrace. Thank you Tavis and Christine. We are loving this very interesting mystery honey of yours.

But now its back to getting ready for winter and putting the bees to bed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Until next time......

Bee Inspection

Last spring our area got news that we would finally have a Bee Inspector. It had been years since our area had one, so it was great finding out the news.
 Barry, our inspector, had attended several of our bee meetings and our Bee Day in May. He had asked if anyone in the club would like their bees inspected. I never turn down the opportunity to learn new things and work along side someone who had been keeping bees for years. So i said Yes, i do.
With the very wet summer, our inspector had to keep delaying his road trip out this way until after he was able to get his hay off the fields. So on the 22nd of August he arrived. Barry is a great guy, very easy going and willing to share his years of knowledge and never makes you feel bad for doing rookie mistakes or asking dumb questions.

Barry and I checking out the hives

My hives had suffered a bit early in the season with Chalk Brood, a fungal desease and this summers damp weather really didnt help the situation. However they rebounded and had really taken off. The populations had grown and judging by the inspection. ...were doing well. Barry and I tore apart each hive, looking at the frames, checking for brood, desease and looking at their overall health. 

There was only very minor indications of chalk brood, which i was so happy about and everything looked good. 

The one thing he noted was .....our equipment. He suggested perhaps it was time to replace our brood boxes and supers. James and I had already planned a trip to Bee Maid before winter to purchase a bunch,since all of ours are.....almost classed as antiques. We thought that perhaps some of the boxes were homemade since the frames didnt fit in some of them very well and kept slipping down inside. Also with the size difference there was all kinds of very ornate burr comb under the frames. We left all that mess in place and when we get the new boxes...i can clean them up then.

Next came the testing for Varroa Mites. We took a sample of approx 300 bees (around a 1/2 cup) and put them into a 2 cup Mason jar. It was fitted with a screen and then 2 Tbs of icing sugar was pushed thru the screened top and onto the bees.  The jar was then rolled around and given a shake then let sit for a minute or so. The process was repeated. Then into a white container, the contents were shaken out thru the screened top leaving the bees inside the jar covered with white icing sugar. They were returned to their hive where their sisters would clean them off.  In the white container we poured a small amount of water to dissolve the sugar and  looked for mites. You are hoping for 2% or less mites. (well actually you are hoping for 0 mites) If your numbers are higher than you need to treat the bees. We were really happy as we counted 0 mites. However i will test again near the end of Sept and see then. There will be less capped brood then, so you may find you have more mites (the mites like to rear their young inside capped brood).

Setting up the mite testing station

Bees coated in icing sugar

Returning the sugar coated girls back to their hive

Anyways, it was a good day. I was so thankful to find out my bees were doing good and was very grateful to had learnt new things

Until next time.....Bee Happy

Getting ready for winter....already???

Dearth
 A scarcity or lack of something.
Synonyms: lack, scarcity, scarceness, shortage, shortfall, want, deficiency, insufficiency, inadequacy,
paucity, sparseness, meagerness, scantiness, rareness, infrequency, uncommonness.

Long gone spring flowers

In the world of Honey Bees it means...A nectar dearth in some areas means there is a lot less forage than before, in other areas, it means nearly a complete absence of nectar. We are now in the dearth here.
I started feeding our bees in July, which is insanely early and we have never fed that early before. But with 2 full months of cool temperatures and rain, i felt it was a necessity to help out the bees.
I also started giving the bees in their syrup, Pro Health stimulant, to help build them up. It aides in overall health and helps builds up nucs and packages and assists in drawing out comb. Anyways i had never used anything like this before so decided i had nothing to lose. I must say, i was quite surprised when i  checked the bees a few days ago. They had almost or completely drawn out the 10 brand new foundation i had put in a month before. The population had increased and considering all the rain and lack of foraging time...they seemed to be putting up a lot of pollen and nectar. So i was pleased.

