So you want to become a beekeeper. The good the bad and the ugly of it. 

The entire honey processing and bottling here at the abbey has taken me years to develop. I have made lots of mistakes on the way, but have learned what works and what does not work for an operation of our size. Granted, we are not commercial and certainly not hobbyist, so the right configuration of equipment to move and bottle honey had to be worked out as there is nothing out there showing how an operation of our size, between commercial and hobbyist, can be set things up. I'll say this about your question about buying processing equipment, if I'd do it differently. My answer would be no, and the reason would be affordability. Initially, since I could not afford to buy an entire processing line, and at the time, around 2012, a 20 frame line was about $20,000.00, and I knew 20 frames would be to small for our operation, I made the decision to buy a single uncapper that would uncap whatever I threw at it, and a single extractor that could handle more than 40 frames at a time. The best part was I could buy the equipment when I had the cash to do so. So, I bought my Dakota Gunness chain uncapper for about 5 grand and the following year bought my 48 frame Mann Lake extractor for just over 3 grand. By doing it that way I did not have to take out a loan and our main equipment had been purchased. Then, over the next few years I bought the remaining equipment, bottlers, a drum lift, pumps, uncapping tank, honey/wax separator, and whatever else was necessary, and I spent less, not much, than the 20 grand a line would have cost me and I had a line that could process 1000 frames in about 6 hours...clean up time included. So no, I would not buy anything different because I still can not afford a line. My thoughts on the 18:03 mark is I wish I had a shot gun activated camera that would take care of those rodents. Like most beekeepers, storage has always been a problem for me. For years the wooden ware was stored in 5 different areas around the abbey and it was very frustrating retrieving it when it was needed. Thankfully, with the addition of the peacock pen, that issue has been resolved....if I remember to put all the boxes in there. For years I used all Mann Lake frames and foundations then I discovered Acorn and a wonderful relation was born between myself and Nick the owner. We continued that relation for about 4 years and then last year Nick sold out. It was at that time Matt from Premiere Bee Supply reached out to me concerning their foundation and he sent me some. The bees loved it and since I was looking for a new source for frames and foundation since Nick was gone, Premiere became my go to source. Well Professor Fred, after spending my entire night answering your comment, or at least rambling on and on trying to, I think it may be best if we did a live chat again. What do you say? I think there would be at least 2 folks that would listen, The Dirt Rooster and my wife Mona. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff Wow, thanks for such a thoughtful and thorough response :) You really give people a glimpse into what it takes to grow as a honey producer. I'm so glad everything has worked out for you, and the Abbey! :) I'm so glad that Premiere was able to send foundation your way to help out.

@@JeffHorchoff I'd be up to listen too. Makes three.

You could not choose a better hobby than bees, in my humble opinion. Besides, the world needs as many beekeepers as it can get so I say get on board. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace. Mr. Ed

I know how you missed it, you were doing one of your 3 cut outs for the day. And I thought I worked to hard. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Yes it is....just like most things in life that are worth our efforts. God's peace Daniel. Mr. Ed

I'm glad you like the idea, are you going to send me one of yours? Thanks for watching. God's peace Teresa. Mr. ed

Or even a caveman. I have to agree, we do have the right tools for the trade. Thanks for watching. God's peace Robert. Mr. Ed

Now that would be an electrifying experience to capture on video....smoking bee wranglers. Love the comment Alan, God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Thank you so much for your support, kind words, and for watching, it is all greatly appreciated. God's peace Shane. Mr. Ed

Friends are the best equipment a bee wrangler can have, and I have some great ones. Thank you for your blessings and for watching. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Let her talk with me, she'll chose the bees after I talk with her. Thanks for helping her to make a good choice, with out bees, humans would not last even 4 years. Thanks for watching. God's peace Mary. Mr. Ed

Almost does not count unless its with nuclear bombs and grenades. God's peace Unc. Mr. Ed

Please don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Thank you so much for sending it. We hope to be installing all the labels within a month or so after the wall is prepared. Thank you again, God's peace. Mr. Ed

Thanks for the heads up, you may actually see me doing that. Thanks for the suggestion and for watching. God's peace Mike. Mr. Ed

I could not agree more, and I went and took a look at it. Don't you just hate when you forget something in a hive? God's peace. Mr. Ed

Crazy good, it really does smell wonderful. A combo of wax and honey in the air all the time. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace. Mr. Ed

When the level of the honey in the drums gets to low, the pump won't move it. At that point I secure the drum in the lift and pour the rest into the bottler. One day I am going to video the process and post it. Thanks for watching. God's peace Shannon. Mr. Ed

Love to have you guys come for a visit, I'll happily put you to work. God's peace Dan. Mr. Ed

