Brad Hames BeesBrad Hames Bees

Honey Maker Delayed but Set to be Released

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:19:16 +0000

Well I thought my honey maker would be out by now, but I was only able to manufacture a dozen or so and most of my friends ended up trying them out. I have had a few good responses and so I am excited for when I am ready to offer these to the wider public. Hopefully that will come soon.

In the mean time I keep on making more honey and getting my orders out, which is never an easy task.

Specs for the New Honey Jelly Maker

Tue, 03 May 2011 08:01:57 +0000

As promised in my previous post about my new Honey Jelly Machine. Below are myscsfor the machie. The machine is inspired by Shafaqat Ali from Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The PDF can be downloaded here.

The Shafaqat Honey Jelly Maker

Mon, 02 May 2011 10:56:13 +0000

When I first saw that Navy Seals popped Osama Bin Laden I thanked the good Lord that the American soldiers were successful in getting that devil. Yet, when I saw the place where they found him I recognized the name immediately: Abbottabad. It turns out that Abbottabad and the surrounding region happens to have some great honey farms. Beekeeping has been a source for livelihood for many Afghan refugees found in that region. My connection to Abbottabad is more than just from the news. A few years ago I traveled to Abbottabad to learn a special technique to make Honey Jelly., which seems to be a special delicacy there.

I was in Abbottabad for about a week and learned some great tricks of the trade from some very hospitable people. Shafaqat Ali and his family fled South from Afghanistan through Wazuristan in the 1990′s to escape the Taliban and had since built up a beautiful Honey Farm. So I learned a lot of concepts from Shafaqat and the art of making Honey Jelly. In fact I am ready to unveil in a few weeks my own Honey Jelly making machine in honor of both Shafaqat Ali and the killing of Osama bin Laden. I’ll make sure to update you when it is released. Justice sure is sweet.

* By the way I am hoping to get this invention approved by Troy Fore and the guys at the American Beekeeping Federation once I have it ready.

My Favorite Beekeeping Technique

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:53:53 +0000

There are a lot of beekeeping techniques. Actually the official term for this is apiculture, which hails from the Latin word apis, meaning bee. What all good beekeepers need to be aware of (and to totally commit to) is the “three rule.” Anyone in the know will tell you about that but I personally learned it in the name of Troy Fore, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees. I was excited because he has been one of my heroes for many years.

Anyway, back to the three rule which is as follows: you must ensure that you never move the hive more than three feet in one adjustment. You are however, allowed to move it more than three miles. Why is this? What happens is, is that the bee starts to wander off in an approximately three mile radius which is fine. However, if the hive was moved further than three feet away then this totally disorients them and they are no longer able to find the hive. And that – believe me – is a situation you definitely don’t want on your conscience and is absolutely not good news for beekeeping business.

So instead what I do is adjust the hive just relatively small distances in each move. If you are looking to relocate the hive, then do it MORE than three miles so that it has been totally removed from all familiar ground and thereafter open it once it has been relocated. That is the best for the bees.

So continue to catch up with me and my beekeeping advice – looking at the challenges and exciting milestones I reach – if you want to know more about a great fun family business like beekeeping.