Nice brood pattern in one of our hives

August is when you remove the extra honey and extract it. We are not taking any honey this year. Any extra frames i will save it and give it back to them in the spring. All our bees were new packages this year so normally you don't get a lot of extra honey the first year. August is also the time you check for Varroa and treat if necessary. I will start testing next week if the weather is good. Near the end of the month i will also be switching to a thicker syrup for them. It will be a 2:1 ratio. You make it thicker in Sept so the bees have time to process it and get the humidity levels down so they can cap it.  Somehow the bees know when the honey is at the right humidity level, (usually around 17% humidity) at that point they cap it with wax. I don't have that ability so i have to use a refractometer to tell if its 17%,
Anyways this is just a short ramble this time. Lots going on right now. In the next post, i will be telling you about our bee inspection, mite tests and getting more prep done for winter in our new place.
Bye for now. Bee Happy

Life inside a rain forest

As i sit here watching the rain fall again (and wishing it would stop), i have to remind myself we do live in a rainforest and this is to be expected.

Dome Creek is located at the very edge of the Robson Valley on highway 16 east. We live a few minutes from the fairly new Ancient Forest/Chun T’oh Whudujut Park. Its a very unique area and is the only inland temperate rainforest in the world. People come from all parts of the world to visit the park and to experience wrapping their arms around 1000 year old Cedars. We feel so blessed to be living in such a beautiful untouched area.

Everything is so lush this year and the fear of a forest fire in our area is pretty low. But unlike when we lived at the coast, it would rain for 30 days and 30 nights (well that is what it seems like) . Dome Creek rains for a hour or two then stops. Although this summer has been a tad more wet than usual, it is still bearable.

                                   

But i feel bad for our bees during all this damp weather. I have been battling chalk brood this year, which sucks. Its been a challenge and i am hoping they will build up the colony big enough to survive the winter. Three out of four hives seem to be doing really good, the other one....not so much. And although they do get out foraging...its quite limited by all the rain.

Its been a tough couple years beekeeping, but each time you have a failure, you do learn lots. But enough already!

Well even though i am kind of sick of the rain, i must say everything is so beautiful and the abundance of wild flowers is incredible. So when its not raining there is lots for the bees to forage.



                                             


We have a friend from Belgium who comes to Canada each year to fish. His little base camp is set up on our property where the bee yard is. He sets up his canoe under the eves of our cabin to catch rain water and the other day i went over to the bee yard and this is what i spotted.



                                     


When i asked him about it, he explained that it saddened him to see the bees go in the canoe to drink then drown. So he took some of that non slip rubber matting you use in your RV so your dishes don't slide around and put it in the canoe. The bees can sit on the mats and the water comes up thru the holes. It was rather clever i thought. I added the thinly sliced pool noodles.

Anyways, once the weather straightens out a bit, i will be able to get in the hives and check out how they are making out with their winter stores. Then maybe i will have more to talk about in my next blog. Well i should go, since its raining today i think i will bottle up my batch of mead i made a few months ago. I may have to sample a little to make sure its going to be good.

Til next time......     .

Getthing things done

Good morning everyone
Its been a few months since i have put pen to paper so i decided what better day then to do it, then today
So much has been happening since my last post. First and foremost, James managed to finish the bee yard while i worked at the Post Office for 3 weeks. He did a fab job and it ended up being larger than the original plan. It turned out to be 35' x 50'

Moving them was somewhat of a night mare. It was easy moving the hives but really hard to convince the bees where their new home was. Even though it was a short distance so many of the bees coudnt figure it out. I spent nights rounding up stray bees and putting in Nuc boxes and carrying them over to the bee yard. It went on for 4 nights. After that, they finally figured it out.

So the bees are doing pretty good, we have been battling a bit with Chalk Brood. Last year our bees also had it and i read up on it and sadly i didnt read how the spores can stay in the frames for up to 15 years. Sheesh. So now i am dealing with it. Our Bee Inspector, Barry Clark spent some time talking about it and he made some suggestions which i have done. He is coming our way to do inspections for some of our club members so he will stop in here on his way home and inspect ours. We will decide then if we need to replace queens. But the populations are increasing so i am hoping they will be able to get through it ok.

New bee yard

So what else has been going on at the homestead, well....lots  On our trip to Prince George the other day, we went to a nursery to check on fruit trees. We had in mind 2 apples and 2 cherries. We came home with 2 apples, 1 cherry and 1 plum. So now the bees share their compound with the 4 fruit trees and the black currant i started 3 years ago from a cutting. I really didn't think the orchard was going to happen this year so its a bonus it has.

