Hobby Thread - April 25, 2026 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. It is that time of the year, a spin of the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) came up with honey bees as a theme for this Hobby Thread.

[Top photo: Western Honey Bee, Andreas Trepte]

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What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. I understand that some people pay attention to military hardware, tactics and strategy as a hobby. Discussion of current military events permitted but must be made in the form of hobby commentary. Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged. Puns are a hobby of sorts, right?

Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

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Anyone among the Horde involved in beekeeping and making honey? Bees are very active in the spring gathering pollen and nectar. They need pollen and nectar to feed the brood in the colony (pollen for larvae and youngsters, nectar for adults). Spring is also the time to repair and build the hive after the winter.

Do you (or have you) kept bees? Seems like the people that are into beekeeping are REALLY into beekeeping and stick with it for a long time.

Do you have a spiffy and stylish beekeeper outfit? Can you explain why beekeepers cover their whole body and then pull frames out of a hive with bare hands?

Do you use honey in your food preparation? Do you put honey in your tea?

Do you use honey for home health remedies?

Do you use beeswax products? Lip balm, candles, polish, etc.

Did you dress up like a bee for Halloween? Have you done crafty things with bee inspiration?

Young TRex had an allergy to bees which caused a life-long discomfort with flying things armed with stingers. Will need Horde help on this one.

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Random honeybee trivia gathered from around the interweb:

They have five eyes. Two large compound eyes for detecting shapes and movement, plus three smaller simple eyes on top of their head for light intensity and navigation.

The waggle dance is their GPS. Forager bees perform a figure-eight "waggle dance" inside the hive to communicate the exact distance, direction, and quality of food sources to other bees.

Honeybees have an extraordinary sense of smell. They have 170 odorant receptors, giving them a sense of smell about 50 times stronger than a dog. They can even be trained to detect explosives or landmines(!).

One queen, thousands of eggs. A healthy queen can lay up to 2,000-2,500 eggs per day and may produce over a million eggs in her lifetime.

Tiny honey producers. A single worker bee makes only about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her entire lifetime (usually 4-6 weeks as a forager). It takes roughly 2 million flower visits to produce one pound of honey.

Hexagonal perfection. Bees build honeycombs with hexagonal cells, the most efficient shape for storage and strength with minimal wax. They produce beeswax from special glands on their abdomen.

They see ultraviolet light. Honeybees can't see red but can see UV patterns on flowers invisible to humans, acting like landing strips that guide them to nectar and pollen.

Thermoregulation experts. A colony keeps the hive at a steady ~93–95°F year-round. In summer, they fan their wings for air conditioning. In winter, they cluster and vibrate to generate heat.

Worker bees have specialized careers. Female workers change jobs as they age: cleaning the hive, nursing larvae, building comb, guarding, and finally foraging. They are all female (except drones).

The ultimate sacrifice. When a worker bee stings (to defend the hive), her barbed stinger gets stuck and rips out, fatally injuring her. The queen has a smoother stinger and can sting multiple times.

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Beekeeping for beginners:

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Beehive parts explained:

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How do bees actually make honey? What's all this about a second stomach?

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How to "read" a frame. Lots of up close detail.

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Why do bee keepers use smoke?

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Spin the frame to extract the honey and re-use the wax hexagons:

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A flow hive? Never heard of a flow hive:

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Its not all about the honey. Don't forget about the beeswax:

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What's the buzz with all the yellow spots on your car? It is bee poop!

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Bee DIY crafts:

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Did you know that counterfeit honey is a thing? Honey is the third-most-faked food in the world, behind milk and olive oil. The FDA tests honey each year.

What makes honey counterfeit? Adding undeclared cheaper sweetener ingredients like corn, rye, or sugar beet syrup.

In 2021-2022, the FDA collected and tested 144 imported honey samples and found 10% of those samples to be "violative." In the 2022-2023 assignment, the agency collected and tested 107 imported honey samples and found 3% of those samples to be "violative." The 2025 number was 4% (same for both domestic and imported). Data here.

The exact amount of fake honey in the world is up for debate. An analysis by the Honey Authenticity Project, an association of activists and industry members, places the number of fake or adulterated honey at 33%. A 2018 study of honey for sale in Australia found that 27% of the products tested were faked or had other ingredients mixed in.

Are you wise in the ways of "honey laundering?"

"Honey laundering" became widespread when Chinese laboratories began modifying high-fructose corn syrups to make them look like pure honey.
The sugars in these syrups - known as C4 sugars - became popular for honey counterfeiters in the 1970s, with the invention of high-fructose corn syrup, according to Richard Anderson, director of Siratech, a private lab in Texas that detects fake and adulterated honey.
But they were soon easily detected in tests, so honey counterfeiters modified their methods to use syrups developed from plants with C3 sugars, like rice, beets, or cassava.
The adulterated syrups can be used to dilute a smaller batch of real honey. They can also be fed directly to bees, replacing flower nectar, Anderson told Insider.
Earlier honey authentication tests analyzed the pollen inside honey and traced them back to their source. But some honey launderers have gotten smart, treating honey so that it's difficult to trace.

Business insider story.

Remember the big "HoneyGate" scandal in 2013?

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Timely (April 24, 2026):

First Lady Melania Trump Unveils New Beehive on South Lawn

First Lady Melania Trump announced the expansion of the White House honey program with the addition of a newly installed and fully functioning beehive on the South Lawn. Hand-crafted by a local artisan in the image of the White House, the beautiful, new hive will add two new bee colonies to the existing two colonies that already produce the signature White House honey.
The new hive is expected to increase annual honey production by an estimated 30 pounds, allowing for even greater use in preparing White House culinary dishes, serving as official gifts from the President and the First Lady, and supporting charitable donations of healthy foods to local food kitchens.

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Public Service Announcement: by popular demand, next week's Hobby Thread will be car repair.

Think of it like our very own Car Talk (with Click and Clack), Under the Hood or Motor Medics. We can expand to anything with a motor - truck, RV, motorcycle, quad, etc. Bring your ills and mechanical gremlins. Ideally, the experts among the Horde can join to offer their wisdom and advice. If they don't, the rest of us can make wild and uninformed guesses.

Either way, the advice will be free. (That also means it may be worth exactly what you paid for it.)

Credit to RandomDave and ARiK for the suggestion.

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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did an castles theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

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Notable comments from last week:

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Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

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If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, contribute your own. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 NOT THE BEES!!!

Posted by: Nicholas Cage at April 25, 2026 05:31 PM (kkpxq)

2 Welcome Hobbiests

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 05:31 PM (Ia/+0)

3 Bees, that's gotta hurt.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 25, 2026 05:31 PM (1Ff7Z)

4 Honey is actually bee spit.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 25, 2026 05:31 PM (1Ff7Z)

5 Actually saw a large rig trailer with I assume traveling bee hives with a few scattered but easily driven locations on it not long ago.