Send me a link. God's peace Ron. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--LEZPspnqyM.html

Me and the bees are counting down the days till it's here. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Honey crystallizes due to the sugar content that is in the nectar. Different nectars have a faster crystallizing rate, some very quickly and some very slowly. Regardless, almost ALL pure honey will crystallize, if it does not, it is probably mixed with something else, fructose or glucose probably, and is not 100% pure honey. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace. Mr. Ed

Where would we bee without friends? God's peace Don. Mr. Ed

Let me know when you want more honey. God's peace Larry. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff thanks. I will

The wild look will be here as long as the cold weather is here. Hopefully it will bee gone by end of April. God's peace. Mr. Ed

I'm looking forward to receiving your label, thank you and your wife for the gift. Thanks for watching. Until the next one, God's peace John. Mr. Ed

I'm impressed Garry, I run away from work, you run to it. I guess you did not have enough on your plate so you bought out another beekeeper. If you are ever looking for work after you are done there, I got lots of it here that needs taking care of. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Amen to that! God's peace Bill. Mr. Ed

Good luck, you are going to do great things. God's peace Tyler. Mr. Ed

Don't fret, I will be shooting a video on the box clean up....a real dirty job. Thank you so much for your blessings and for watching, it is greatly appreciated. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

It's been a while since I heard from you, happy to see you are still watching and commenting. God's peace. Mr. Ed

I would be very nervous stacking boxes 12 high, it just seems very unstable. However, your idea sounds really cool, and I'd love to see pictures of how it is done. Thank you for sharing that and for taking the time to explain it. God's peace my brother. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff Here is one video about stacking. This beekeeper stacks some 8-9 boxes and his stacks are under the shed so there is no cover over it. For foundation he used timber (beams) instead four bricks on corners which is better solution if you have many "chimneys" to make. P.S. I kept my boxes on my hives for bees to guard the wax. Since I'm in expanding mode, I'm always lacking finished combs so I had no reason to stack. At the end of this season, I probably will... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G0tLqZqgwJ4.html

And a very good morning to you as well. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch, God's peace. Mr. Ed

It's always in God's time....that's when you know it's right when you do it. Stay safe brother. God's peace Tom. Mr. Ed

I hear ya! 2 days ago it was in the low 60s. Right now it's 32 and snowing here in Central New York. We're only supposed to get down to 18 overnight. Update: the says it got down to 15°F overnight. At 8:23 our thermometer is reading 19.

Stay warm up thee Brice, your bees need you. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Thank you very much for your blessings, kind words, offer of helping, and for taking the time to watch our bee wrangling adventures, it is so greatly appreciated. If you are ever around New Orleans, drop by the abbey and visit. God's peace Lisa. Mr. Ed

Thanks so much Drew, your kind words are greatly appreciated.....as always. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

I know exactly where the cops hide. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

I have seen the video, and I love the design. With all the different types of hive configurations out there, it's fun to try different ones. However, for me, they will always be just another box to keep bee in, and for our honey production, I will always use the Langstroths. Thanks for watching. God's peace Zachary. Mr. Ed

I'm delighted to hear that you, and so many others like you, "live vicariously" through our adventures....even if you don't have bees yourself. Thank you so much for following along. God's peace Mary Jane. Mr. Ed

What kind did you get? I'm interested in making a video on them. God's peace. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff it's a powerblanket branded as "Bee Blanket" I got the one with a notch for a honey gate.

It was a bit rough with some high winds, but all in all, no problems. Spring is here....at least according to the bees. God's peace Michael. Mr. Ed

It's a great idea you propose, but it's way out of the realm of reality for me as I do not have the resources to make it happen for an operation the size of ours. Thanks for your suggestions and for watching. God's peace Michael. Mr. Ed

Find out if there is a bee club in your area and join it, your county agent may be able to help with that. More than likely you will also find someone who is willing to mentor you as well. The world needs as many beekeepers as it can get, I'm happy to hear you want to bee one of them. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

I heard World Famous Mike Barry's has the largest one of all the beekeeper around. Great seeing you last night, God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Being retired and doing what I want to do with my time and not having it demanded from me by a job allows me great opportunity that many do not enjoy. Yes, I am truly a blessed man. Thank you for your kind words and sharing our adventures, it is greatly appreciated. God's peace Mary. Mr. Ed

Thank you so much, I can hardly wait to see it. God's peace. Mr. Ed

It's already been requested, and once the Welcome Center is complete, bot will have new signs. Thanks for watching. God's peace Joe. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff i'm a retired sign maker. that's why i noticed

