Jason

OA and Glycerin Shop Towels for Varroa

February 26, 2017 by Jason Leave a Comment

I got together with a beekeeping mentor to make up some OA shop towels for combating varroa this season. The following is based on the research Randy Oliver is doing using OA, glycerin, and water mixed up to a certain volume and absorbed into rolls of Scott Shop Towels. While this method of OA application is not yet an approved method of application to honey bee colonies in the US, Randy is working with the EPA to get the method approved. The results Randy reported are pretty compelling, so we wanted to make some of these up in preparation to test out this season.

We know that OA vaporization and dribble are both effective methods for knocking back phoretic mites (mites on the bees). Unfortunately, neither method does anything to the mites in the cells which as we know are upwards of 50% of the mites in the colony. In addition, due to the short-lived presence of OA in the hive after these treatments (1-2 days), several follow-up treatments are needed in order to expose upcoming generations of mites to the OA when they come out of the comb. We’ve found that the variation in timing could allow enough time for a mite to come out of one cell and go into another before the next treatment, making vaporization and dribbles less effective as long as there is brood present in the hive.

The idea behind the saturated towels is to keep the OA present in the hive over 30-40 days (about the same length of time as other treatments) while it takes the bees that long to chew and tear up one full towel to get it out of the hive. As they do that, they spread the OA around the hive making it difficult for emerging mites to avoid contact. The fact that the beekeeper doesn’t have to go back into the hive to remove it is a bonus. This method of application can also occur while there are honey supers on the hive.

Here, we’ve added the half-roll to the solution and allowed it to soak up to about half-way.

It’s important to understand there is a calculated amount of OA added per towel. This information can be found on Randy’s site, but I’ll list it below as a basis for what I would build on as I better understand the practicality of this application. Randy has asked any beekeepers who have ideas for improvement to let him know so we wanted to give it a try to see how this process could work if a beekeeper had to treat 100 hives in a given fall.

We don’t want to get Oxalic Acid in our eyes or on our skin. So, put on your safety glasses and nitrile gloves. The glycerin is really sticky as well. Also, have a bowl of warm water with some baking soda in it along with a cleanup towel handy. Baking soda will neutralize oxalic acid.

Make sure your roll of towels is cut in half. The following mixture is for a half-roll of towels.

Measure out:

336g OA crystals
364 mL food-grade glycerin
140 mL water

When done, ALL of the solution should be absorbed from the pan and into the half-roll of towels.

The water helps the towels absorb the solution better. Add the water to the glycerin and heat on the stove to about 140-160F. No need for any hotter. Once the solution reaches, 140F, add the OA crystals, stir with stainless steel spoon until the solution runs clear. Remove from the heat. Preheating the roll of towels a little in the microwave also helps the towels absorb all the solution. A minute in the microwave works fine.

Drop the half-roll of towels into the solution and allow time to absorb as much solution as it can. Ideally, it will come up the roll about halfway. Use a pair of tongs to flip the roll and allow it to absorb the rest of the solution until the entire roll is saturated.

Once done, allow to cool and dry. It will not dry out completely. The water will evaporate out, but the remaining glycerin will keep it oily to the touch. You can store the roll in a ziplock bag until use.

On full towel (or two half towels) is a single treatment for a colony. Place the towel on the top bars of the frames and close it up. I’ll update this post again later when I have some results.

TO make the towels, we use a roll of Scott Shop Towels, cut in half, OA crystals, and food-grade glycerin.

Measure out 364mL of glycerin and 140mL of water. Add to low heat, and bring to 150F before adding the OA.

When the water and glycerin reach 150F, add the OA crystals and stir until the solution runs clear.

Stirring the OA, glycerin and water solution until it is clear. No need to heat higher than 160F.

Using tongs, flip the roll so that the other end can draw up the rest of the solution.

Make Worcestershire Sauce

February 26, 2017 by Jason 5 Comments

Sauces are magical. I’ve been making hot sauces for years. I started making my own mayonaise since I got chickens. Mustard and horseradish are both on my list as well. More recently, I was fascinated, and inspired by a couple others who made Worcestershire Sauce. Tim Artz over at Tim’s Food Obsession was the tipping point. When he said his homemade sauce was more earthy and rich than the original, I had to try it. I had most everything that was needed, minus the preserved lemons and Korean anchovies.

Wow, the ingredients for Worcestershire.

I grew up with Worcestershire sauce in our pantry. We all loved it, but didn’t think much further as to what was in it. While some people keep it refrigerated… we never did. As a matter of fact, the A1 steak sauce (that says refrigerate after opening) also lived in the pantry… just as it still does today. Yes, I have never refrigerated A1 sauce, and still live to tell the tale.

As an adult, the mind now wonders. Seeing everything used to make this mysterious condiment had me asking, who came up with this stuff? The ingredients are just as complex as its name.