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 05:34 PM (Ia/+0)

6 Bzzzzzzzzzz

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 25, 2026 05:35 PM (jehhT)

7
Bzzzzzzzzzz
Posted by: Martini Farmer

Reminds me of ZZZZZ

www.imdb.com/title/tt0667853

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 25, 2026 05:41 PM (Cqx++)

8 I would like to keep a couple of hives but we're stuck in rental housing for the foreseeable future.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 25, 2026 05:42 PM (vTZFs)

9 Saw a headline last week or so about a truck transporting hives that overturned in (IIRC) Knoxville. Estimated 1M bees involved.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 25, 2026 05:44 PM (vTZFs)

10 I had a fake honey once. That bitch.

Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 05:44 PM (vFG9F)

11 I have a 30 ft storage trailer that never mores and there is hive underneath it. The bees never bother me going in or out of it.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 05:45 PM (Cif43)

12 There are several bee keepers here. "Local honey" is easy to find. Literally by neighborhood.

It's pretty good. You need to look at how it's stored... long term. IIRC temp changes are the biggest factor in how the honey does.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 25, 2026 05:46 PM (jehhT)

13 I tried keeping Mason bees for a few years. They're a native solitary bee that doesn't hive. The garden center here had small houses as starters and it seemed interesting. My small "colony" did well for a few years but then the number of bees returning to lay eggs fell off, I suspect due to smaller number of flowers around here at the time. I've read that there are companies who keep colonies of these bees and take them around to orchards in the spring--little overhead compared to honeybees as the bees die off and the eggs are stored over winter.

Posted by: Lirio100 at April 25, 2026 05:47 PM (ky7/T)

14 Do you use beeswax products? Only in making a cbd (not that CBD!) salve for my BIL.

We've had to gwt exterminators for wild bee hives. (all wild bees in AZ are 'Killer bee' type).

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 05:47 PM (YBtcQ)

15 Are you wise in the ways of "honey laundering?"

I don't think even most of Congress goes as far as using a double-blind throuple.

Posted by: mikeski at April 25, 2026 05:48 PM (VHUov)

16 10 I had a fake honey once. That bitch.

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I gave mine state secrets.

Posted by: Eric Swallwell at April 25, 2026 05:48 PM (R+0al)

17 Bees. It HAD to be bees.....

At SERE School (Warner Springs, 1970s...), several of us starving trainees broke into a local bee hive/farm. My Navy "career" almost ended, then and there....

Posted by: goatexchange at April 25, 2026 05:49 PM (hyS0X)

18 I always thought that an apiary is where they raised apes.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 25, 2026 05:49 PM (R+0al)

19 I will be transplanting seedlings the veggie garden in two weeks. I admit I am a novice in my 5th year. This season I will introduce flowering plants to invite the bee pollinators.
I am attempting among others to grow a true 'Jersey' tomato variety developed by a Campbells Soup/Rutgers University partnership . Aptly named the Rutgers Tomato.. MM-MM Good! heh heh

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 05:49 PM (VPPG8)

20 Bee keeping and honey production is one of those things that I find fascinating but will never do. The closest I come is trying to make new plants in the yard attractive to bees and other pollinators.

Love that new hive Melania put on the south lawn. Beautiful woman with a sense of humor.

Posted by: JTB at April 25, 2026 05:50 PM (yTvNw)

21
If you beekeep, you will get stung.

I knew a beekeeper who claimed that he cured his arthritic knee by letting bees sting it over a period of months.

Eh, who knows? Though I have read similar claims since then.

I suggest You Arthritoids get out there and get stung by bees multiple times a day and see if it works, then report back to us on your findings.

Moron Scientific Research! It's a thing!

Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026 05:51 PM (iJfKG)

22 The white house bee hive is beautiful

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 25, 2026 05:51 PM (dE3DB)

23 I happen to be eating a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie with peanut butter and honey right this very minute.

Posted by: Eromero at April 25, 2026 05:51 PM (LHPAg)

24 I have bees. I'm down from 7 to 2 hives. I keep losing them to varroa mites (I treat for them regularly and sometimes they swarm and leave). I use the honey to cook etc., but use most of it to make mead (naturally ferments up to 20+ % ABV) . I'm a brewer, make my own beer, ale mostly. Also make rice wine (Chinese style- Baiju) I can get that well over 20% ABV without distillation. I have a still but have never used it and am waiting on direction/guidance on how to legally home distill in light of the recent supreme court decision overturning the ban on home distillation I come from a long line of appalachian moonshiners and am looking forward to that with eager anticipation.

Posted by: The Walking Dude at April 25, 2026 05:51 PM (AmZd4)

25 A couple of years ago I hired an exterminator to remove a bee infestation from my chimney.

He pulled out 40 lbs. of gooey honeycomb.

Make of it what you will.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 25, 2026 05:52 PM (R+0al)

26 I like bees . I noticed in the plumbing parts isle of Home Depot there is a brand of toilet gasket not a wax ring. I say keep the bees in business and boycott those stoopid foam rubber toilet gaskets!! Waxers unite!!!

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 05:52 PM (VPPG8)

27 I would like to keep a couple of hives but we're stuck in rental housing for the foreseeable future.

When I was down in the pit... er... Valley of the Sunstroke, the neighbor had a hive in their exterior wall. Not intentionally, of course, but you could replicate it.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - Z28.310 at April 25, 2026 05:53 PM (+9wcF)

28 10 I had a fake honey once. That bitch.
Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 05:44 PM (vFG9F)
They say don't go on Wolverton Mountain.

Posted by: Eromero at April 25, 2026 05:54 PM (LHPAg)

29 I'm going to shill for a company that sells honey. The Savannah Bee Company sells the best honey I have ever tasted. Their sourwood honey is absolutely divine.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 05:54 PM (Cif43)

30 I have never really liked hunny. I realize its benefits, and all, but the texture and flavor have never worked for me. I'm weird, I know.

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 05:57 PM (0aYVJ)

31 > I knew a beekeeper who claimed that he cured his arthritic knee by letting bees sting it over a period of months.
-----------
This is likely the most interesting thing I've read on the Internet in months. I've got severe knee and ankle pain, likely osteoarthritis. I'd (almost) entertain this. But I suspect it's bullshit. Maybe. The treatment "bugs me out."

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 25, 2026 05:58 PM (jehhT)

32 Hmm OK what are some good recipes that use honey?
Honey and lemon tea is a good one.
I think I remember an Italian pastry that has a honey sort of icing.. many years ago.

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 05:59 PM (VPPG8)

33 17 At SERE School (Warner Springs, 1970s...), several of us starving trainees broke into a local bee hive/farm. My Navy "career" almost ended, then and there....

Posted by: goatexchange at April 25, 2026 05:49 PM
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I didn't realize that survival had "out of bounds" rules... I'm guessing nearby residents have seen all kinds of things. (Yes, I know - not many "local" residents around Warner Springs.)

Posted by: TRex - scavenging dino at April 25, 2026 05:59 PM (IQ6Gq)

34 I use honey in cooking: drizzled on buttered toast or biscuits, poured on pancakes, in tea, in balsamic salad dressing, in oatmeal (steel cut if you please) or any cereal, on fresh berries, etc. That's just off the top of my head.

Posted by: JTB at April 25, 2026 05:59 PM (yTvNw)

35 Baklava has honey in it.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:00 PM (Cif43)

36 A honey lime drizzle over a jicama salad or sliced mangos.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:02 PM (Cif43)

37 I was playing paintball one time and ended up on the ground face to face with a bunch of bees going in and out of the base of a tree. I didn't stick around to see if there was honey.

