For Want of a Nail.......

At Young Harris Beekeeping Institute this year, I heard some of the people who were taking the Certified Beekeeper exam comment that there was a question on the exam about how many nails do you need to put together a frame? One might think 8 - two at either end of the top bar (4) and two at either end of the bottom bar (4), but if you gave that answer, you would not be right.

The real answer is 10: two at either end of the top bar, two at either end of the bottom bar and one on each side of the end bar going from the end bar sideways into the top bar. If you have glued the frame together and used that 9th and 10th nail, your frame should stay together well.

Unfortunately yesterday while inspecting, I tried to free a frame built last year from the propolis glueing it to the hive box. The picture below was the result. The top bar pried from the propolis, pulled up on its own and separated from the end bar. This is a good object lesson for me - last year I didn't glue my frames and I only used 8 nails on most of them.


Much to the bees' displeasure, I pulled out my trusty hammer and nailed it back together but didn't add the 9th and 10th nail (didn't want to disturb the girls even more), but I have learned my lesson - never put together a frame without glue and with only 8 nails!



The old nursery rhyme says it best:

"For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail."

Benjamin Franklin even included a version of this rhyme in his Poor Richard's Almanac.

The Best Part of Young Harris

Obviously the best part of the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute is sharing information and getting to know beekeepers from Georgia and surrounding states.

Here's my fun lunch group from the last day. We had a great time at the lunches. (The food leaves something to be desired but the company is well worth hanging out in the cafeteria.) We all shared the experience of the day with each other. I didn't take pictures at the most fun event which was the shrimp boil held at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds on Friday night. The food is really delicious there and the people are all more relaxed because we're through with all the tests.



Tests? Yes, the Beekeeping Institute is put on by the University of Georgia and The Young Harris College. Most people come to try to get certification at some level. You can take the beginner level - which is Certified Beekeeper. That's what I did last year. The next level is Journeyman (must have two years of beekeeping under your belt) followed by Master Beekeeper and Certified Master Craftsman Beekeeper (those two take at least five years). I believe that Bill Owens is the only Certified Master Craftsman Beekeeper in the state of Georgia. Also available at Young Harris Beekeeping Institute is a class to certify Welsh Honey Judges.

I took the Journeyman tests both written and practical and turned in my proof of the required five public service credits I had earned.

I sweated bullets. I was pretty sure I had passed the written test, but the practical test included some entomology that threw me for a loop. So I wasn't feeling very hopeful as I sat down at the end-of-the-institute convocation.

When Dr. Delaplane called out the name of the person who had passed the Journeyman level, I was not that person, so I sat back in my chair and thought, "OK, maybe I'll try again next year."

Then after a pause, I heard Dr. Delaplane announce, "And Linda Tillman." I was thrilled. He commented that this blog influenced my certification, so thank you to all of you who come to read about my beekeeping adventures and comment on my efforts.



I keep a statcounter on the numbers of people who visit each day and now it averages 300/day from all over the world. Since January 1, 2007, Google reports that 1,989 people have watched my video on crush and strain harvesting and 2,848 people have watched the one on how to make a solar wax melter. Thank you all for your interest and for visiting so often.



I also entered the photograph below in the photography section of the honey show and it won second place. What a great day for me all the way around!

How to Light a Smoker

The smoker is a metal, spouted container with a hinged lid and a bellows attached. We build a small fire in the smoker with the plan to create a cool smoke that will cause the bees to react by gorging themselves with honey. Beekeepers say that the bees think there's a forest fire and go to ingest the honey to remove it from the hive.

I don't like to smoke the bees. They are upset by smoking and they take a while to recover from the smoke. In addition the smoke affects the honey in the hive. I do always light the smoker when I am going to inspect the hives. You never know when a hive will be cantankerous -- upset by the weather, the loss of the queen, your bad timing, whatever. I want to be prepared to distract them if I am liable to be stung unreasonably.

There are so many hard parts in lighting a smoker. This is the beginning of my third year in beekeeping and I still find it difficult. When I went to the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute last spring, I found the first part of lighting the smoker (lighting the lighter to light the smoker) to be the hardest part!

I can't light a cigarette lighter - my thumb just rolls on the mechanism and nothing happens. I'm not fast enough. The solution for me has been the hand held propane lighter. It's simple to use and easy to light.


There are lots of fuels used to light the smoker. The fuel needs to be one that will release a cool smoke. Most people in Georgia use wads of pine needles. Others use burlap cut into strips and rolled up. Leaves provide smoker fuel. Some of the bee catalog companies sell fuel for the smokers. Sometimes it is pressed cotton , sometimes it is wood pellets, sometimes baling twine.

The goal is not only to light the smoker but to keep it lit. A friend of mine uses cedar chips for hamsters. I find cedar hard to keep lit, but she swears by it. Virginia Webb (a well-known Georgia beekeeper) uses wood chips and puts some in the bottom, lights them and keeps feeding the chips. Bob Binnie (president of the GA beekeepers Association) uses Dadant pellets. Bob starts his smoker with a wadded up paper towel and then feeds in the pellets.

A by-product of using the solar wax melter is the wax impregnated paper towel filter through which the melted wax drips into the collection container. I keep the paper towel filter infused with melted wax residue on hand to be a smoker fire starter, more powerful than the plain paper towel that Bob uses.



Once you've lit the smoker, the main challenge is to keep it lit. To do so, one must remember to pump the bellows every once in a while to keep the fire burning or at least smoldering and providing smoke going up the chimney to use on the bees as needed. I said "one must" because I always forget about the smoker - I rarely use it and it often goes out before I am finished with my inspection.

There are some pictures from some earlier posts on learning to light the smoker here and here.

Young Harris Beekeeping Institute and Bill Owens' Demonstration of Hiving a Package

I came home today from a wonderful five days in the N Georgia mountains. On Friday and Saturday I took part in the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute, sponsored by the University of Georgia Entomology Department. This year marked the 16th year of the Institute.

There are several learning tracks one can take. Since this is my first year at the Institute, I took the beginner courses and sat for the exam to attain the certificate for Certified Beekeeper. It involved a practical exam as well as a written exam. This wasn't easy. Lots of material was new to me and I felt very challenged. I am thrilled to say, "I PASSED!" I am now a Certified Georgia Beekeeper.

The next level (Journeyman) is even more challenging, but I'll probably try for it next year or the year after.

There were presentations all day long both days. The first day I went to a wonderful demonstration of how to hive a package of bees. It was given by Bill Owens, a Certified Master Craftsman Beekeeper (the very highest rank you can attain). Click on the album to see the pictures and read the descriptions of what we learned.