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Extracting Workshop Aug 15th

We will be having our annual extracting work shop in a couple weeks. It will be limited to 50 people. Please first time attendees only.

• When: Sunday Aug 15th 2:00 pm

• Where: Nature's Nectar Honey House
  

• Cost: Free
  

• What is happening: There will be two groups. The first group will learn how to pull honey, treat for mites, and winter their bees. The second group will go into the honey house. We will then switch. In the honey house we will be demonstrating how to uncap, extract, strain and bottle honey. Everyone will bottle a jar of honey to take home.
  

• How: The workshop is open to 50 people please call (RSVP required) and reserve a spot. No young children please.
  

The Nectar Flow in Late July

I have been noticing the White Sweet Clover starting to wane.
While the spotted Knapweed and Birdsfoot Trefoil is in full bloom around the Stillwater area. If anyone living near a swampy area may be enjoying the nectar from Purple Loostrife. The honey from Purple Loosestrife looks like new motor oil, a greenish hue. The flavor is appealing.
This time of year the intensity of the flow will diminish and it may even end in some areas. I usually watch the supers and make sure there is an empty one on top but no longer put them on two at a time. By the first of August I watch the supers to make sure there is some empty frames in the supers. Having the bees finish filling the boxes usually happens then. But is important to make sure there is some empty frames. Keeping an eye out for a new flower bloom can change this strategy if nectar starts coming in on a new heavy flow. A new Alfalfa, Sunflower, Golden Rod or other late summer flow may surprise a beekeeper with more nectar coming in. Watching the supers with a quick peek will keep us ahead of any late summer surprises. When in doubt throw a super on.
The temperatures and this summers steady moisture may bring an August nectar surprise.
There is still nectar coming in but it starts to be localized to areas that have the right nectar producing flowers.

A fair entry quandry

A beekeeper sent me this email about entering a county fair for competition in the honey division. My response follows.

I entered a pint of honey for the heck of it this year in the a County Fair. I was the only one that brought honey…I received a second place ribbon with no explanation or feed back. When I brought the family to see the fair, I asked them for feedback and they couldn’t provide any, said the judge who was brought in was especially picky and used the state criteria. When I read the state fair book online, it doesn’t really go into prep detail. I am just looking to learn because it was my first time.

It was decanted twice, caramelly red amber honey with hardly any froth and suspended pollen. Debris at the bottom was nil. No air bubbles, but I did notice that someone had handled the jar and smudged it up with finger prints after I had cleaned the jar at drop-off time. The ring and lid was a preserves lid brand new.

Any suggestions or info would be great. Might be a handy blog post for others.

Thanks!

My response:

What did the premium book for the honey entry say? You have to follow the entry criteria to the letter.
Was the bottle full? If it says one pound of honey they will weigh it.
If there is froth on top that is undesirable, points off.
Air bubbles in the honey, points lost
Any debris in honey, points lost.
Moisture content above 16 %, points lost. As the moisture goes up the points go down.
Color of honey. If it is off color of the entry i.e. Light amber and it is lighter or darker, points lost.
Does it taste like honey. Any off flavor will cost you points.
All of these little things add up to a total score. It is hard to get all the points in every category, but you can get most of the points with attention to detail.
At the State Fair an entry in a canning jar would be disqualified.
Remember this is competition. The judges are looking for a quality product. Care has to be put into every jar.
The State Fair entry is 12 one pound jars. Uniformity is key. They ask for glass or plastic jars. The glass will get higher points when the judges put the jars in front of a polara-scope.
I do recommend every beekeeper enter the fair it makes you a better bottler and you will turn out a better quality product because you learn how to do it. It is unfortunate that you did not get input from the judge because it is how you learn.
At the State Fair you will get a score card so you know how your entry stands. They also have a novice class that will make a easier possibility of a ribbon your first time.
http://www.mnstatefair.org/competition/ag_hort_bee.html
Check out class 97 in the Ag-Hort-Bee premium book. At the end of every class entry there is a score criteria for what the judges are looking for and the points rewarded.
That is great you made an entry. It helps the whole beekeeping industry when we can show case our products. Plus you may win some money and bragging rights of having award winning honey.
Jim

Checking Supers

I was out checking supers yesterday. I had to come up with some more supers. Most of my hives have 4 supers on them, a few have 5 and six. Of course I have a couple bad performers that have one super with nothing in it. There is really nothing else going on other than dealing with cut comb.
I have pulled my cut comb as it gets capped. If the cut comb is left on to long the capped wax will get a yellowish color called pollen stain that is from the bees traveling over it. While there is nothing wrong with this, a nice white capped comb section does sell better. Remember when pulling off comb honey it is important to stuff green grass in the spout of the smoker. This acts as a filter to prevent little pieces of black charcoal from landing on the comb honey. The small amounts of charcoal are easy to spot on the white comb and difficult to remove.

Trail Camera Pics

The Twins

I think the turkeys are nervous

Spotted Knapweed

Spotted Knapweed

Spotted Knapweed is starting to bloom around Stillwater. This purple weed is considered a noxious weed by the DNR. It can spread into sandy soils and is invasive. It looks similar to a Bull thistle. There seems to be more of the weed every year. I don't recommend propagating this invasive weed but if the bees happen to get some honey off it so be it.
The honey from spotted knapweed has a buttery flavor. I do like the taste of this honey.