I don't know any easy way to clean the wooden frames, but I can clean the foundations pretty quickly, and the video link below is how I do it. Thanks for watching. God's peace Joe. Mr. Ed ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ApZWa-Kljts.html

It is less and less. Now my main job is to run moldings as the bees just demand so much of my time. God's peace Don. Mr. Ed

Send me an address, and I'll send you one of our labels. God's peace David. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff they're in the envelope with a stamp on it. Now to get the envelope in the mail! 🥳

Man, I LOVE honey pizza! Call me when it's ready. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

I’ve never heard of honey pizza

The wax moths fly in the day, but I'm sure you would get some with the blue zapper. Thanks for watching. God's peace Patrick. Mr. Ed

You are the second one to comment on that, very observant. Yes, it is low, about a gallon or so, and I will be adding the distilled water before you see it again...Monday. The automatic bottler is in my office, and I only use it for the first bottling of the year when we do about 600 bottles. The clean up is pretty intense so I use it sparingly. God's peace Charlie. Mr. Ed

It's my pleasure and joy sharing my bee wrangling experiences...even the nasty ones. Yes, the bottler is about a gallon plus short on water, and I will be filling it with distilled water on Monday. Thanks for the heads up and for watching. God's peace Brian. Mr. Ed

The older I have gotten, I now would build long horizontal hives. They are so much easier to work and would produce all the honey I could possibly want. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

Not enough, but I'm grateful for the ones that do help. God's peace Keith. Mr. Ed

Glad to hear you enjoyed the video, I do love sharing my bee wrangling experiences. No, I do NOT treat for mites, and I never have. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

No, he was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. God's peace Christopher. Mr. Ed

Half of our drums do have spickets on them to drain the honey from the bottom. The ones that don't will have them on them soon enough. As far as a heavy duty lift, I have one of those as well and I use it all the time, but the pump is so much easier to do. Thanks for watching. God's peace bother. Mr. Ed

Yes they will, a little bit worse for the ware, but still VERY functionable. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

About half the drums do have taps at the bottom, but when the honey crystalizes, it's actually better to pump the honey from the top rather than the bottom. I try and use all the tapped drums first before the honey crystalizes, then I use the untapped drums. God's peace. Mr. Ed

Rain, rain go away, Mr. Ed wants to play.....with his bees. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff hahaha 🤣 only someone from the south would understand what I said 😂😂😂 I'm glad you're doing well brother from another mother

If you are just starting out keeping bees, ANY free equipment is a great deal, even if it will require some elbow grease on your part. Combine the good parts, discard the bad parts, and get your equipment right, it's way less expensive doing it that way, and because you put the effort in bringing it back to life, it will mean more to you. Finally, if someone is going to GIVE you bees, take them now, even if it means you feeding them all winter long. I wish you all the best on your beekeeping journey. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace brother. Mr. Ed

Generally, it's about the same amount of time it took to crystallize the first time. Thanks for watching. God's peace. Mr. Ed

The honey will recrystallize a second time around, but my experience has shown it takes about the same amount of time. Thanks for watching. God's peace Joe. Mr. Ed

They do not. The reason is because the honey that is in the lines will be moved into the bottler before that happens. Generally, I pump honey every 2 to 3 weeks apart. Thanks for watching. God's peace David. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff that’s what I figured. I would like to try the double screen dividing board splits that you do. With the warm weather that we are having are you thinking about starting those earlier this year? I’m from Lincoln county Mississippi.

No, it goes straight from a bottler to the jar. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace Patrick. Mr. Ed

It is on the Abbey property. After crossing the bridge to get to the abbey, the road forks. Take the left fork and there it is. Thanks for watching. God's peace David. Mr. Ed

One of the advantages I have keeping the bees at the abbey is they have and industrial kitchen, after all, they have to prepare meals for over 200 people 3 times a day. Because of that, I have access to their dish washers, and I can sanitize over 30 bottles at a time in just a matter of a few minutes, and when I have 600 bottles to do, it makes very quick work of another bee keeping job. Great question. Thanks for watching. God's peace Suzanne. Mr. Ed

@@JeffHorchoff so they were washed and put back in the boxes????

It never stays in there for long. It gets replace about every 2 to 3 weeks and that is not enough time for the honey in there to crystalize. God's peace brother. Mr.Ed

Pure, raw honey will crystalize all on it's own, unless it's "fake" honey, and that stuff will never crystalize due to the fact that there are other ingredients in it other than just honey. The reason it will crystalize is due to the sugar content in it, and sugar prefers to be in a solid state rather than a liquid state. Thanks for watching. God's peace Larry. Mr. Ed

Because every time we get together, it's a good time. Thanks for watching. God's peace Derek. Mr. Ed