One of Mrs fd's old school mates near here has a farm and hives. Also pecans and peaches and Christmas trees too.

Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 06:02 PM (vFG9F)

38 I knew a beekeeper who claimed that he cured his arthritic knee by letting bees sting it over a period of months.
-----------
This is likely the most interesting thing I've read on the Internet in months. I've got severe knee and ankle pain, likely osteoarthritis. I'd (almost) entertain this. But I suspect it's bullshit. Maybe. The treatment "bugs me out."
Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 25, 2026 05:58 PM (jehhT)

Not BS. The guy claimed it was true and he had no reason to lie about it.

Also, I've read similar claims here and there over the years.

Probably, you can find the info thru the internet.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026 06:02 PM (iJfKG)

39 Honey in a warm biscuit is a perfect food.

Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 06:03 PM (vFG9F)

40 China really is kind of shit.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 25, 2026 06:03 PM (zZu0s)

41 34 I use honey in cooking: drizzled on buttered toast or biscuits, poured on pancakes, in tea, in balsamic salad dressing, in oatmeal (steel cut if you please) or any cereal, on fresh berries, etc.

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Anyway, like I was sayin', honey is the fruit of the bee.

Posted by: Forrest Gump at April 25, 2026 06:04 PM (R+0al)

42 Fried chicken and biscuits with honey.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:04 PM (Cif43)

43 I've never been stung by a bee. I have, however, been stung by a variety of wasps and yellowjackets.

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 06:04 PM (0aYVJ)

44 31 > I knew a beekeeper who claimed that he cured his arthritic knee by letting bees sting it over a period of months.
-----------
This is likely the most interesting thing I've read on the Internet in months. I've got severe knee and ankle pain, likely osteoarthritis. I'd (almost) entertain this. But I suspect it's bullshit. Maybe. The treatment "bugs me out."
Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 25, 2026 05:58 PM (jehhT

Yeah thats the ticket! heh heh

My brother in his twenties was a wanna be Good Fella. While doing time at NJSP his cellies told him onion juice was good for thinning hair. One the bright side he became very unattractive to the weirdos...

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:04 PM (VPPG8)

45 I am fussy as hell about honey. With rare exceptions I only get locally produced honey where I can talk to the sellers. To my surprise and delight, there is a local producer who has buckwheat honey, one of my favorites. And since I use honey to deal with hay fever symptoms, locally produced wildflower honey is the way to go.

Posted by: JTB at April 25, 2026 06:04 PM (yTvNw)

46 This is all an op by Big Apiary.

Posted by: That's the buzz anyway at April 25, 2026 06:04 PM (TbWk/)

47 35 Baklava has honey in it.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:00 PM (Cif43)

Ah yes This is what came to mind I saw at an Italian Gourmet shop in Ft. Lauderdale.

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:06 PM (VPPG8)

48 I keep bees.
7th year? Gonna sell some largesse this year, just cause my wife talks about it being the most expensive hobby I've ever had.
Look up "bee sting therapy". I guess it's a thing. When I get hammered, I tell my wife I got bee sting therapy.
Most hives are gentle. When you split them, or rob the honey, you better suit up, though.
Paul Kelly, Univ of Guelph, Ontario has become my mentor. He don't know it, but the guy is a wealth of information. Keeps single deeps in Canada

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:06 PM (q6tQZ)

49 All this talk of beekeepers and not a single mention of Jason Statham?

Posted by: Uncultured, that's what this is at April 25, 2026 06:07 PM (TbWk/)

50 One of my doxies developed a sarcoma on his hind leg. I treated it with honey and crushed aspirin under a bandage that I changed every other day. The sarcoma was complete gone in about 3 weeks.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:07 PM (Cif43)

51 When I lived in Germany, our neighbors kept bees and would give us some of their honey.

Good stuff, straight from the tap!

It was only fair, I guess, since our house was surrounded by a large clover field.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 25, 2026 06:07 PM (gnNyN)

52
The absolutely best Honey that I've ever had was the honey we bought that comes from Claude Monet's (the artist) garden.

There's bajillion different flowers in the garden and the honey the bees gather is like some taste-shifting delightful food of the gods.

Really. Just the most wonderful stuff.

It's overpriced but I still wish we picked up a case of the stuff.

If you're ever in France. Stop by Claude Monet's garden and pick some up.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026 06:08 PM (iJfKG)

53 I've caught swarms in traps before. Got 3 traps out right now. Week or two, the swarm is on!

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:08 PM (q6tQZ)

54 BEES.

I just picked up my new colony today. I've been watching them take to the new hive, orient themselves and get straight to work. Italian-Carniolan cross bees. Incredibly docile.

Posted by: Shana at April 25, 2026 06:09 PM (ROgxz)

55 A couple of years ago I hired an exterminator to remove a bee infestation from my chimney.

He pulled out 40 lbs. of gooey honeycomb.

Make of it what you will.
Posted by: Cicero

* refers back to the bee-smoking video *

Smoke makes them slow and docile and gives them the munchies.

So, bees living in a chimney are a whole colony of stoners?

Duuuude.

Posted by: mikeski at April 25, 2026 06:09 PM (VHUov)

56 Addendum to post 47:
Yes I understand the Baklava is of Greek origin.

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:09 PM (VPPG8)

57
No beekeeping as such, but we maintain our garden to attract them. Lots of flowers, firebushes, bottlebrushes, jasmine and milkweed. They attract not only a large number but also a large variety of bees. Sometimes it's audible.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 25, 2026 06:09 PM (tgvbd)

58 Yes, I use honey quite a bit. A blend of apple cider vinegar, honey, and water as an anti-inflammatory (not sure whether it works, but it tastes pretty good); sometimes honey in the coffee; honey on toast or English muffins. And if I've had a spicy burrito for breakfast, a spoonful of honey kills the burning. That's the secret to soothing your tongue and mouth after something highly spiced; I learned it in New Mexico. Any real New Mexican cuisine restaurant will have a honey dispenser right on the table along with the salt and pepper.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 06:10 PM (+2QQb)

59 Jason Statham
Never heard of him. Who is he?
I bought the Rev. Langstroth's original book. They knew a hell of a lot in 1851.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:10 PM (q6tQZ)

60 Part of the fun of using honey is how the different sources available to the bees changes the flavor. Wildflower is not the same taste as tupelo or buckwheat or whatever the source. The variety makes using honey even more interesting.

Posted by: JTB at April 25, 2026 06:11 PM (yTvNw)

61 I will say this. Orange blossoms are to me some of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers on the planet.
I need to buy some orange blossom honey

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:12 PM (VPPG8)

62 Baklava has honey in it.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had

Oh, "baklava?" That explains it.

