jdmidwest

There may not be a business for sale, just some used equipment. Lost another hive this weekend. I noticed it was being robbed on Thursday as I was packing for the weekend. Completely destroyed today when I got home. I guess I will tear it apart tomorrow if no rain and see what went wrong with it. This sets me back to where I was 2 years ago. Looks like a bleak winter coming. I have lost 10 hives since last fall. Replacement cost of a hive of bees runs about $150 each currently. Nice little loss, its a shame I have only sold about $100 in honey in the last 2 years. Good thing I really don't bother keeping records, that would really get depressing. I spent $400 on new hive equipment expecting growth this spring. Its still sitting in boxes. Last years expenses were over $1500 with the hive materials and extractor. Of course labor is always free.

Kinda pricey for only 156 acres. On top of that, public stream running thru it with all of those people. I would go for something more remote.

Call the company that made it, they will probably have the material to repair. My roto molded Wilderness System cracked one time. Company sent me a piece of plastic that looked like weedeater string and I used a heat gun to weld it in place. Depending on the type of kayak, there may be many options to repair. Plastic weld, JB weld are materials available at any auto part store.

Hen mallard decoys make good magnum teal decoys. But you can find teal decoys pretty cheap. I use both. Open water is usually early morning hunt if passing thru on migration. If hunting refuge area, you may have all day or evening hunt. Usually you get early flocks, shoot them, and the keep moving south. Rarely do you find a good flight day where the last very long into morning.

Last night at a beekeepers meeting, one member said to coat the feeder part with veggie oil to keep honeybees off of it. Since I started keeping bees, I could not keep feeders out because of bees crowding it out. I am gonna try it. I miss my hummers. I had a white one at one time.

Sucks to run out of gas. Better half called on a Friday a few months back, broke down on a turn lane on a busy highway in 5'oclock traffic. First thing I asked, when was the last time you filled up? 4 Runners don't just die like that. Grabbed a gas can and prepared to hunker down to keep from getting hit. Luckly, local PD was on scene and blocking traffic for me while I poured a gallon of gas in and got her going. It's not that 4 Runners are perfect, their gas gauge sucks. There is something hinky with the attitude adjustment on the thing, it does not register correctly. They tried to build in a feature that reads on inclines and other angles. It does not work right, should just have a regular float.

Another for the Navy. You can never have too many boats.

Look up, you probably have a hive in a tree or your house. What you are seeing is dead bees being carried out of a hive.

They have spent alot of money to clean things up since the 80's at both locations. One was a weapons dump with radioactive material and the other mined heavy metals. Both have histories of nasty stuff.

I fish out of the ultimate jet boat rig. We came about it by accident. My friend bought a 80's model Tracker Panfish Pro and had someone build up the transom and add a jet to the 25 hp Johnson. Its stick steer in the front, has sideboards running down both sides that you can walk around on, and a fairly open interior. Middle seat that used to be a livewell, now storage. You can fish three comfortably. It has been upgraded to a true 25hp Merc 4 stroke with power trim. Its just wide enough to be stable, but narrow enough to thread it thru a rootwad. The front stick steer is like piloting a plane up the river, sitting in the front you can see well and glide the boat like a plane. Easy to fish alone if needed. Not fast, but a good fishing boat. It could use a thicker hull, we have had several adventures that the hull has been opened by a rock. My next boat will be of similar design, but keeping with the 25 hp to run the 11 PT River. The new jet motors that are rated for 25 hp at the jet are plenty fast enough to get the job done. And you can run them anywhere there are restrictions. Unless you are on a 10 hp limit lake.

I never did. They were lead mine lakes. I really don't know if there is any toxic stuff in the lakes, but it is likely. Then there was the constant noise from all of the 4 wheeler's that kept me out. I have not looked at them since I was up there in the 90's. I did fish the Busch Wildlife lakes in the 80's but never kept a fish. Lots of toxic stuff in the ground around there too. It used to tarnish the blades on the spinners of the grubs I was using to fish with.

Yeah, a convert. The Bees for Dummies is a good book, I have read it in pdf. Lots of others online to read too. Find a local bee club and attend a few meetings. Queen excluders are worthless in my opinion. I never have any brood in my supers when I run 2 deeps. I added a third deep this year to the one I just tossed around because it was my only 10 frame hive and did not have another 10 frame super. I did have some brood in the 3rd deep and the bottom box was empty with small hive beetles running around in it yesterday. I don't use them. They are in the pile of stuff I don't use. Check your brood pattern in the weaker hive and make sure the queen is laying good. They will probably be fine, hives all have their own personalities. Don't give them more boxes than they can fill and protect. If you have the dearth like we have had lately, they are actually using honey now, not storing it. Its a fun hobby. Always wear a suit or keep a veil on. Face stings are the worst. My foot still bothers me from last summer's sting thru the croc I took one morning.

I went back down to the hives today after work to clean up my mess. I was picking up the frames and boxes I had scattered around and found a big wad of bees on the box I had kicked off the stand. I opened the top of the hive and gave the box a good shake, dropping a wad of bees that would fill a gallon jug. I guess the queen was in the wad of bees. She must have run in the hole in the inner cover and the rest started following her in like the pied piper. Back to 6 hives now at the house.

