Amy Leonard

My issue is the dog digging trying to get to them which as far as I can tell he he digs and that is it. Any way to turn the little bugger off? Or get rid of the ground dwellers?

Amy

Alex Ojeda wrote:

Jay Hatfield wrote:Hey Alex, thanks for the tip on the jar lids. I had no idea that they contain BPA. I have looked at several of the reusable canning lids in the past. Just never tried any of them.

So, my recipe requires pounding it down and keeping it in the dark. I'll try what you do and see what happens. I've never done the leaf thing, but I've just heard someone say something about putting grape leaves in their pickles to keep them crisp. I'm interested in this concept. I have lots of grape leaves!

I have had great experiences with the tattler lids - follow the directions. I had a failure when the rubber ring lost its seat and folded under, leaving a gap.

How dark is dark? My pantry is a series of cupboards - no direct light, but light all the same.
What is "room temperature" before packing up for the fridge? Our inside the house temps match the evening cool and a bit less then the afternoon hot, so is that temp swing anything to worry about? I mean I have't got a climate controlled spot like a root cellar.

We live in Northern CA (gold country USDA zone 7) and have really warm weather when I start to get excess from the garden. That makes canning unappealing but the is what I have done in the past. This sounds like a much better idea. I did try a batch up sugar peas and they were just toooooooo salty!

Amy

Loving the new layout! thanks Paul & stewards. I know I like it better but wouldn't have thought to ask for this new structure. Guess the community will let you know if the changes are a bust with us. I am saying good job on this one!

Amy
all knowledge is worth having

thankyou to all who have replied! This community is awesome and i am reassured that my bees were not eaten by mothra, but the moth took advantage of an existing issue. If I could summon godzilla I doubt he would do my bidding as a hive guard. Is anyone familar with bees and california buckeye not getting along?

Thank you Kae - I had not heard of the "nuc" until this year, and will not likely try to do packaged bees again. Indeed, the standard box hive, and that was becaise my husband could easily build the boxes. The info is appreciated, and I am of the same feeling that the bee's job is to protect, populate and patrol the hive, and my job is to make sure they have floral food sources. We have a varied species orchard and summer garden and more and more neighbors getting "growing", not sure how many are getting "spraying".

If I try again I will be sure to share what I hope will be success!

Thank you,

Amy
~all knowledge is worth having~

Crying over empty hive boxes. It appears that I have inadvertently been raising moths instead of bees over the winter - DAM IT! I smelled that sick sweet smell when I walked by one of 2 hives on our place, and indeed, no bees, not comb, and mounds of moth/larva poooo - icky! All hives in same condition -no comb or anything, just little white coccoons full of groooooosssss larva that are eating into the frames. Ick!

I have lost all my hives again this year and I don't know what to do about this invader. Over the last 5 years I have successfully harvested honey 1 time, and the bees survived that following winter and came roaring back in the spring, then petered out in the fall and by the following year I have to replace the colony again with new queen and bee kit. Other years there were other catastrophes - like a month of nights less than 20 and no rain. I am in Nor Cal (zone 7) and that is not typical - all the bees froze/starved/died - and the moth has struck before, but I don't catch it in time. What would that look like? has anyone else battles this bug on behalf of our other bugs?


What am I missing? I have read the forum here and the threads where some are able to only check on the bees a few times a year, but I am missing something because I am going from bees to none and not noticing until the none part. I am a pretty good observer and by nature notice "not normal", but I can't seem to get a grip on that for my bees.

I feel so bad that again my hives are gone. For my and my bugs. and my wallet.

I have read up some and only found reference to the month during storage of hive body and super, not while hive is occupied by bees.

much appreciated....
Amy
~all knowledge is worth having~

Animals of age greater that 2 typically aren't as yummy as younger ones, regardless of gender (or species). Don't expect a steak or chop or roast from an older animal to be as good as from a younger one. Turn the older ones into ground something and enjoy!

Last year we had to cull 3 goats - one 4+ year old doe that developed gangranous mastitis and lost half her udder, a yearling doe that had a sever dystocia and healed "closed" and a 5 month old castrated buckling. The young male was processed into steaks and chops, the does into salami and ground meat. That was the best decision!!! Everyone loves to goat steaks, and the salami is delicious! The ground meat is better than beef (IMHO) and i use it the same way.

Huge thank you to those working "in the back end" of things to make front end users like me - well- happy using the front end! I like the podcast imbedded the way it is at richsoil.com - it is very easy to find! I also use itunes and have not had as much success there, but will keep trying.

Is there a way to use the download option from the imbedded podcast to get the file to my itunes so I can put it on the ipod and listen while I slave away at my day job?
Thanks again!

I know not everyone is into text books or science, but all knowledge is worth having and understanding the biochemical interactions is deep, but very insightful if substitutions are required.

I have been reading Medical Herbalism the science and practice of herbal medicine by David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG.

*** warning - this is heavy reading**** It is a text required for an alternative medicine certification I had researched and thought instead of going to school ($$$$$$$$) I will start learning with books ($$$).

I am appreciative to those who have recommended other reference material - which is likely much easier to get through and I am making a list of these to add to my little human physiology library.

We have a local producer that uses the glass milk jars so I have to pay a deposit on the first, then get the credit on the next when I return an empty to the retailer. Have you let your producer know your consumer preference about the packaging of their product? Do they even know they have consumers that would prefer a reusable vessel?