Posted by: an antifa thug being chased by bees at April 25, 2026 06:12 PM (VHUov)

63
Bees are cool.

Wasps are asshoe.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 25, 2026 06:12 PM (tgvbd)

64 Wolfus, the honey is for the sopapillas.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:13 PM (Cif43)

65 Hey Jim Beam makes a honey flavored bourbon.
Some guy told me that.

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:13 PM (VPPG8)

66 One year I pulled honey in late May, late June, and again at the end.
First honey was downright floral...light, beautiful.
Got darker as the season went on.
Buckwheat honey is the best I can do around here. The deer discovered they like buckwheat a LOT! Had to shift the electric fence to get flowers. We'll see.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:13 PM (q6tQZ)

67 Honey is actually bee spit.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 25, 2026 05:31 PM

That's hurtful.

Posted by: Honey Wilder at April 25, 2026 06:14 PM (Wnv9h)

68
What amazed me this last winter is that when food supplies are short, bees will feed off bird seed.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 25, 2026 06:14 PM (tgvbd)

69
Mommy, sopapillas.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 25, 2026 06:15 PM (tgvbd)

70 Meant "Mmmmm".

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 25, 2026 06:15 PM (tgvbd)

71 Yes, I buy honey by the pail or half gallon. I useit in my tea and cook with it. I found some nice buckwheat honey some have ordered more. I will try and make contact with the local guy. He used to sell through the raw milk dairy, but they retired.

I've never had bees but my friend in WA state does. I'm fascinated by top bar hives. There's an interesting story in States of Grace by Edie Clark. She used to write about people in Maine. She met a beekeeper that that a trailer set up with hives that was designed to be bear proof. He would take it out into the woods for the summer, with hives full of bees. He would leave it there and remove it in the fall. Never heard of anyone else doing that.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 25, 2026 06:16 PM (wOXCn)

72 would like to keep a couple of hives but we're stuck in rental housing for the foreseeable future.
Posted by: Oddbob at April 25, 2026

***
I wouldn't dare have a hive in my yard once I have a house. With my luck some of the bees would get in the house, drive the cats crazy, and sting them or me.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 06:16 PM (+2QQb)

73 I worked with a woman who was the head nurse at our regional trauma center here in Seattle. She worked in the burn unit.

Honey was a staple in wound care.

If you have allergies, find some LOCAL honey and enjoy on toast. Never heat past lukewarm, it kills the honey.

Posted by: nurse ratched at April 25, 2026 06:17 PM (A5RD0)

74 Any real New Mexican cuisine restaurant will have a honey dispenser right on the table along with the salt and pepper.
Posted by: Wolfus

The honey is for use on sopapillas.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 06:17 PM (YBtcQ)

75 Was a farm down the street that had bee hives that you could see, no idea if they were active. But as happened a lot Farms turned into house neighborhoods.

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 06:17 PM (Ia/+0)

76 I have a neighbor that gets bee stings for arthritis in her hands. She had heard about it as a cure but bee keepers do not want to touch intentionally stinging someone, the neighbor found I think it was a chinese medicine person, that offered the service. I think she goes about every two months. So yes, bee stings can be useful to treat (probably not cure) arthritis pain.

I like the creamed honey, this ends up meaning I just buy at the store as the local bee keepers I know of just sell the liquid honey.

Posted by: PaleRider at April 25, 2026 06:17 PM (+89TD)

77 Ive been known to keep a hive or 2.

Posted by: BeeMan at April 25, 2026 06:18 PM (5OuXN)

78 A little lnown fact is that Trump is allergic to bees

Posted by: Paul at April 25, 2026 06:18 PM (ad6v4)

79 "a trailer set up with hives that was designed to be bear proof."

Oh, bother.

Posted by: W. T. Pooh at April 25, 2026 06:19 PM (vFG9F)

80 Hi Ben Had!

*waves*

Posted by: nurse ratched at April 25, 2026 06:19 PM (A5RD0)

81 When I was a kid, like pre-school, a plastic model company offered a super-scale model of a honeybee or bumblebee. I mean the body of the completed kit was something like six inches long. It was molded in dark brown plastic and came with yellow and black flocking to sprinkle onto the body (held in place with some kind of adhesive that I think came with the kit too). Not sure what the wings were made of.

My father assembled it for me, and I wanted to put it into the window to scare off any other bugs that might approach.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 06:19 PM (+2QQb)

82
Many years ago, I was in a traffic jam on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Unfortunately, I was behind a truck carrying beehives.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 25, 2026 06:19 PM (tgvbd)

83 I like the creamed honey, this ends up meaning I just buy at the store as the local bee keepers I know of just sell the liquid honey.
Posted by: PaleRider

I do creamed honey. Most commercial creamed honey uses the Dyce method, which heats it to 150 degrees. That negates benefits of the honey (deactivates the pollen, kills enzymes, etc.).

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:19 PM (q6tQZ)

84 nurse, a huge hug to you, sweet lady.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:20 PM (Cif43)

85 Beeswax is great stuff. Aside from some health uses like lip balm and skin protection, it has a lot of applications for hobbies. I use it on thread used in tying flies. The patch and bullet lube I make for black powder shooting is a combination of beeswax and lamb tallow. On the frontier it was used to water proof, to a point, fabrics and leather.

Until recently, beeswax was used to seal jars for canning food. I'm sure there are a lot of other uses.

Posted by: JTB at April 25, 2026 06:20 PM (yTvNw)

86 In my own hobby news, I've now got about seven minutes of animation done. Visuals only, no soundtrack yet.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 25, 2026 06:20 PM (CHHv1)

87
Honey was a staple in wound care.

Posted by: nurse ratched

I used honey in wound care as well. At an Indian health hospital

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 06:21 PM (YBtcQ)

88 When I was down in the pit... er... Valley of the Sunstroke, the neighbor had a hive in their exterior wall. Not intentionally, of course, but you could replicate it.
Posted by: Blanco Basura

Yeah, that only ever happens with yellowjackets here. Asshoes.

Posted by: mikeski at April 25, 2026 06:21 PM (VHUov)

89 This is likely the most interesting thing I've read on the Internet in months. I've got severe knee and ankle pain, likely osteoarthritis. I'd (almost) entertain this. But I suspect it's bullshit. Maybe. The treatment "bugs me out."
Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 25, 2026 05:58 PM (jehhT)

My sister was doing that for inflammation related to her MS and felt it helped her to some extent.
If you are fighting arthritis, one of the palliative treatments is Boron. It does help minor pain, in my experience. I don't know if it will help with major flare ups.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 25, 2026 06:21 PM (rbvCR)

90 You can make creamed honey. Buy a creamed honey you like (mouth feel...should be silky) and make it using the creamed honey as the "seed". 10%.
Gunters, out of Perryville, Va is the best we've found. Even if he uses the Dyce method, you can still make good creamed honey from it.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:22 PM (q6tQZ)

91 Any real New Mexican cuisine restaurant will have a honey dispenser right on the table along with the salt and pepper.
Posted by: Wolfus

The honey is for use on sopapillas.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026

***
Right, and a basket of those are usually served right away too. You eat something with hot green or red chile, you spread some honey on a sopaipilla, and there you go.

