Leif Ing

wow! If I was younger and single and had been wiser… been several years since the PEP1 event, but still remember the friends I made there and my time at Wheaton Labs. What a sweet offer!

Best wishes to y’all from Missouri and will try to tune in before heading out to harvest honey from my hives today.

Leif/BTCbeeRancher

Jason Learned wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:here is a podcast i recorded with glenn kangiser - the builder of one of the largest and best documented builds.

https://permies.com/t/18654/Podcast-Glenn-Kangiser-Oehler-Structures

Sad to see that he died last Summer. Was a great podcast and I've used linseed oil to harden cob because of it. Thanks to both of you.

Jason

I hadn’t heard that… he was I think in his 70’s, but was quite an inspiration to me. I didn’t take that route due to a wife that wanted a more conventional house, but had several enjoyable exchanges with him and really respected him. The world has lost a do-er and very neat individual.

Interesting to see firewood prices… I am sure there is plenty of variance around the country.

We just built an icf house since the wife wanted something more conventional than a wofati, and I built a Walker style brick bell and bench with a 6” J tube. We have lived in the house for one year now, and source our wood from an Amish sawmill about 8 miles up I-35. We DO have a propane wall heater for the coldest days if desired, but did not use it much last year.

So, last winter, we used about 1 1/2 “short bundles” of wood, trimmings up to about 4”x6” size and almost 4 feet long. Each bundle I would guess at about 1/3 cord of wood, and the cost is $5/$10 per bundle for soft/hard wood. We buy the hardwood bundles… I use an electric chainsaw to cut them in half for about 18-22” length pieces, and a kindling cracker to knock them down in diameter a bit.

Hence, about $15 plus some time and energy handling the bundles, a bit of fuel, etc. Heated our home plus probably a bit ($25-50?) of propane, mostly the pilot light… wife can start it easily with maybe 5 seconds of torch from a little green bottle and we run a fire some days twice to heat the brick mass.

Easy to clean and stays hot for hours after a cycle… we love it in Northern Missouri!

Jim Fry wrote:I am probably older than anyone else who has answered this question. In my case, in looking back on a rather long life, my conclusion as to what to do if suddenly having a significant amount of money is, ...

You get one chance to change the course of your family's history. If you are like me, it is not really necessary to change one single immediate thing. A new or newer tractor, a pool, vacation, nicer tools, things, only last so many years, then are "gone". There is only one that your descendants could make use of to improve their lives. Land. Get the best land with the best soil and the best water, in the best surrounding community, with the least likelihood of being overrun by city folks moving in. I would move as close to old order Amish I could. They live as close to self-sufficient lives as is currently happening in the U.S. I would not move anywhere on a line between two cities. Eventually there will be a freeway built between them, and there goes the neighborhood. I would set up a family trust so the land can never be divided. And with the left-over money, I would set up some sort of account to provide the land tax money far into the future. Land is the only thing there will never be more of. If you have land, and work hard, all the other things you desire, covet, want, will come to you. But the land comes first. Keep it safe from government, teach your children to live well and productive, make your best guess to avoid being overrun by new neighbors, and you can hopefully die knowing you did your best for the family you leave behind.

I agree with a lot of what Jim says here, and have done much of it to an extent… many OO Amish as neighbors now, near I-35 and about 75 miles to the nearest major city. 31 acres is a lot to care for, and always about 632 things on the to do list which I care for as possible when I get hometime as a trucker.

The biggest disagreement I have is that land is not the only finite thing, China has been building new islands and some country in the Middle East has also. Not really relevant I suppose… but Bitcoin brings absolute scarcity to an extent that even beats land. We might find more land someday on the moon or Mars maybe, etc. 21 million and no more ever is harder.

With probably 1,000 hours spent learning about BTC through reading, podcasts, etc. I think I have started to get a small grasp on what is money and how absolute scarcity helps people and scares the pants off oppressive governments. Plus, BTC is good for the environment in ways such as using wasted or stranded energy

Leo Sharashkin wrote:Pearl, there were actually several articles in American Bee Journal (the most recent in Aug. 2019 issue) about keeping bees in Layens horizontal hives in Florida - beekeepers really love them.
You are correct, good insulation is as important in hot climates as in cold ones. I'm finding that the best design in Southern Missouri conditions is a double-wall Layens hive with 1.5" of natural wool insulation in the walls and bottom, and with ventilated attic space (filled with a wool pillow for the winter, the Layens way). In the Layens hive, the air gets into the attic space through a small gap after the last frame (which you should not close - it is beneficial for ventilation.  The wintering setup is shown in Chapter 24 in Layens's Keeping Bees in Horizontal Hives and also in Keeping Bees with a Smile. These techniques have worked very well for me.

