BilletHead

Yea Ronnie!

I think I had something to do with the ask Wrench thread. He has all the answers, or should I say he always has an answer 🤣

Man I like freebees! Working on a 20 frame Layens hive right now. Buddy from Herman is coming today for a visit and in the morning taking two new colonies in swarm traps back to Herman for to be rehomed into his empty hives.

Not the target but if you can't find what you are looking for do it for entertainment. love the one your with in the form of the gar .

I have made them with nylon rope that I can throw with the fly rod. Have caught with them but limited results. Good sharp hook if you can get the gar to turn and set into corner of the mouth.

Yes Daryk they are a hoot on the fly. Just ask @grizwilson what he thought of it

Nice Rick! I need to get on some of that. Did any of you try a jig? How deep were you hanging your minnows?

Good luck JD, Be careful with those swarms up higher. I'm not afraid of heights as doing stuff high off the ground was my job. It's the landing and hitting the ground that I don't like. I realize you know what you are doing buddy.

You are welcome man! Those others will catch well also and should be easy to throw on that new rod.

Welcome Carl to the forum and area. When you are settled in perhaps we can meet and have a cup of coffee. We are not that far away from each other.

Not overly sweet. I'm not a wine expert though. We both liked it. Next batch there will be one for you to critique.

Three of my swarm traps are occupied right now. Pulled three others I have no real confidence in at the moment. Those not out will replace the ones occupied when I retrieve them. One trap was hit here at the house and it was not one of my yard swarms. Nice bunch of bees and it took some time for them to go in to stay. Four to five hours. I watched them move slow as molasses until late when the move in was speeded up. When I first seen the swarm on front of trap, Then I set the phone camera to macro movie and went up ladder slow until I got close and personal. No protective gear at all. So calm, VID_20220512_123111080.mp4 As the day progressed the outside mass of bees got thinner, Then the entrance became visible, Close to dark thirty they were all inside but a few buzzing in and out. Been there now three days and I assume the colony thinks they have a new home. Temporary housing I say. Buddy in Herman caught his first colony in a swarm trap today. Last year he had traps out and never a bite but this year he had one hit and is happy. I call them squatter bees. If you look closely on front of trap he has written rent free housing , VID_20220513_072323613.mp4

Mead was bottled today. Out of a gallon start we ended up with six 20 oz bottles and 16 oz in a mason jar that is chilling in the fridge for this evening. Decided next run will be same Meade but will do five gallons in individual gallon jugs. We are really happy with the results. Been eating and tangerines and saving the peelings for part of the ingredients. Some of that in the dehydrator drying.

Bingo!

Phil We had a member on here years ago who posted a bunch and almost annoying so many posts. He was "criticized" to the point he left the forums. I met him personally and he was a nice guy and member. He was "Criticized" because he posted about taking young men and introducing them to bass fishing and he let them harvest a few. Personally I do not think taking legal fish should even be questioned period by anyone. I decided to look at the fishing prospectus for table rock lake put out by MDC. It says there are ample bass legal bass that can be harvested. If it is legal do it and enjoy it.

I say DANG Jeff!

Productive Day JD for you! I have been running my traps. They have been hit. I have seen bees in and out of two Layens traps and one Langsdorf trap. I had hopes of another swarm way high in a tree above a Layens trap. That big ball of bees were there over thirty hours. I thought they were checking the trap but now not so sure. It had bees in and out of it. Drove over there a couple times a day. Well last trip I witnessed the lift off. It was amazing. The cluster became airborne all at once. I actually walked into it and was emersed in a tornado of sound. They began to get into formation and headed due east. I opened and close gates and roll under fences to try to follow on foot hoping they would alight closer to the ground. I finally lost sight of them in the distance. The farmers wife (Ardis) came behind me on their side by side wondering what the heck this nut was doing amongst the cattle. Too funny. Great people. I have caught bees there last year and am always welcome. Of course they like honey. I believe there had been a swarm get into that trap before this bunch left or it was a multiple queen swarm and some had already split off because when the swarm left bees were still in and out of the trap. I also transferred a gifted colony into a friends long lang. They got a little testy once and the friends pit bull cross dog dis not like my hooded bee jacket so I was on guard from the little stingers and the toothy dog.

No boutique bees here, Wild free range get it while you can bees. Wildflower mix. They work with the the various blooming seasons taking advantage of what they are given. The BilletHead's are like this too. Swarm traps and now getting hit and in the picture.

Most excellent Ham, I told you there was much power in that Fly rod!

By the looks of it that is what I thought Cody, but the customer swore it was fresh gas. Customer is always, right? Old gas has a funky odor.

Don't know what to tell you all, We think it is good and so does my buddy in Herman that did a ten-gallon run before. Thanks Ness, I know there is the headspace in there. I have some 12oz bottles ordered with screw on lids and shrink rings to really seal them. Going to go a couple more weeks to clear it up more and bottle it. Have ordered a set of four more gallon bottles with airlocks included. This way I can run a four or five gallon batch and when ready to bottle maybe do a full gallon or two and smaller bottle the rest. Hopefully I can really let some age and stay out of it. Plastic caps I know but here in the M&P Wild Bee home brewery in the boonies we take baby steps .

Here is some neat info for Meade. I found it neat, 3 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Mead - Moonshine University How to Drink Mead, the Fermented ‘Honey Wine’ That’s Having a Serious Moment - Eater\ And then the how to I used to make our first try and batch. There are more videos in the series,

Not Phil but I think of you guys as a team. Everytime the Laker name comes up I think of you both. We vote no change, Marty and Pat.

Manual battery charger! They say you can trick an automatic but I didn't try.

Glad you do too Rick!