Fun fact: New Mexico people, at least in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, ask for "Christmas" if they want both red and green chile on their eggs or enchiladas. Also, a sopaipilla is pretty much the same exact thing as a beignet, minus the white powdered sugar: a flaky pastry with a hollow center. If you've had one, again except for the sugar, you've had the other.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 06:23 PM (+2QQb)

92 A little beeswax on a wood screw will make it easier to screw in.

Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 06:24 PM (vFG9F)

93 Beeswax and pine tar are two principle ingredients in boot grease, the main thing is proportions and how you blend it. I wound up adding in some turpentine and petrolatum to make it workable in colder weather.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 25, 2026 06:24 PM (rbvCR)

94 Any real New Mexican cuisine restaurant will have a honey dispenser right on the table along with the salt and pepper.
Posted by: Wolfus

The honey is for use on sopapillas.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 06:17 PM (YBtcQ)

Beau-Jo's pizza in Colorado had hunny bottles on the table for folks to slather on the crusts.

Dang. I miss Beau-jo's. The Motherlode mountain pie was wonderful.

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 06:24 PM (0aYVJ)

95 Kindltot, have you tried goat milk?

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:24 PM (Cif43)

96 Glorybee and Cox sell good honey, if you have to go through Amazon. The buckwheat brand is called Some Honey. I did get a small bottle of tupelo honey to try. I always have some sort of honey on hand. It lasts a very long time

Posted by: Notsothoreau at April 25, 2026 06:25 PM (wOXCn)

97 If you are fighting arthritis, one of the palliative treatments is Boron. It does help minor pain, in my experience. I don't know if it will help with major flare ups.
Posted by: Kindltot at April 25, 2026

***
Are there boron supplements you can buy and take?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 06:25 PM (+2QQb)

98 I really like honey, but I don't like bees so I think I'll forego setting up my own colony.

On a completely unrelated hobby note, do any of you tech-oriented geeks have a Cardputer ADV? I got one because some folks are starting to develop ham radio programs (FT-8 for the QMX, for example), and it would be nice to have a pocket-sized gadget for working digital modes. Just curious if anyone else around here is tinkering with one.

Posted by: PabloD at April 25, 2026 06:25 PM (zUFRX)

99 We kept a hive of bees for several years, I think it must have been around the time that I was in college - maybe earlier. Our church pastor's son started it all as a Boy Scout project - and then he turned out to be horribly allergic to bee stings, so the hive and all the gear that he had for it went to our house. We parked the hive on the hillside below our house and had honey and beeswax for several years running. It was not a flow hive, which looks insanely simple in comparison to what we had to do to harvest the honey. (Stupefy the bees with smoke, extract the frames with the full combs, replace with new wooden frames ... I think we separated the honey by crushing the combs and hanging them in a cheesecloth bag to separate out by gravity.) It was the most wonderful honey, though - very pale and as clear as Karo syrup with a delicate taste. A local honey guy here in Texas tells us that it was wildflower - specifically California wild chaparral wildflower. BTW, I can strongly recommend the local Texas brand of Fowler's.
https://www.fowlerhoneyfarm.com/

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 25, 2026 06:25 PM (Ew3fm)

100 Wow. I was thinking of Blind Melon because of the bee girl, and one of their tunes pops up in my music cue.

Get out of my brain, internet.

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 06:26 PM (0aYVJ)

101 For the guys: which would you prefer, Eastern Honey, or Honey West?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 25, 2026 06:26 PM (1Ff7Z)

102 There is no best buy date on honey. The good stuff lasts forever.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:26 PM (Cif43)

103 I guess a current issue to keep a bee hive is murder hornets. I saw a video on YouTube of murder hornets at a bee hive..
Even the wildlife and insect population have illegals now. sheesh

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:26 PM (VPPG8)

104 I knew someone who lived in an older house with a garage conversion; that’s where you throw a cheap wall across the garage opening and call it a spare bedroom. Well he called an electrician since he kept hearing this strange electrical buzzing in that room. The electrician couldn’t identify it; then they noticed this strange sweet liquid coming out of the bottom of that wall. He carefully cut a hole in it - and found that the entire wall had been transformed into a giant beehive, probably tens of thousands of bees in it!

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 25, 2026 06:27 PM (JkyaL)

105 OT: The rain we were promised, or threatened with, has not materialized. I hope it holds off until later tonight -- or even until tomorrow afternoon. I don't relish driving on unfamiliar highways in poor visibility, even in daylight.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 06:28 PM (+2QQb)

106 Hey a big shout out to you bee keepers!
We need bees to have our great variety of food here in the US.

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:29 PM (VPPG8)

107 Good movie is Ulee's Gold with Peter Fonda.

Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:30 PM (kxLc1)

108 We need bees to have our great variety of food here in the US

Yeah, that's what we thought when we started. Other than almond orchards in Ca, about every crop we grow has their own indigenous bees. We don't need them, but we like them. (There is a cucurbit bee, if I recall correctly, e.g.).

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:31 PM (q6tQZ)

109 Honey Don't
-Ringo Starr

Posted by: Yer Sistas Ass at April 25, 2026 06:32 PM (VPPG8)

110 Mind your bees wax

The bees knees

Busy as a bee

Boobies

Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:32 PM (kxLc1)

111 Whiskey, honey and lemon. Best cough medicine going.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:32 PM (Cif43)

112 Just the setup:

What kind of bees produce milk?

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 06:33 PM (0aYVJ)

113 Indians called the honeybee the White Man's Fly. Said when they started seeing them, the settlers weren't far behind.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:33 PM (q6tQZ)

114 then they noticed this strange sweet liquid coming out of the bottom of that wall.
Posted by: Tom Servo

Brave souls. If I find a strange liquid seeping out of my walls, the last thing I'm going to do is taste it.....

Posted by: mikeski, calling an exorcist at April 25, 2026 06:34 PM (VHUov)

115 108 Other than almond orchards in Ca, about every crop we grow has their own indigenous bees. We don't need them, but we like them. (There is a cucurbit bee, if I recall correctly, e.g.).

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:31 PM
***
Really? That's amazing. Hadn't seen that anywhere.

Posted by: TRex - what is a cucurbit? at April 25, 2026 06:34 PM (IQ6Gq)

116 A little beeswax on a wood screw will make it easier to screw in.
Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 06:24 PM (vFG9F)

That's what SHE said.

Posted by: Guy who says, that's what she said at April 25, 2026 06:34 PM (5xuJ/)

117 Thanks for the mighty Hobby Thread, T Rex!

Honeybees are a fascinating topic. Utah is known as the Beehive State and honeybees have long been an integral part of farming.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 25, 2026 06:34 PM (vrNzf)

118 Boobies!

Posted by: Just the punchline at April 25, 2026 06:35 PM (VHUov)

119 Whiskey, honey and lemon. Best cough medicine going.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:32 PM (Cif43)

That does indeed work. My aforementioned dislike of honey is when it's by itself.

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 06:35 PM (0aYVJ)

120 Samson used a lion carcass to raise his honey bees.

Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:35 PM (kxLc1)

121 Good movie is Ulee's Gold with Peter Fonda.
Posted by: Harry Vandenburg

Seconded. Good flick.

Posted by: Tuna at April 25, 2026 06:35 PM (lJ0H4)

122 Looks like the hobby of stopping traffic in protest hasn’t picked up with better weather. My guess is the money paying for the useful idiots doesn’t want their private jets and data centers being surrounded by bankrolled fake concern. Of course, protesting in China and India is a little too hazardous for soft, purple-haired, nonbinary types regardless of the pay.

