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Erhmagerd Beezzsh!!!

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So, in 2017 I posted my beeventures. I have continued running down that rabbit hole and I now have two hives (Actually one, but more on that below) and work at a bee farm. I stepped up to a real two frame honey extractor and we got about 70 pounds of honey this year.  Unfortunately we lost a hive this fall, some sort of virus most likely, but hive #2 is going pretty darn well so far. I have both hives inside my chicken run, and even though we're down to two birds due to Racoonpocalypse 2019 they still keep the grass clear of the hives and seem to keep pests down as well. I do lose the odd bee here and there to snacking from the hens, but that's worth not running a weed eater around them. Working at the Bee Farm has worked out well for me, I needed something flexible that allowed for me to be sick off and on and they needed someone here and there. I don't work the fields, yet, but help run the shop and build frames and boxes and that. It's hard not to be imp
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The Cancer Update

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Ok, I figured I'd put all of this in one place. I have friends now that didn't know be pre-cancer and even though I will talk about it all day to whoever will listen there are questions popping up here and there. I thought this would be the place to put the answers. I have stage IV Follicular Lymphoma. I was diagnosed in late September 2015.   Follicular lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. It develops from B lymphocytes (white blood cells that fight infection). This type of lymphoma usually grows very slowly. It is difficult to cure but is usually kept under control for many years with treatment needed only from time-to-time. I had been feeling off for months and had gotten a sleep study in the Spring and gotten a CPAP, this made me feel much better, but then I started sliding again. I also started a blood pressure medication that summer. Anyway, I had gone in in July because I wasn't feeling super awesome and I found a lump in my neck.  I was given a
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Bees knees!

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Last month I pulled the bee frames out of the hive. This was not as traumatic as it has been in the past. Ages ago I couldn't handle bees, now I can walk through a cloud of them and don't break into a cold sweat.Anyway, I had made a DIY honey spinner, https://kiltedcraftworks.com/2015/10/03/diy-drill-powered-honey-spinner/, and it works! My wife and I spent a couple hours yesterday spinning about 20 pounds of honey out of 7 frames. The frames are in the cooler. This is the pre game setup. Action shot. Final product. Not sure if the bee fork is better or the heat gun. But once again I lost my hive. Mites again. We were on vacation and the hive got robbed, and then yellow jackets moved in. Gotta get better at keeping the hive strong. One more try next year.
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Wow, long time no post. As of Friday the 8th I start another new chapter in the life of Woodman. I'll be a full time stay at home dad and odd jobber. I've been at $Company for 8 years and it's become more than a bit tedious. We haven't had a very successful couple years in my area, so I'm cranking out the work, and it's going nowhere. After a few years of that and supervisor roulette (6 in 8 years) I'm out. My wife is doing great and we're going to see if it's worth keeping me home for a while. So far I have lined up; Giant Jenga Farmhouse Tables Picking up a butt-ton of barn wood And building bee frames I have a hive of my own now, haven't brewed beer in a couple years, and have picked up carpentry. Stay tuned.
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Hey

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Is this thing on?
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Brewing

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Last Christmas my wife (I've always disliked the DW abbreviation for a spouse. DH always sounds like Designated Husband to me, though maybe that's just as accurate.) Anyway. Last Christmas my darling wife was going to surprise me with a Groupon for a brewing kit at the local brew shop. We went to the shop to check it out and it was stuffed to the gills with people wandering around with all kinds of weird crap. The staff was over worked and there was a line at the counter. I took a few panicked looks at the glass thingies, and the plastic whatsits and the whole row of brewing kits and ran. Bad Image of what I got. . Over the next few months I did some serious online research and found out that you don't have to sacrifice a rabbit every full moon to appease the brew gods and that brewing at home actually looked quite easy. And if I got the stuff for beer I could also make cider and soda. So here rolls my birthday, and another Groupon, this one for Midwest Br
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