We are planning to have a group build on March 11, near Kansas City, of swarm traps and Dr Leo hives. My buddy Mikel went to his seminar and has read the books and has a cabinetmaker type woodworking father… I’ve just watched the Doug and Stacy videos with Dr. Leo, but already talking it up to my Amish and English farmer neighbors! LOL, going to try and get it going up in Harrison County, MO too! :) Glad to see Dr Leo is on here!

Tanzanian hive looks similar to a Layens or improved Layens horizontal hive. We have a guy in Missouri that designed that, he’s from Russia and has a PhD in AgroForestry from University of Missouri.

Those hives look like the ones a group of us in the Kansas City Freedom Cell are planing to build this coming spring, along with swarm traps. Natural bee keeping sounds like the best way to go, catch natively adapted bees, use horizontal hives, deep frames, and the bees stay much calmer. Far easier to check the hives one frame at a time, less chance to crush a bee… also, Dr Leo promotes leaving enough honey for the winter plus an extra month, never feeding sugar water, and also paint each hive differently so it’s easier for the bees to verify they are returning to the correct hive! No more field of cloned white vertical hives…

Excited to get started this year.. I wish you great success and enjoyment! Oh yes, if you check out Dr Leo’s website (horizontalhive.com) he does have free plans to build hives, stands, frames, even beehive beds!

I’ve seen at least two others mention trucking… I got my CDL at the ripe age of 50, debt free. Started at Swift and went through their 3 week Academy (cost can be either ~$6,000 or a one year commitment.) I stayed the one year, and only made about $45-50k that first year then switched to another company driving for closer to $90k yearly.

Both jobs were OTR/over the road, and a sacrifice as I have a wife and young kids I like to spend time with… but, they also came with a tractor with a double bunk sleeper. You can make a bit more if you are willing to team drive, but there are few whom I would trust enough to do that on a long term basis. My 23 year old son does it and says he brings home about $1,500/week with one year experience.

So, starting off, probably ~$1,000/week with a free apartment, a one year commitment means no money out of pocket, and you have to buy your own food. You can make even more when the market is hot like last year, and you are lease purchase… a bit riskier as repairs and fuel are on you. It worked well last year, taking home $4-5k/week on average, but I just switched back to company driver as the market sucks right now.

Swift Transportation is a large training company, and they usually do give a break to those with non violent felonies. It’s not working the land, and it isn’t hard work physically (mainly you have to be responsible about resting during breaks, being alert and pulling over when tired/crummy road conditions.) if my son could get his CDL at 22, you can do it too!

I like the option mentioned about going to the Bootcamp program, as I’ve been to Wheaton Labs, and wish that would have been an option for me back in 1993 when getting out of the military, at 23 years old. Now, at 53 and married with kids, options are more limited in some ways!

Best of luck to you though, and let us know how your journey goes. We’ve heard a rant or two on here before… heh!

Old blankets and plastic? Good tips, I’m sure we should have some of that house wrap that goes under the siding, not sure how many old blankets… have to ask the wife. The center third (great room/dining area/kitchen) that has the vaulted ceiling has insulation batts around that, along with strips of the wrap covering cracks that I saw the Amish had used so insulation wouldn’t filter down through them. I’d assume that helps some, too.

If needed will start with over bedrooms, and leave the pantry for last since we want that to stay cooler. Thanks again, Thomas. I’ll look forward to posting our experiences with this heater over the winter… also, if I can help any of the Amish build one at their place, one sounds interested in one for his shop but not sure about the main house until he really sees ours in action!

thomas rubino wrote:Great Job Lief!   Looking good.

Maybe an odd question for you Thomas, or anyone else if they know… due to finances, the ceiling is dry walled, but don’t really have the money to blow in insulation right now. With the insulated slab, ICF walls, and if we burn the RMH every day or two, do you think the house may stay reasonably comfortable with the un insulated attic? Sounds like that May run another $1-2k that I really don’t have right now, since I am catching up on paying for dirt work, water and sewer, etc.

I wasn’t sure how much (hopefully less) heat loss with radiant heat versus convective through the ceiling which is just trusses and drywall for now.