Expanding the Apiary (Update 023)

Beekeeping was part of our homesteading plan from the beginning. In this update, we cover the progress from last season, when we went into winter with only one beehive, to this season, where we currently have 4 active colonies of bees.
This was achieved by doing one walk-away split, and catching two more wild colonies of bees.
We were also able to harvest some honey, enough for our own consumption.
Here at Going Galt, we are building a homestead single-handedly (me and my wife), from scratch, learning as we go along (we have never done anything like this before).

[@perryingto]

Bee keeping is very rewarding, I use to keep bees when I was younger and my family and friends were happy also.

[@justinthacker3144]

looking good! I've kept 100 hives in KZN Natal for 30 years and found I get a LOT less to no absconding and most notibly no stress ailments like EFB if I trickle feed them in the dearth period (hard Summer when there are no flowers for the bees) compared to when I didnt do this. The bees are also stronger at the start of the honey flow so make bigger harvests. (I obviously dont feed the bees with supers on or during a flow) I use 1 to 1 sugar syrup in inverted 3 litre bucket feeders on the roof, is the easiest way and cheap to do, all my roofs have 3cm hole I drilled in it in the middle for this purpose fyi the bucket lid has only 1 or 2 tiny holes so it last longer and keeps them going when times are tough. P.S. One more thing consider using old pallets or shade cloth to shade their roofs in summer from that baking karoo sun to help prevent absconding. All the best

[@SimpleEarthSelfReliance]

I appreciate having you in the vicinity, since this process seems as challenging as it does rewarding. Flippen good job there. Lyk baie lekker.

[@NolaSpiersMitchell-gu5iu]

You have all the right things like my self

[@elke-1s]

Love this video!! You have done amazing. We are on about the same bee journey level as you are and it is fascinating! Very steep learning curve. Well done.

[@francoisandlau4145]

Glad things are going well. The video editing is very good.

[@nicolettevanderwalt8075]

I love the new editing setup😁 The honey jars look adorable and I like that monstera plant as well😉

[@Going_Galt]

It's a makeshift "video studio"! Now all I need is the purple and orange LED accent lights. And actual walls, of course.

[@NolaSpiersMitchell-gu5iu]

Wow your having up and down with it the bees

[@gaius_enceladus]

Looks like the apiary is going really well! Keep up the great work!

[@Going_Galt]

It's been very hot lately, I was worried about the bees (in direct sunlight). They seem to be coping well, though. In future I'd like to provide them with a bit of shade.

[@reneepoultney190]

Well done with the honey. You guys are making a great progress on the farm. Wishing you all the best for the. future. 👌

[@Going_Galt]

Thank you so much 😀

[@Swarmstead]

Awesome job so far. Your bees don't seem as aggressive as we are told they are in the US.

[@Going_Galt]

Thank you. Oh, they get pretty angry. The wild bees (like mine) you would NEVER be able to interact with unless fully suited. Maybe the stories are exaggerated, but from what I see on youtube, I understand our reputation!

[@TracysBees8713]

Good video very informative.

[@louisefourie5846]

Wow, laat jou lekker voel die vrug van jou harde werk. Ons sukkel so bietjie met die vang van bye. Een kas en 2 bome en een in die grond wal. Geniet jou heuning. Laat weet wanneer julle begin verkoop.

[@denbeech6647]

3 excellent Karoo YT sites. Going Galt, Tamakoa Homestead & Simple Earth Self Reliance. Going Galt is miles ahead of the other two with his progress, appears thought out to the smallest detail, is extremely organised, they made it all seem so easy.

[@Going_Galt]

Thank you! I know Marlon from Simple Earth, and follow his channel. I have seen Tamakoa but is not yet a subscriber.

[@DenbeeHoney]

Awesome please give us a like and subscribe

[@Going_Galt]

Done

[@DenbeeHoney]

@ thankyou so much

[@Kentrilek]

7:47 you cannot exceed 40 degree C with your honey. Please correct that information.

[@Going_Galt]

You can, and in fact, most honey is pasteurised at up to 70 degrees C. However, I want to label my honey as "pure", "raw" and "unfiltered", so I do not want to heat it at all, and only run it through the stainless double strainer before bottling. I prefer to keep all the good stuff (enzymes etc) in the honey intact.

[@Kentrilek]

@@Going_Galt PASTEURISED HONEY!? you lose ALL (!) good stuff above 60 degree C and you start loosing first enzymes above 40 degree C. So please go for "pure", "raw" and "unflitered" or just buy sugar :P