It’s easy to find many recipes to make the sauce. Just google it. I ended up taking ideas from Tim, and Serious Eats… but changed up the dried chili’s used and added some additional sun-dried tomatoes I had left from last season.

Here’s what I ended up with:

4 cups MadHouse malt vinegar
12 oz. tamarind paste
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
6 oz. fermented soy sauce
3 T sea salt
3 T brown mustard seed
6 whole cloves
1 T course ground white pepper
1 t garam masala
6 broken cardamom pods
6 smoked chilis (2 chipotle, 2 ancho, 2 mulato, split and deseeded)
5 cloves crushed garlic
1 cup Korean anchovies
6 T fresh ginger, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
1 cinnamon stick, broken in pieces
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 preserved lemons, diced
1 cup mixed raisins (yellow, and red)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

Put it all in a stainless steel pot and stir over medium heat until it boils. It may be significant to note that Tim reserved half the vinegar and added later after cooling. I did not because the mixture was already thick, and I wanted more of the liquids in it to prevent sticking or scorching. Keep an eye on it. It will thicken even more, and begin to look like a mixture of tar and debris. Once it boils, reduce to a simmer for 3o minutes or so.

I put it in a gallon glass pickle jar and covered with saran wrap. I put it down in my wine cellar for about 4 weeks and I didn’t stir or do anything during that time. I did notice it seemed to thicken even more.

It smelled like the sauce I was used to, but definitely thicker and more aromatic. I strained it through a colander. Thinking about all the goodness left in the “mash,” I ended up taking about a cup of filtered water and running it through the again, and increasing the yield. The result was as good as I had hoped for. I can think of a few other things I might to to make it more unique, but I’ll save that for a future update.

Broody hen adopts 8 baby chicks

April 2, 2016 by Jason Leave a Comment

Here’s a story of adoption on the Morgan Ranch. In this quick article, I’ll describe the steps I took to introduce 8 baby chicks to a broody hen.

My Buff Orpington’s have been the broodiest hens ever since I dispatched Mr. Rooster. I honestly can’t be for sure that it’s been the same hen… but it’s been the Buffs each time. There are periods where one of them ends up in the nesting box for weeks on end. Since I employ faux eggs, these broody hens end up sitting on warm, wooden eggs. Briefly, the use of faux eggs has worked just as intended. If you keep taking a hens eggs, they begin to think that something is getting them and ultimately deem it an unsafe place to lay eggs. Since the coop has only so many nesting boxes, you don’t want to have the hens thinking it’s unsafe to lay eggs in it. The hen’s think fake eggs are real and they will come in and lay fresh eggs among them. I end up taking the real eggs, and leaving the faux eggs in the boxes. This process works well.

Another Buff took over the nesting box with the most faux eggs. I chide “you’re sitting on fake eggs… they’re not going to hatch!” But, she ignores me… and keeps sitting. This was a week or two before I left town for vacation. When I got back, the hen was still in the box. I picked up 6 new chicks the weekend I returned and set up my brooder box. After a week or so, it occurred to me that the poor broody hen in the coop sure would like to have some baby chicks. So the light went on in my head and I thought, I need to introduce these chicks to a momma.

I don’t know why… but I ended up going down to the store and I grabbed three more baby chicks… of another breed. So, now I had 8 checks of three different breeds… and 5 of them were a week old already.

In the morning, when all the other hens were out of the coop, I closed the pop door and introduced the first chick under the broody hen. I just opened the nesting box lid and quickly and quietly dropped the chick in behind the hen. No voice and no noise. She took right to it. Several clucks of obvious delight… and I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed too. She pulled it under her wing. Of note, this was one of the older one week old chicks. Well, I bought it from the store a week ago so maybe it was a little older. My thought was, I didn’t want to introduce a younger one, and then have to introduce older ones later. It seems to work right. A little later, I added another one, and managed to steal a faux egg out from under her too. Success again. I let them be for another hour or so. Then, decided I needed to get everyone out of the coop and into some private quarters before nightfall so the others could come back in to roost for the night. I set up a small area in my garage, and used a cardboard box on its side and stuffed it with shredded newspaper. I got a plastic tub with a lid and went out and grabbed the hen, chicks (and all faux eggs underneath). Sure, there was some fuss.. but better now than later I felt.

