jdmidwest

It can be at times, but it is something to kill the afternoons after the real job. I am using 8 frame hives instead of 10 because of the weight. I almost went to all mediums but was not convinced that it was easier and there are more boxes and frames to make.

I was finally able to get some people off my back that kept asking when they were going to get honey. Looks like each frame will average a quart of honey. Next year I will have 10 hives making honey with 8 frames in a super and 2 supers to a hive equals around 40 gallons of honey possible next year. As far as the wax goes, that surplus does not come until you decap the frames of honey or melt out old wax frames. Last I checked it was going for about $8 a pound. Once I reach a goal of 25 hives, I will start raising and selling queens or nucs of bees. Queens sell for $25 and nucs are bringing $150 this year. Just another way to recup a little of the investment.

Its been a long road the last 2 years and about $5,000.00 out of pocket. Millions of flights from a flower to the hive in a bee's honey stomach. Spit out in a cell after mixing with enzymes in the bee's stomach. When filled, it is fanned to where it reaches its lowest moisture content by other bees. Finally the cells are capped with flakes of wax off the bees butts. Yummy. I had 2 supers of surplus honey for me this year, did not seem like much. But it extracted out enough for the family consumption till next year and some for friends. I pulled the frames last weekend, some from the farm and the other from the house. I then scraped the cappings off and run them thru my new homemade extractor. Filtered it as run from the extracting buckets into the bottling bucket. Let it sit a while for bubbles to rise to top, then bottled it into pint masonary jars. I rinsed the wax capping from the filter and will melt them to make me a couple of nice beeswax candles. Honey and biscuits for breakfast this morning.

I thought it was Ironic that 13 years later we are going back to fight the same bunch of terrorists again and hopefully finish what we started and pulled out of too soon. Lucky 13. I know the support for our troops has improved and lingered longer than the support for the military action. We still remember the first responders that lost their lives there.

Good idea, give the location to the Mormans and the Jehovah's Witness and let them help them out. The homeless need religion to get on the straight and narrow and get their lives in order.

I tye a black soft hackle on a size 10 curved nymph hook that is pretty deadly. Simple fly, black antron body ribbed with a fine copper wire and a dark dyed partridge or starling feather hackle. The longer curved shank helps remove the hook better. Dead drift or strip, or just let it bob under an indicator.

I thought it was for the Rice Guy that beat his wife and lost his football jersey. I was just thinking about it today, I think it was the last time I have seen gas at $1.45 was that morning. Before the day was over, it jumped to over $2 and there was talk of prosecuting for price gouging. Now its $3.20 and nobody blinks an eye. I was coming out of the shower getting ready for work when the second tower got hit, watched the plane sail into it on live TV. Called the office and told them I was going to be late. Stopped on the way in an hour later and topped off the tank. By the time I went to lunch, the streets were almost empty and all planes were grounded, the town had an eery silence to it. It was a moment in history I will never forget, but was never really a part of. I do remember the United States coming together in a sense of patriotism for a while after that. Then that all came to an end in about 2007 and today we are a nation that is divided for the most part.

I get checked hunting more than I ever do fishing. I even get checked from time to time by ones that know me by name. Its their job. Funny thing is, I have been checked on Federal Waterfowl Refuges that only let you hunt on them by providing all the licences before they let you hunt, again on the same day hunting the unit I was assigned. And don't forget to carry proper ID like a Drivers License, the Conservation License still needs a proper ID to confirm identity.

I would probably look at other streams in the area. Maybe Silver Mines, but not the Shut ins.

Maybe just a family reunion.

Find a load of manure and dump it on that corner of your land for fertilize.

Thats better. Must have been a leaky wader yesterday!

Man, the look on her face in that one pic. Normally she looks so happy, but that is not a happy face. Nice war paint. Took me a while to figure out the casting rod, then realized you must have water over wader deep in front of you. I took this weekend off. Still getting trailer finished for layout boat and finishing up with the bees for the season. Gonna hit it all weekend next week.

This is true. It is one fine piece of work with nice features. Surely a great product. My only knock on it would be that it is as heavy as a rock. I use a table clamp vise so I don't have to carry the heavy base in my briefcase size portable tying kit bag.

Hooks are not a problem, I have taken them off a snap ring, unscrewed them from the plug, or cut them off till I got home to get them out. A good leatherman and a pair of fishing pliers are always close by, along with a sharp knife and a bandaid. I have always had to remove them myself anyway even with friends. I even removed one from a doctor buddy of mine years ago. Knee caps and wrists are a bugger. I find floats by myself more relaxing because I alone am in control of the day and can sit the pace. Group floats are more work and usually involve more alcohol making the day longer and the morning after a little hazy. Solo trips, I get up nice and refreshed from a good night sleep. If you are really worried, Delorme makes a nice little satellite communicator now for about the price of a good gps, they even have a gps unit with the communicator. You can send texts and get help in remote locations if you need it. Of course, we are all assuming that you are in good health, physical condition, and are a skilled canoer. If not, it may be a deal breaker.

I tye portable in many places. Park benches, tailgates, Motel Rooms, tying classes, camper, and friends houses. I have a lightweight, compact board bench I carry with me made out of a 1 x 10 board about 12" wide. Simple and compact, lightweight.

Al Agnew does it all of the time. I kayak solo whenever I get the chance. Wear a PFD and let someone know your schedule in case something happens. Most MO streams should not get you into any trouble due to rapids and sweepers. They can usually be avoided.

Looks nice, would be great on a tying bench. But I am with the others, seems to heavy to be portable.

The part about a fly designed for spin casting then adding bait tends to be a stumper. To spin cast, you need additional weight to cast right. Then to add a worm as a kicker and keep it on and not cast it off? Maybe a woolie bugger with a spinner in front and a bait hook trailer!

Pics are worth a thousand words.

Paco's was a great taco joint in Chicago. I think young BHO was a cook there in his younger days.

If you need dynamite to plant a garden, raised beds are probably what you need. They have worked wonders for me.

TF did catch the skunk and stuffed it in the Coosa he has for sale.

I like Pickwick in the fall, farther up river above Kentucky Lake in the bottom of TN. Nice bass feeding up for winter are pretty fat in Oct. I am planning one of them trips myself.