Novice Beekeeper

 Just found a nice little vlog By the "out west blow-in" mob. Dip a paddle twice in wax Peel it off. Easy, make stacks But wait, that's not all To make it flexy, give it a roll.

 Yesterday I made two sets of frames from scratch, and I'm feeling very chuffed.  A few lengths of Structural Pine from bunnys hardware and a table saw.  It's pretty cool ripping down a length of large dimension timber into small pieces that bees need for their frames.  It really requires that you concentrate really hard,  use exacting measurements and even using dummy pieces to test saw settings. The satisfaction that comes from a tight fit puff two pieces off timber,  is immense.  The end product will allow me to assemble to deep boxes, to use in my new hives,  for some splits or even swarms.  In the long term it gives me confidence,  that with hard,  smart work I can set up hives fairly cheaply and begin producing honey.  There's nothing better to sharpen the mind than paying a few hundred bucks for a hive when you are lucky to bring in $10 for  a kilo of bottled product.  If you want to make hives,  talk to a...

 Well,  last week an old beek'r I know rang me out of the blue and made me an offer I couldn't refuse: two working hives for $250 a piece. The only condition was that I had to return his boxes.  Well  the story goes,  that one of his tenants ( a reliable source of income in these trying times), had complained about the bees shitting on his new black Mercedes comfortable. So they had to go.   I have a condition on buying stuff,  that I don't buy anything in tip top condition,  and I don't pay to price. With the greatest respect to the old fellow,  I reckon that his hives are not as peak output.  He tries hard and knows his stuff,  but he has too many hives tucked away in a shady and cold nook in the back blocks of a light industrial area. There's no way the bees would be warm or dry enough and I doubt they'd have enough feed. So there's some room for improvement,  and the price is right!