First, I cannot believe it is December already. I have put my colonies to bed for the winter. I had to do some combining, so I am going to over-winter 4 total colonies – 3 double deep and 1 5/5 NUC. They all have a candy board (extra food) and 3 have insulation for winter protection. I plan to closely watch the 2 at my home beeyard.
I recently purchased a thermal camera to assist monitoring the size of my over wintering colony clusters (I hope). This is a new learning experience for me so feel free to reach out and help educate me with my new tool. If you look at the photos below, you can see a camera pic on the left and thermal pic on the right. I am using fusion palette on the thermal camera. You can definitely see the cluster on the left colony (the yellow in bottom box) with the insulation on top. The right colony without insulation (some yellow at the handle) was harder to see. I am confident there is a colony on the right – it might be smaller or more centralized in the hive.
My goal is to check these colonies with the thermal camera at the beginning of each month and compare with the previous pictures. If we get any warm days above 40 degrees, I may pop the top and replace the candy board. This will be done quickly in less than 30 seconds, so no pictures of this process.
XIX Brewing Company completed their Silver and Gold Holiday Beer Release. There are limited quantities available so don’t wait, go get your set today!!
Silver is a pre-dinner beer, a dry belgian-style dubbel. Gold is a sweeter imperial brown ale made with our honey and date fruit. It’s just right for that after dinner dessert.
I want to thank all of our customers, friends and family for coming out and supporting the Holiday Beer Set Release at XIX Brewing Company. It was a fun night with the Standstill Parade of Lights on main street. After bottling, there was a small amount put on tap to try before purchasing. These tap beers won’t last long, that’s for sure. I really like the touch of using wax to seal the top of each bottle. Fingers crossed this is one of many future beers brewed with Jovin’s Honey!!
Quick update on our cinnamon creamed honey: I finished the label, however, I am going back to 1/2 pint canning jars like the original creamed honey. I like the sides being straight up/down and the potential for re-use (canning, storing) when the honey is gone. I am struggling to keep these in stock at the moment. I am glad everyone is enjoying our new product!!
Thats all for now, so like my bees, stay safe and warm until the new buds of spring start showing.