Wow. Time sure does pass quickly when you are having fun. I have been doing everything except working my bees. I did pull and extract honey, but after I strained it, it just sat there in the bucket with a lid on and waited patiently for me to bottle it in pints and quarts.

This honey is the sum of Spring and Fall honey flows. Needless to say, the honey is of the dark variety. Luckily, I have several customers that think the blacker it is the better it is for you. Now that that is out of the way, I will be getting ready to go to Tampa for the FSBA conference and Bee College. I will not be testing this time, but if all goes well and I get myself in gear, I can have my research paper and my paper written to be published in a national publication of some sort (paper or magazine) for next March and take my Oral Test in front of a panel of Master Beekeepers and Entomologists. That will be scary.

I can talk in front of large audiences, but they will not be drilling me like the college panel will. I am now a Master Beekeeper, and this test I am talking about will land me a Master Craftsman Beekeeper rating (if I pass). Wish me luck.

I will be making plans on paper to start a regimen of splits with my two nucs and one full 10 frame hive. This means that I am planning on splitting or building a nuc every 5-6 weeks until June. After that, I will be feeding hopefully about 15 or 16  nucs and getting them strong for Winter. I know it can be done if the bees cooperate and the weather stays halfway nice and I haven’t miscalculated. If I keep records and turn them in, it may be considered a research paper, or maybe this would be a good story for the national publication. What do you think?

In order for the splits to work, I have to have my boxes ready, painted, and framed with foundation. I won’t have time to do it all once I get started. So when we get back from Tampa, I have the winter to get my boxes ready and plan for a February split. Again depends on the temperature in °F. I haven’t mastered °Celsius yet.

This post is half rambling and some serious thoughts. I will stop now before I put you to sleep. I may or may not post anything for the rest of the year as the holidays are about upon us starting with Halloween in a few days.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.