Hard to see but 4 fruit trees planted

  Another little project we got done yesterday morning was, we got the outhouse (dubbed the "Confessional") over a hole and set up. So now when the power goes off....we are covered.  The new 3 bay woodshed has been started. James had to fall a few trees to make room for the shed, so he was in his glory.

James dropping trees to make room

New 3 bay woodhouse

Well so much for working on the woodshed right now....the blue sky dissappeared and the thunder clouds rolled in. But as they say......wait an hour and the weather will change.
Till next time. Bye for now

Riverside Apiary's new home

After we first moved in before we moved it

March 19, 2019
We made it home, although not until March 11 but never the less we made it.
The house had been locked up for 6 1/2 long years so needless to say, there was a lot of cleaning and organizing to do.
Our house is not the typical house and by now you probably figured it out that its a old church. We bought it back in about 2006   where it sat in a sorry state for many years, unloved. Over the years we have slowly picked away at it until it became a house.
The church first opened its doors in 1959 when the Bishop traveled by train from Giscome to bless it, Our Lady of Fatima. It only remained a church for about 10 years when it closed it doors forever and sat basically empty until we bought it.

When we first bought it, it was rather sad looking and it was no wonder no one ever gave it a second look. One of the little boys in the neighbourhood  shot out 9 panes of windows with a sling shot and there was broken glass inside, dead birds, bats and lots of flies and lord knows (no pun intended) what else. But we saw its potential.

When we first bought it

 

Back before the highway was in, the priests use to travel by train to some of the small towns. One of the locals would go over before the priest would arrive and light the barrel heater in the main room so it would be warm when he arrived. Once we bought it, we went ahead and wired it so we could have lights. We moved into it in 2007 and just recently have water lines run throughout it with hopes this summer there will be a indoor toilet and running water. For the time being....the little house (dubbed the Confessional) out back gets plenty of use. In 2010 we  purchased another piece of property out of the same estate and made plans to move the church onto that.
It was a big deal in Sept 2011 when the old Dome Creek Church moved down the road to its new location. The whole town came out.

The bell tower was removed for the move

The towns people following it down the road

So now that we are home. Maybe we can finally finish it and give it the love it deserves. But first......the bee yard has to be built before the bears wake up. So...the confessional out back will get used a little while longer

How it looks today

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go............

Now that i have put that song in everyone's head, let me share some exciting news. Its been 2 years in the making and I so ready. Riverside Apiary is moving and expanding...wooohooo.
Thats right, the Motel sold and we are heading home March 9th. I haven't had a lot of time to get real excited yet, as there is so much to do to shut down the business, change over addresses, pack plus all the other chores in the life of a Motelier. (is that a real word?)
Despite all the obstacles and hurdles....we are going to make it happen.  Like the other day,James took a load of stuff and his welding trailer home  and got 20 minutes out of town, when the engine in his truck decided to pack it in. Not the best of times to not have a truck! Anyways, we have some pretty great friends and its coming together.
So earlier i mentioned we were expanding the Apiary, i have ordered 4 packages of bees, which should be arriving near the end of May sometime. So once the snow goes, we will be busy putting in fence posts and building a bear proof compound for the future orchard/bee yard. 

So, a few weeks ago, i decided since we were heading home, i should bottle the Bochet (caramelized honey mead) I made months ago. A short time later some friends came over and Barb and I got to talking about mead. I mentioned that the Bochet was such a nice color and went and brought a bottle out to show her. Then we decided we should smell it...oh my, it did smell good. So out came the glasses. Now i am no expert in the art of wine tasting...but i do love food and really like to savor each morsel i put in my mouth, so  I tried to do the same with the mead. The two of us sat there, taking in the aroma and discussed what we smelt. Then we let it slide over our tongues. Oh it was so smooth and sweet, but sweet in a delightful way. We were so enjoying it, that the guys decided they needed to try it too.

It was a hit and i will definitely be making it again. Oh and after a couple (or more) glasses of it....i dubbed it Bitchin Bochet

Anyways, i should really go and get some more packing done. Not that i am counting or anything but there is  only 7 more sleeps and we are heading home to our little old church in the boonies.