What can i say been very busy recently and its nearly the end of the month. There is a bee artical in the Texoma Living Magazine about how i got into bee. It seems to have gone down faily well.
Next weekend is the Oklahoma Bee Keepers Spring meet in McAlester. I was hopeing to go but unfortunetly the wife is off to shoot guns and blow things up with the national guard for the weekend as its drill weekend.
I do plan to mark my queens instead. on saturday im going to check the hives out and see whats happening. I got a red markers for last years colur and will be marking them to see how they get on.
The weather her has been very hit and miss, one day sunny the next day thretening snow. Hoefully we will be moving out of that now into more gental sunshine. Clover is starting to sprout here and the main honey season will start in a few weeks.
A blog about Falconry and Hunting in Oklahoma USA
and anything else that comes to mind.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Getting there slowly
not posted for a while and that's not to say i have given up or anything. Steve's birds have been up and down or the weather has been to windy. That's not to say i have not been doing anything. I got given a load of reclaimed timber ( or lumber as the yanks call it ) More than enough to build my weathering area. Steve my sponsor came over on Saturday and he checked out where i was planing to put my mews and weathering area. We finally decided on placing it at the back of the house. great place for morning sun, protected against midday sun and very private.
We also checked out two potential hunting areas in the Platter area. We have allot of public hunting ground. We got out of my van and immediately bumped two squirrels so i guess more than ever i will be squirrel hunting . We also spotted some pretty decent sized rabbit sign so there is potential in that.
I also showed Steve my Giant Hood. I've been working on it for some time and planning it. Steve recommended timber for the hood as this will make it near pitch black inside and be more beneficial to my hawk when i get it. Chloroplast is nice and light but it still lets in light.
I have made the hood out of very very fine plywood, less than 1/8th of an inch thick. I then used 1/2 Inch square dowel as bracing. Screwed and glued all round and then put some outside trim (compressed foam with pine vainer ) along the edges. So far this is very very light and I'm very pleased with it. I'm sanding it down right now so i can coat it with a polyurethane varnish and then air it for fumes. Still studying and reading up for my exam but i will be starting to put my mews and weathering area together soon.
Steve is off on a road trip for a bit and one of his harris hawks has started molting
We also checked out two potential hunting areas in the Platter area. We have allot of public hunting ground. We got out of my van and immediately bumped two squirrels so i guess more than ever i will be squirrel hunting . We also spotted some pretty decent sized rabbit sign so there is potential in that.
I also showed Steve my Giant Hood. I've been working on it for some time and planning it. Steve recommended timber for the hood as this will make it near pitch black inside and be more beneficial to my hawk when i get it. Chloroplast is nice and light but it still lets in light.
I have made the hood out of very very fine plywood, less than 1/8th of an inch thick. I then used 1/2 Inch square dowel as bracing. Screwed and glued all round and then put some outside trim (compressed foam with pine vainer ) along the edges. So far this is very very light and I'm very pleased with it. I'm sanding it down right now so i can coat it with a polyurethane varnish and then air it for fumes. Still studying and reading up for my exam but i will be starting to put my mews and weathering area together soon.