Bee in the ear sucks. even worse if they get in and buzz around for a while before they sting. Herbicides should not be a problem, pesticides do. Many things cause them to die.

I had my doubts when I picked them and took them into the office for the mushroom expert. I was busy that night and did not even bother to look them over close. But I was not going to eat one till I knew for sure. The gills and the stem had me wondering. But the trumpet shape added to the confusion. Most chanterelles I had seen were tender and a lighter mushroom. These had a tough outer skin. I searched long and hard today and really can't tell what they are.

Suited up this afternoon in the nice warm weather to make the splits. I started taking a hive apart frame by frame and parting it out. Got down to the second box and found that this hive may be without a queen or she quit laying due to the dry spell last month. At that time, making new splits came to an end, I need eggs to make new queens. And by this time the bees were boiling out of what was left of the hive and the boxes all around me. And I was sweating in the heat. I put things back together and picked up some of my mess. I left alot of bees scattered around on the extra hives and frames I had pulled out. Knowing my luck, the queen is probably on the ground down there somewhere in all of that confusion. But they were pretty worked up and I started smelling bananas. That is the alarm bell phermone they release when they really get angry. First time I smelled that this year. But third time in without any stings. Back to drawing board. Probably down to 5 hives now. I guess I will just have to buy some queens and do splits that way. I have just been trying not to introduce any foreign bees into the hives that may be carrying things that mine do not have. The hives have been pretty pure, they have been created from the original 3 hives I started with and whatever local bees that the queens may have mated with. But it may be time to bring in some new genetics. I have not been impressed the past year with their performance.

Looking at the mushroom book, the first pic and all in the bad are common chantrelle. The third is a bolete, pores instead of gills. I have not eaten any, too far gone for me. Maggots on them. That is why I stick to morels, easy id.

I think Pyrethrin gets them and it is safe to use around food products. Liquid Sevin knocks them quick but you can't eat what you treat. Treat the soil with Nematodes to kill the larva to prevent next years hatch.

Not really, but it has been one of those years. I kicked back and let the bees be themselves, I did not stir them up much this spring. I let them work and thought they would make honey. All things were right, I had drawn comb for them to fill. I did not do splits to cut down their workforce. Fall and winter losses had me down from a high of 19 hives to 12 going into the spring. 2 hives swarmed at the farm, a neighbor went in and caught them for his apiary that was just starting out saving me an early morning drive. After the storm on July 6, I notice one of the hives at the house getting robbed out. Carnage and a mess of dead bees in front of the hive. I was too busy cleaning up limbs from the wind damage to have time to try to stop it. Then last week, I noticed another hive getting robbed too, dead bees everywhere. Saturday, I suited up and waded in. It was time to pull the harvest anyway. Best I can tell on the 2 hives, they swarmed earlier and the replacement queen they made failed, bee numbers fell to point they could not defend then robbed. I only had 2 hives at house that made honey, don't know what the rest were doing this spring. 6 hives left here. Sunday, went to farm. Suited up in the 100 degree temp and waded in. Hives were healthy, 2 that swarmed did not make honey. Other 2 made some, but not much. 4 hives there. Overall harvest will be about 4 gallons, less than last fall. We had a early wet spring. Bees started swarming in March, over a month early. June and early July was dry and nectar plants died off. So there was not much for them to gather. Hopefully we will have a good fall so they can store for winter. I am going to make splits and hopefully build up some hive numbers. My goal is still 25. That little hiccup last fall with the surgery had my mind on other things. My 3 year plan may lead to 5.

I was looking at the yard Monday and noticed the usual fungus growth had taken a new look. Normally this time of the year I see Boletes and various other mushrooms that I would not really like to eat. But these caught my eye. I picked a bag of them to take to work the next morning, I have a mushroom expert that hangs around there. Looks like I have Chantrelles growing in my yard under my Pin Oaks and around where some Poplars died out a few years ago. Lots of them. I have others, but they look all greasy and nasty, boletes I think. Don't even look like something I would put in my gut.

I have not seen any. Lots of hens with no young. SE MO or TN. I mentioned it a few weeks ago to a friend while in TN. We saw several hens, but no young. My job puts me out on the road for several hours a day in SE MO, same thing, all hens, no young. Wet early spring may have led to a bad hatch. But that is nature, it happens.

I picked up a HB 898 with downscan and sidefinder for $300 last month after rebate on Gander Mtn. Nice little unit with a moderate sized transducer. Nice clear sharp pic with 3 year old tech.

I saw a Honda 3 wheeler with a yard cart attached to the rear hitch, in it was a goat and some other crap. There was a Menard's cart guy standing there attending to the goat whilst the owner of the 3 wheeler did some shopping. I really should have snapped a pic, but was laughing at the cart guy too hard. Real life story from the Cape Girardeau Menard's store about 6pm this evening. I met the 3 wheeler and the cart pulling out of a c store on the way there, did not even notice the goat. All that I noticed was a vintage 80's model Honda 3 wheeler. And some hick slurping a 44 oz soda. I came out of the store and heard the goat all the way across the parking lot. God only knows what county that one came from.

Or the plug corrodes on the back. I replaced a pair of those on the last trailer, water or road salt had eaten up the plug on one. I replaced with LEDS.

Actually, the smallies move down river in the winter months toward the spring because the water is warmer in winter. The river above Greer Spring has less spring water in it.