Posted by: Unkaren at April 25, 2026 06:36 PM (fwsNC)

123 Peanut Butter and Honey sammich was and is my go to for a quick meal. I never did PB&J.

Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:38 PM (kxLc1)

124 Theme Songs

chill lo-fi beats:
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Hunnybee (Official Animated Video)
https://youtu.be/IJrKlSkxRHA

rock & roll:
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Honey Bee (Official Lyric Video)
https://youtu.be/tbyB10JSOHk

retro-future sad boy pop:
Steam Powered Giraffe - Honeybee (Official Music Video)
https://youtu.be/ojYK6CW8gdw

Posted by: SciVo at April 25, 2026 06:38 PM (Sy6m/)

125 Really? That's amazing. Hadn't seen that anywhere.
Posted by: TRex - what is a cucurbit?

Cucurbits are squash, melons, etc..
We didn't have the honeybee when white men hit the Americas. Euros brought them cause of the honey.
We started growing them cause we never saw them in our vegetable garden.
We grew fine without them, just felt like it would be "better".
Nah. But the honey's worth it.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:38 PM (q6tQZ)

126 I was once working on a house, getting it ready for sale, when I heard a steadily louder buzzing sound coming from the back yard. It was a bee swarm looking for a new home, and they thought my chimney was perfect. Neighbor said they had been living under his eaves (he had a very high pitched roof), but they decided to find a better spot. I was able to get a beekeeper to snag the queen and lure the rest into his boxes. Much better than Option 2, which was to nerve gas them with hornet spray.

Posted by: PabloD at April 25, 2026 06:39 PM (zUFRX)

127 Peanut Butter and Honey sammich was and is my go to for a quick meal. I never did PB&J.
Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:38 PM (kxLc1)

Yes. Preferred.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 25, 2026 06:39 PM (1Ff7Z)

128 The Walking Dude, what fascinating endeavor. I have yet to sample mead.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:41 PM (Cif43)

129 Peanut Butter and Honey sammich was and is my go to for a quick meal. I never did PB&J.
Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:38 PM (kxLc1)

Yes. Preferred.
Posted by: OrangeEnt

Youse guys would love creamed honey. Spreadable, but can eat a sammich without wearing the honey.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:41 PM (q6tQZ)

130 My parents tried bees for a couple years.

We even built a shed over the hives to keep the snow off after they lost their hives to damp one year.

We've gotten busy with other stuff the last couple years, but we have enough boxes and supplies to keep 6 or 7 hives.

Last time bees were in their hive boxes, it was other local bees robbing out whatever was left from the last hive they had.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at April 25, 2026 06:42 PM (C0Nlv)

131 The Walking Dude, what fascinating endeavor. I have yet to sample mead.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had

I make mead. I like it somewhere around 1.02- 1.025 (specific gravity).
A dessert wine.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:42 PM (q6tQZ)

132 Remember in the movie The Equalizer Denzel used honey as an antibiotic for his wound. Used for centuries for that purpose.

Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:43 PM (kxLc1)

133 117 Utah is known as the Beehive State and honeybees have long been an integral part of farming.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 25, 2026 06:34 PM
***
Thanks for the reminder. I should have included a Utah reference in the content. Bad dino.

Posted by: TRex - a cubit is not a cucurbit at April 25, 2026 06:43 PM (IQ6Gq)

134 Peanut Butter and Honey sammich was and is my go to for a quick meal. I never did PB&J.

I’ve been doing that lately as well. I make my own peanut butter by using the food processor and dry roasted peanuts.

Posted by: Unkaren at April 25, 2026 06:44 PM (fwsNC)

135 Peanut Butter and Honey sammich was and is my go to for a quick meal.

PB mixed with honey and smeared on an Oreo. Decadent.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 25, 2026 06:45 PM (vTZFs)

136 Walking Dude, what yeast do you use?
I've been suing 17B, but used champagne yeast once.
Too it to 1.025... stabilized it, and it still blew up half my bottles!
Heh

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:46 PM (q6tQZ)

137 Honey should be a staple in any prepper cache. It will last for years.

Posted by: Harry Vandenburg at April 25, 2026 06:46 PM (kxLc1)

138 I used wax frequently when working with framing (picture framing). It is very useful to hide open joints between the four moldings.

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at April 25, 2026 06:47 PM (IQ6Gq)

139 Last time bees were in their hive boxes, it was other local bees robbing out whatever was left from the last hive they had.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at April 25, 2026 06:42 PM
***
You mean bees gather from other hives, not just from flowers?

Posted by: TRex - bee defender dino at April 25, 2026 06:47 PM (IQ6Gq)

140 PB mixed with honey and smeared on an Oreo. Decadent.

$100,000 Bar!

Posted by: Unkaren at April 25, 2026 06:47 PM (fwsNC)

141 You mean bees gather from other hives, not just from flowers?
Posted by: TRex - bee defender dino

It's called "robbing". When a hive starts it, they'll prey on weaker hives. It can be a big deal in a bee yard.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:49 PM (q6tQZ)

142 Can't say ever tried different kinds of honey, theory is a local small batch honey will taste different from s different small batch.

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 06:49 PM (Ia/+0)

143 Skip

Yep. Same hive in two different months will be different.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:51 PM (q6tQZ)

144 Barbary State Bees.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 25, 2026 06:51 PM (zZu0s)

145 My local butcher stocks some local treats, did you know that sea salt come from the sea, its true. That's where the name comes from. And he also carries a local brand of honey made right around the corner. It's ridiculously good.

I've been told that honey local to where you live is good for allergies. Might be bullshit but who cares, honey is the shizz and small batch stuff is the best.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 25, 2026 06:52 PM (viF8m)

146 fortunately all of our honey is locally made; ditto maple syrup.
no counterfeiters here!

me; crimping powerpole connectors, making a battery cable for one of the radios.

Posted by: bob_rat_eez at April 25, 2026 06:52 PM (VyBeY)

147 I haven't really cooked with honey, but I do use it in a cold strawberry soup we sample during the summer...

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at April 25, 2026 06:52 PM (IQ6Gq)

148 We did mead once, when my daughter and I were playing around with wine and beer making. It was wonderful - lightly fizzy. I'll try it again, with some honey from Costco, now that I'm into winemaking again. (Have a nectarine tree that half the fruit was fermented before it even came off the tree, and a trellis in the back garden that will be bearing ripe grapes by mid-summer ... I mean, what the heck else can I do with the stuff?)

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 25, 2026 06:52 PM (Ew3fm)

149 Whiskey, honey and lemon. Best cough medicine going.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:32 PM (Cif43)
* * * *
Absolutely! Mix in equal portions and sip. Really works on coughs. My great grandfather swore by it.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 25, 2026 06:53 PM (vrNzf)

150 Youse guys would love creamed honey. Spreadable, but can eat a sammich without wearing the honey.
Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 06:41 PM (q6tQZ)

Think I had it once. Don't remember how it tasted.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at April 25, 2026 06:54 PM (1Ff7Z)

151 Mom feeding us whipped honey on Peanut Butter sandwiches kind of killed honey for me.

Before anyone starts, I know this was probably better than fruit flavoring and syrup of 'jelly', but it did kill my taste for honey.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 25, 2026 06:54 PM (zZu0s)

152 Hey how do you morons of Italian descent pronounce

Guanciale?

Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026 06:54 PM (iJfKG)

153 Mead is carbonated? Have to try that.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 25, 2026 06:55 PM (zZu0s)

154 Thanks for the reminder. I should have included a Utah reference in the content. Bad dino.
Posted by: TRex - a cubit is not a cucurbit at April 25, 2026 06:43 PM (IQ6Gq)
* * * *
No worries. Just a bit of trivia to contribute to the discussion.

*gently pats good dino on the head*

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at April 25, 2026 06:58 PM (vrNzf)

155 >>(Have a nectarine tree that half the fruit was fermented before it even came off the tree, and a trellis in the back garden that will be bearing ripe grapes by mid-summer ... I mean, what the heck else can I do with the stuff?)

Send some to random people on the internet for no particular reason.

Just a thought.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 25, 2026 06:58 PM (viF8m)

156 natural, gwan- cha- lay.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:59 PM (Cif43)

157 (Have a nectarine tree that half the fruit was fermented before it even came off the tree, and a trellis in the back garden that will be bearing ripe grapes by mid-summer ... I mean, what the heck else can I do with the stuff?)
*************
Can you can the nectarines? Just like you would peaches.

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at April 25, 2026 07:00 PM (IQ6Gq)

158 Thanks Ben Had

I had that totally wrong

Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026 07:02 PM (iJfKG)

159 I had that totally wrong
Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026

***
My guess (and I don't know Italian) was gwan-chee-ah-lay.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 07:03 PM (+2QQb)

160 Kindltot, have you tried goat milk?
Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 06:24 PM (Cif43)

I never considered using goats' milk, but I have limited access to it. Does it work without going rancid?

Posted by: Kindltot at April 25, 2026 07:05 PM (rbvCR)

161 Sgt. Mom, make a nectarine- cello. Use the recipe for white peachello. It should be fantastic.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:05 PM (Cif43)

162 I'm another beekeeper.

I do have the stylish outfit. I cover my whole body because the last time I got stung, I looked like I had huge love handles for 3 weeks and a fellow beekeeper got stung enough to develop an allergy, which I don't want. The bare hands thing seems to be one of those braggadocio things.

I use honey in tea, bread, desserts, and coffee, on pancakes, sandwiches, toast...I was advised when I started that people get into beekeeping for the bees but get out because there's too much honey. So I tried to plan ahead.

For home remedies, buckwheat honey in honey-lemon tea is our go-to. I've got 2 gallons of mead that I've bottled but haven't tried yet. I mixed pear juice and honey to make a hard pear cyser that I enjoyed very much.

My daughter made beeswax candles as a Christmas gift last year. We haven't tried anything else. No other bee-spiration or outfits.

Posted by: Nerd Herd at April 25, 2026 07:07 PM (NZPfR)

163 Kindltot, you can portion and freeze it. Have a friend with RA and it helped a bunch.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:08 PM (Cif43)

164 TRex, thank you for a you do.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:12 PM (Cif43)

165 We shouldn't leave without a musical video
Blind Mellon- No Rain
https://tinyurl.com/ye29y32s

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 07:12 PM (Ia/+0)

166 Instant replay, Thank you for all you do.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:13 PM (Cif43)

167 Mead is made from honey. Very good stuff.

Posted by: RS at April 25, 2026 07:13 PM (SuU/K)

168 164 TRex, thank you for a you do.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:12 PM
***
You're welcome and thank YOU!!

(Is there a backstory for Bob in your nic?)

Posted by: TRex - super sweet dino at April 25, 2026 07:13 PM (IQ6Gq)

169 If y'all are serious about wanting to do this, go to the North American Honey Bee Expo - https://www.nahbexpo.com/

We were there pitching my son's game, Festoon, and it was intense how much knowledge is there on the floor.

Posted by: SkinnerVic at April 25, 2026 07:13 PM (JIGPW)

170 Always combine your hobbies with booze.

Posted by: RS at April 25, 2026 07:14 PM (SuU/K)

171 Mead is made from honey. Very good stuff.
Posted by: RS at April 25, 2026 07:13 PM (SuU/K)

I've been wanting to try that.

Posted by: Bob Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at April 25, 2026 07:14 PM (0aYVJ)

172 TRex, blog joke the other night that we should all be Bobs. I can't get rid of the damned thing now!

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:15 PM (Cif43)

173 TRex, blog joke the other night that we should all be Bobs. I can't get rid of the damned thing now!
Posted by: Bob Ben Had
**********
Now I'm laughing!

Posted by: The Grateful - Acta Non Verba at April 25, 2026 07:16 PM (IQ6Gq)

174 Next time I see in some shop small batch honey I will try it

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 07:16 PM (Ia/+0)

175 Mead is carbonated? Have to try that.

No, not naturally. Kind of a pain to do it intentionally, which I did NOT do.
I tried to stop the fermentation, but didn't completely.
That's how you get carbonation. Why good champagnes have long corks, too.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 07:16 PM (q6tQZ)

176 Bugzzz

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at April 25, 2026 07:17 PM (jXvKN)

177 Nerd Herd. I'm jealous you have buckwheat around you. I have to plant my own, and it is NOT drought resistant...nor deer resistant.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 07:18 PM (q6tQZ)

178 172 TRex, blog joke the other night that we should all be Bobs. I can't get rid of the damned thing now!

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:15 PM
***
The funny thing about that is that I call any male "Bob" when I can't remember their name. Haven't found a good female analogue yet.

Posted by: TRex - Bob dino at April 25, 2026 07:18 PM (IQ6Gq)

179 Old tyme recipe for arthritic joint was to catch a honeybee and have it sting the joint.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at April 25, 2026 07:19 PM (jXvKN)

180 Next time I see in some shop small batch honey I will try it
Posted by: Skip

Farmer's market. Roadside.

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 07:19 PM (q6tQZ)

181 TRex, Pat works !

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:20 PM (Cif43)

182 TRex, Pat works !
Posted by: Bob Ben Had

Better than Honey, ya think?

Posted by: MkY at April 25, 2026 07:20 PM (q6tQZ)

183 and it still blew up half my bottles!
Heh
Posted by: MkY

Use a corny keg!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 07:21 PM (YBtcQ)

184 What was the name of that "male enhancement product" that ran in TV commercials some years ago? They featured a character named "Bob," who to be honest looked like he was high on something less legal than a male enhancement pill.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 07:21 PM (+2QQb)

185 The Brattleboro Gay Pride Senter is be proud to percents "An Everering with Yokio Ono wear she be lingering her greatest hits. Tickits is be $200 a peace and will go two help Gay Chdrin of Coller suffering becayse of Trump.