I put everyone into the box and they took right too it. Things were going too easy… I’m really having fun at this time. Once everyone was settled in and things were quiet again, I slipped another one into the box… I had things pretty dark… with the flaps hanging down in front. I was able to open the back flap, drop it in, and close it. She took it again… a little more commotion… and it took her a while to let it under her. I was able to look in from the front of the box and watch to make sure she didn’t peck or reject it. All good. From here, I decided I wouldn’t add any more until night. I woke up at 3am, and added two more (these were the youngest ones I bought the previous morning.) She took them right in with a few clucks and things were silent. I think Miss Broody-hen was in Shambala. I waited another hour and added in the last two… along with several cracked-used egg shells that I had prepared. After-all, 8 chicks out of no where with no egg shells could have been suspect and I thought… since I had them, why not? I’ve since read in a few places on the net… that it is best to do the introductions at night… with total silence. Simply pull a chick from the brooder very quietly, drop in with momma, and say nothing. Chickens can’t see well at night and during the quiet and darkness, this is the advised way. I have to agree and if I ever do it again, I’ll introduce all of them under the cover of darkness.

As of this morning, momma brought them out of the box to the food and water… and she’s keeping a protective eye on them all. That’s 8 of 8 chicks adopted by one broody hen. Stay tuned to see how everything turns out!

Evolving the maple syrup operation

February 4, 2016 by Jason 6 Comments

My first trials into maple sugaring started in 2014. So start there if you want to see the first version of the maple arch. Sugaring was something I always wanted to do since watching my dad do it as a boy. I made it happen last year by grabbing some spiles and buckets over the internet and got it going. I also scored an evaporator pan to boil the sap and built a cinder block arch to hold it.

It did great but eventually cracked from the heat and the changing of the season. Here I am, on year two starting over completely. The new arch was to be free-standing and portable. I also scraped out the area where it would sit. It was a lot of work, but I got by with a lot of help from friends, all of whom share in the rewards. It was a crazy year already and maple season falling at the end of January meant no time to rest.

I scored one of those 250-gallon fuel tasks off Craigslist. The ad said, free, just come take it. I soon found out it was still installed and had about 70 gallons of fuel in it. So the first friend I recruited was Jimmy, who rolled to KY with me to unhook, empty and bring home.

Next, I had to cut out the holes and build a fire in it to burn out all the fuel oil. It was fun making fires in it over multiple days during the cold winter days.

Now the fun started… at least, it was fun at the beginning. I had made up plans of my own after looking over countless ideas and pictures on the internet. I chose the idea that best fit the evaporator pan that I had and made sure that there was maximum fire exposure to the bottom of the pan. My friend Darian was the one who did the welding and metal cutting. He helped me make quick work of things and helped realize the visualization I had on paper. Sparks flew and it really started to shape up. We created a back wall and a ramp that would direct the heat along the bottom side of the pan before going up the flu. It should be noted that another friend, Jeff, contributed some big materials. Particularly the much-needed angle iron that would go around the sides of the maple arch to hold the pan. This was some heavy stuff–surely costly if I had to buy it.

The tank cut open. We cut off the end and moved it over to the other side

The front of the tank moved to the back to form the chimney

Cutting additional pieces for the inside

Welding the side bars. The evaporator pan sits on these.

Cross member in the center to keep pan from dropping in

By now, I was ready to get this in place. But, I now needed to revise the area where the arch would site. For this, my late friend Glenn offered to help me out. Glenn and I spent an entire day working out the pad where the arch would sit. Just as a journal entry, Glenn died in an accident on May 28th, just 4 months after helping me with this. He dropped everything to come and help me and would do that a lot to help a friend. God bless him. That’s Glenn in one of the pictures below. We dug and poured footers and a pad for the arch to sit on. He recommended I set up a tent with some kerosene heaters around it to properly cure the cement over the night that was expected to be cold.

The pad I started before we decided to pour footers and a pad.

Getting the tent up and carving out the hole more.

Laid gravel, and a drain pipe behind the wall before pouring cement.

All done and curing for the next couple days.

With the pad done, it was time to move the arch into place and line it with brink for the firebox. The pics below show how I initially laid it out. I used sand to pack in between the bricks.

The arch looked good out of the gate. I sat a fire grate inside on the brick to raise it up for good air flow. I was already bringing in sap and it was right on time for our first boil. For this, my friend Dave comes over. Dave taps trees too. Dave and I put our sap together and boil it all down at once. Dave also has a sawmill and so he has lot’s of wood to bring and burn. The arch takes plenty of wood too, so Dave plays a pretty critical role here. We got it going and all was going good at first. The fire was hot, and the sap made it to a boil fast. The ash built up fast and the fire couldn’t get air. As a result, it wasn’t burning hot enough. We found ourselves shoveling out ash and disturbing the coals basically cooling the evaporator pan too often, too much. Breaking the boil really slowed things down. We were improvising now. We knew we needed modifications, but we needed to finish this boil first. We cut holes in a pipe and shoved it into the coals to pump air in. It was pretty much a forge now. It helped but created a lot of ash… and of course, it was getting in the syrup. The arch needed some modifications, and fast… as more sap was coming in.