Steve is off on a road trip for a bit and one of his harris hawks has started molting
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Oklahoma State Beekeeping meeting
The Oklahoma State Beekeeper's Association Spring Meeting will be held at the Kiamichi Technology Center in McAlester,Oklahoma on Friday April 3rd from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. and on Saturday April 4th from 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Everyone interested in beekeeping is welcome. For more information, call Keith Amason 918-470-8683
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Whats blooming and where
Found this data for the Oklahoma region . see Nasa Wesbite
| USDA code | Family | Latin Name | Common Name | Plant Type | Begin Bloom Month | End Bloom Month | Sig |
| ULMUS | Ulmaceae | Ulmus | Elm | TDB | 2 | 5 | N |
| POPUL | Salicaceae | Populus | Cottonwood, poplar aspen | TDB | 3 | 6 | N |
| VICIA | Fabaceae | Vicia | Vetch, tare | F | 4 | 8 | N |
| ROPS | Fabaceae | Robinia pseudoacacia | Black locust, false acacia, yellow locust | TDB | 4 | 6 | N |
| SALIX | Salicaceae | Salix | Willow, osier | TDB | 4 | 6 | N |
| CILAL | Cucurbitaceae | Citrullus lanatus | watermelon | C | 5 | 7 | N |
| CUME | Cucurbitaceae | Cucumis melo | Cantaloupe, muskmelon, casaba, | C | 5 | 8 | N |
| CUSA4 | Cucurbitaceae | Cucumis sativus | cucumber | C | 5 | 8 | N |
| MESA | Fabaceae | Medicago sativa | Alfalfa, lucerne | C | 5 | 9 | Y |
| MELIL | Fabaceae | Melilotus | Sweet clover (white/yellow) | F | 5 | 10 | Y |
| MONAR | Lamiaceae | Monarda | Horsemint, wild bergamot, bee-balm | F | 5 | 8 | N |
| TAMAR2 | Tamaricaceae | Tamarix | Tamarix, salt cedar, athel | S | 5 | 9 | N |
| GOSSY | Malvaceae | Gossypium | Cotton | C | 6 | 10 | Y |
| GUTET | Asteraceae | Gutierrezia texana | Bromweed | F | 7 | 10 | N |
| GUSA2 | Asteraceae | Gutierrezia sarothrae | Matchweed, snakeweed | F | 8 | 10 | N |
Monday, February 23, 2009
Awesome Weekend
This weekend we headed down to Celina to see a gry/peregrine cross fly. We watched in awe as this bird circled around gaining height and then it was stopping so fast you could hear the wind of it's wings. It hit a pigeon so hard that the air was full of feathers and there was an audible thud.
The bird was stunning , ill remember a camera next year and Jay the current handler has done a brilliant job training it and getting it to the stage he has. Next season the plan is to hit ducks and hit them very very hard.
We then went south towards Dallas. In McKinney, Frisco and Dallas there are a number of flood fields that have been surrounded with housing and construction. This has forced rabbits into isolated pockets. There is no predication , no coyotes hence lots of Rabbits. We had bunnies bouncing out left right and center. Steve's bird smash was full on and all about them. We ended up bringing some home in the game bag. Smash would have continued hunting but we where all worn out after about 2hours of falling over one rabbit after another.
On our way down to these fields we saw so many red-tails it was unbelievable , nearly every other telephone post had one if not a pair of redtails. Redtails were soring hunting and resting.
In some ways i was very jelous of steve and his hawks. The flights where spectacular and rewarding but i couldnt help but feel , when is it going to be my turn ! The fall can not come soon enough.
The bird was stunning , ill remember a camera next year and Jay the current handler has done a brilliant job training it and getting it to the stage he has. Next season the plan is to hit ducks and hit them very very hard.
We then went south towards Dallas. In McKinney, Frisco and Dallas there are a number of flood fields that have been surrounded with housing and construction. This has forced rabbits into isolated pockets. There is no predication , no coyotes hence lots of Rabbits. We had bunnies bouncing out left right and center. Steve's bird smash was full on and all about them. We ended up bringing some home in the game bag. Smash would have continued hunting but we where all worn out after about 2hours of falling over one rabbit after another.
On our way down to these fields we saw so many red-tails it was unbelievable , nearly every other telephone post had one if not a pair of redtails. Redtails were soring hunting and resting.
In some ways i was very jelous of steve and his hawks. The flights where spectacular and rewarding but i couldnt help but feel , when is it going to be my turn ! The fall can not come soon enough.
Spring Inspection
At the weekend i did a full inspection on both hives, Hive 2 is doing allot better than hive 1. In fact i was surprised at how well hive 2 was doing it was so much more advanced in that it had brood and so many bee's that fairly soon i will have to do a split.