Posted by: Mary Clogginstein from Brattleboro, Vt at April 25, 2026 07:22 PM (IJjgN)

186 I don't trust honey from any store with "Kountry" with a backwards "K" in the name.

Posted by: fd at April 25, 2026 07:22 PM (vFG9F)

187 AZ deplorable, hugs to the both of you.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:22 PM (Cif43)

188 165 Girl finds her hive

Posted by: Skip at April 25, 2026 07:22 PM (Ia/+0)

189 Haven't found a good female analogue yet.
Posted by: TRex - Bob dino

PSA: Do not use Bimbo!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 07:23 PM (YBtcQ)

190 Hey how do you morons of Italian descent pronounce

Guanciale?

Posted by: naturalfake at April 25, 2026 06:54 PM (iJfKG)
====

Time to make some carbonara?

Posted by: mrp at April 25, 2026 07:23 PM (rj6Yv)

191 Time to say thank you before the next act takes the Ace of Spades stage. Thanks for being here. If you're a lurker, thanks for reading.

Next week is a car repair theme, so come with your problems and solutions. Lots of mechanical knowledge among the Horde.

You're welcome to hang out in the Hobby Thread comments for a while but don't forget to stop by Club ONT later!

Posted by: TRex - click and clack dino at April 25, 2026 07:23 PM (IQ6Gq)

192 AZ deplorable, hugs to the both of you.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had

Back at you too!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 07:24 PM (YBtcQ)

193 Next week is a car repair theme, so come with your problems and solutions. Lots of mechanical knowledge among the Horde. . . .

Posted by: TRex - click and clack dino at April 25, 2026

***
Sounds like a good topic!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 07:24 PM (+2QQb)

194 Next week is a car repair theme, so come with your problems and solutions. Lots of mechanical knowledge among the Horde. . . .

Posted by: TRex - click and clack dino at April 25, 2026

***
Sounds like a good topic!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 07:24 PM (+2QQb)

Oh sure.

Posted by: NYCer who doesn't own a car at April 25, 2026 07:25 PM (1Ff7Z)

195 Noodus movie thread

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 25, 2026 07:25 PM (+2QQb)

196 TRex, Thanks for the thread topic. Cooking, health, history, hobby uses, and farming. So many matters from those little buzzers.

Posted by: JTB at April 25, 2026 07:27 PM (yTvNw)

197 Stock tank had some floral arrangement growing at the perimeter that attracted the honeybees. They were making a beeline to and from it. Stood in their path and watched them veer left and right to avoid me as they did their work.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at April 25, 2026 07:28 PM (jXvKN)

198 my town allows apiaries, but i've become aware of how honey bees out compete the native bees so the wild colonies perish. i think if you're next to a robust bee food source it's ok but where i'm at the bumblers are gonna miss out... and i really like bumblers. i'll leave it to the folks in the country.

Posted by: cmeat at April 25, 2026 07:29 PM (R11M+)

199 Did I miss when Ben Had became Bob Ben Had??

Posted by: jayhawkone at April 25, 2026 07:29 PM (10ssZ)

200 I read an article years ago about beekeeping in Manhattan. Apparently the honey is prized because there are so many different weeds that blossom that the honey taste is complex.

The other thing I remember is that when a swarm is looking for a new hive, their preferred altitude is about that of an overhead traffic light. So they will park in and around one and cause traffic problems. Pro beekeepers have to come and tease them away.

This being Manhattan, crowds gather, and within ten minutes begin telling the beekeepers what they're doing wrong.

Posted by: Wenda at April 25, 2026 07:29 PM (OMTEK)

201 jayhawkone, it was a joke but somehow I can't delete it.

Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:32 PM (Cif43)

202 Kindltot, you can portion and freeze it. Have a friend with RA and it helped a bunch.
Posted by: Bob Ben Had at April 25, 2026 07:08 PM (Cif43)

Oh! Sorry, I thought you meant add goats milk to my beeswax waterproofing.
As it is, I have overworked hands and a post-accident shoulder, so I take Boron daily to keep the inflammation down. It does work, when the weather changes now my hands don't feel like someone is grabbing the joints with pliers. The shoulder is hit and miss.
The problem is that goat milk is not a common item here, most people keep sheep.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 25, 2026 07:33 PM (rbvCR)

203 The funny thing about that is that I call any male "Bob" when I can't remember their name. Haven't found a good female analogue yet.
Posted by: TRex - Bob dino at April 25, 2026 07:18 PM (IQ6Gq)

Try "Becky" and see how that works.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 25, 2026 07:35 PM (rbvCR)

204 124 Theme Songs

chill lo-fi beats:
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Hunnybee (Official Animated Video)
https://youtu.be/IJrKlSkxRHA

rock & roll:
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Honey Bee (Official Lyric Video)
https://youtu.be/tbyB10JSOHk

retro-future sad boy pop:
Steam Powered Giraffe - Honeybee (Official Music Video)
https://youtu.be/ojYK6CW8gdw
Posted by: SciVo at April 25, 2026 06:38 PM (Sy6m/)

Queen Bee by GFR

Posted by: Cow Demon at April 25, 2026 07:35 PM (T6aVk)

205 TRex, blog joke the other night that we should all be Bobs. I can't get rid of the damned thing now!
Posted by: Bob Ben Had

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 25, 2026 07:36 PM (vTZFs)

206 What is the difference screenwriter and a Pizza?
A pizza ca feed a family of 4.

What do you call a screenwriter with a mortgage?
An optimist.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 07:37 PM (YBtcQ)

207 Wrong thread!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 25, 2026 07:37 PM (YBtcQ)

208 jayhawkone, it was a joke but somehow I can't delete it.

Depending on which browser you're using, go to the "delete history" settings and delete cookies for acecomments.mu.nu. Some browsers may not let you specify by name and you may or may not want to delete ALL cookies because that might wipe out some saved info you want. Then reload this page. The Name and Email fields should be blank. Re-enter whatever you want them to be and post a comment.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 25, 2026 07:41 PM (vTZFs)

209 Huh, Ben Had. My nic box is always at the bottom of the page and I can always click in the box and edit, I could go for making the top 10 socks list if I was creative enough to come up with clever socks and not so absent minded I would forget to change for fresh threads.

Posted by: PaleRider testing nics at April 25, 2026 07:57 PM (+89TD)

210 sock off

Posted by: PaleRider at April 25, 2026 07:57 PM (+89TD)

211 Thank you for the fun post, T.

Posted by: nurse ratched at April 25, 2026 08:39 PM (A5RD0)

212 Back from quick trip to town for groceries. Not much to say on the bee biz. There are vendors I see from time to time in Apache junction who sell local cactus honey. Dark amber color, and very tasty. I neglected to get a jar this year.

Car repair-wise, I got the new serpentine belt and associated idlers installed in the '08 Suburban, and all is well. The belt, which was for something else, since Amazon did not have a listing for one for that vehicle, is a perfect fit. The new grooved idler, that goes on the tensioner, was installed straight as it came from the box. The smooth idler, which is steel, I didn't get from Amazon (somehow I managed to order and receive two grooved idlers). No matter, I found two brand new SKF 6203 bearings in my bearing stash, and pressed the old rattly one out, and a new one in. So all belts and idlers are now in "as-new" condition. And I have enough spare belts and idlers to ensure that both Suburbans will have spares in the road box.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 25, 2026 09:02 PM (utfVc)

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