Looking good, and 100 gallons of sap to start

After a while, the ash overwhelmed the firebox with no easy way to get it out.

It was time to call Darian back up. I was already sketching out ideas on increasing airflow while we were waiting for the first batch of sap to finish. Thankfully Darian jumped to the occasion and we made modifications damn near the next day. We cut out the bottom of the front, below the door, and welded two large pieces of angle iron along the length of the inside. This was to hold a beefy grate that we made out or rebar. Basically, we created a way for the ash to fall through and be easily shoveled out as needed. See the pics below. The minor modification ended up being pretty significant.

Angle iron along the inside that would hold both the grate, and the brick sides.

Darian welding up the rebatr to make the grate

We used a lot of rebar knowing the fire would be hot and be subject to warping.

The fire started right up and got going fast from good air flow.

The grate ended up lifting the fire higher up and closer to the bottom of the evaporator pan. This made it so we didn’t need as large of fire so it conserved wood even better now. We found the sweet spot. The ash dropped through the grate and we were able to pull it out the front as needed. The next boil of sap went right on through. The arch was finally doing what we had hoped for. I was running about 27 taps this year, and my friend Dave was running about 12. Here’s a few pics of the trees and taps… and in the backwoods, I used 6-gallon buckets with 1 or two taps going into them. They needed to be emptied once a day.

The evaporator pan with rendered sap in it.

Maple sand on the bottom of the evaporator pan.

Filtering the sap through a pre and post filter.

The finishing. We did this on a propane burner.

So there we are, another hard, but a successful year of sugarin’. I feel we’ll be ready for 2017 to really put some syrup away. This really was a project that brought together friends for a common cause. I lost my friend Glenn, and that was and still is hard. But, I’m grateful for the time we had together… and his involvement in this project was special to me as was the involvement of many other friends. When I came yellin’ they came helpin’… and for that, I’ll make sure they all have maple syrup every time it comes out of this arch.

Bee Hive Christmas Ornaments

December 24, 2015 by Jason 12 Comments

Beehive Christmas Ornaments are a seasonal favorite. They have been so popular, we find them going faster than we can produce them. We were out of stock for the 2021 Christmas season, and we offer our apologies for that. We’re working hard to produce them in time for the 2022 Christmas season. We hope to have them ready to order by Thanksgiving.

They have flat lids just like the original Langstroth style bee hive.

Christmas Ornaments
$12 + shipping

Visit our online store here and grab some honey and candles while your’re at it.

As much as I’d like to claim the original idea, I cannot. I was at my beekeepers Christmas party around 2016 and a member came in with pieces that he said he made 5 years prior. They were just cut pieces of pine, un-assembled, and unpainted. They were single deep box Langstroth bee hive Christmas ornaments. Each had a bottom board, a deep box, and a garden-style lid. He allowed members to take them and assemble them at home. Of course, I took one and immediately thought of all the changes I wanted to make to it.

First, was some additional boxes… more deeps, or mediums? Definitely one more box. I experimented with a number of boxes, 3-deeps, a deep and two mediums, but finally settled on one deep and one medium. Then, I also experimented with the finish… did I want shiny and new, or worn and rugged? I entertained wood-burning and added the nails on the corners of the boxes. Then last, I burned in the date and a Christmas message on the bottom of each.

In this fast-paced world where everything is mass-produced and disposable, it’s nice to have something that can be seen and appreciated each year. Rarely lost, ornaments get packed away with the Christmas stuff, only to be pulled out and appreciated for a while the next year. The beehives strike a chord with beekeepers, but also are appropriate as gifts from a beekeeper.

I keep no secrets here… the process I used to replicate these was simple if you have a workshop and some basic tools. Here is the process I used, and I’m sure anyone could make improvements to make these their own.

I started with a simple 2×4 and ripped it down the center to have two equal halves. I cut my cubes off of that… and struck lines and filed them out to make it appear as two boxes stacked on top of each other. I also ripped the roof material from another 2×4 into the triangle shape. It helps to have a table saw whose table can be adjusted at an angle to cut these pieces. For the bottom board, just as you might suspect… another long strip about 1/4″ thick. Basically, all the pieces were cut into lengths. That’s the hard part. Then, you will make cross cuts to cut off each individual hive body, roof, and bottom board.

The bottom board was a little more involved… at least, my approach was. I used a stationary router with a flat bit and made up a make-shift jig to allowed me to stick the wood in, and route out the small notch for the front of the hive. Because these pieces are so small, I routed each piece individually while still connected to the length of wood… stuck it in the router to take out the notch… and then ripped the piece off individually. I went back to the router to make the next notch, then ripped that piece off again. I repeated the process here for each piece. One could maybe use a Dremel (that would render a cruder cut, but may add to the character of the ornament).

See the pics below. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have… and, Merry Christmas!