I was lazy last fall and didn't remove the spare deeps i had put on and at one stage a medium went on there as well. so as it was in the upper 70's here in south Oklahoma, i decided i would remove the unused boxes and try and make it so i can get the medium supper off or moved in the next few weeks.
The removal of empty boxes from hive one went pretty straight forward, most of the frames where empty of supplies and not many bee's on them. The removal of boxes from hive 2 was a bit more difficult.
I want to try and get the queen to go down into the bottom brood box. so i placed a queen excluder on the medium and put a deep on top. So the hive has a deep, a medium, an excluder and then another deep. the plan is to open the hive back up in a week/2 weeks and see if i can find the queen in the medium, if she is I'm going to switch the deep and the medium round and carefully place her in the two deeps . I'll then place the excluder on top of the two deeps, any brood will hatch and start filling this space with honey and pollen. Hopefully this will give me back my honey super and we will be all back to normal
I was lazy last fall and didn't remove the spare deeps i had put on and at one stage a medium went on there as well. so as it was in the upper 70's here in south Oklahoma, i decided i would remove the unused boxes and try and make it so i can get the medium supper off or moved in the next few weeks.
The removal of empty boxes from hive one went pretty straight forward, most of the frames where empty of supplies and not many bee's on them. The removal of boxes from hive 2 was a bit more difficult.
I want to try and get the queen to go down into the bottom brood box. so i placed a queen excluder on the medium and put a deep on top. So the hive has a deep, a medium, an excluder and then another deep. the plan is to open the hive back up in a week/2 weeks and see if i can find the queen in the medium, if she is I'm going to switch the deep and the medium round and carefully place her in the two deeps . I'll then place the excluder on top of the two deeps, any brood will hatch and start filling this space with honey and pollen. Hopefully this will give me back my honey super and we will be all back to normal
Monday, February 9, 2009
Bee Vac
Today i had Katie at home she's been sick all weekend. Whilst she was asleep i started building something that i have wanted for a long time.
Last season i caught 3 swarms , unfortunately none of them made it and one even flew away the next day after capturing them. I think the reason behind this was i didn't get the queen in two cases and didn't transfer the other swarm from the cardboard nuc to a hive body.
I've been reading various ideas regarding a Bee Vac. The problem with most commercial available vac's is that they are small and then require you to transfer the bee's to a deep after the event. This stress's the bee's and adds another step in the process. Wouldnt it be better to vac the bee's straight into a deep. The other problem is there over $200.
Rob at Robo's World is a very good beekeeper with some good ideas and after reading his artical on his bee vac i thought i would be myself one. I had found an old shop vac, 1 gallon , 1 hp Vacum in a dump. So i borrowed it as they say in england and went to Lowes to get some wood and addtional hose for my little project.
Mine is not as alaborate as rob's but i think i did a good job. The vac is curently waiting its second coat of paint and then ill take some photographs off it for you all to see.
Last season i caught 3 swarms , unfortunately none of them made it and one even flew away the next day after capturing them. I think the reason behind this was i didn't get the queen in two cases and didn't transfer the other swarm from the cardboard nuc to a hive body.
I've been reading various ideas regarding a Bee Vac. The problem with most commercial available vac's is that they are small and then require you to transfer the bee's to a deep after the event. This stress's the bee's and adds another step in the process. Wouldnt it be better to vac the bee's straight into a deep. The other problem is there over $200.
Rob at Robo's World is a very good beekeeper with some good ideas and after reading his artical on his bee vac i thought i would be myself one. I had found an old shop vac, 1 gallon , 1 hp Vacum in a dump. So i borrowed it as they say in england and went to Lowes to get some wood and addtional hose for my little project.
Mine is not as alaborate as rob's but i think i did a good job. The vac is curently waiting its second coat of paint and then ill take some photographs off it for you all to see.
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