The Honey Factory

[itsasmallfarm]

They produce a small olive.

no way! i never knew we could grow olives in north America (or a type of olive) that is.

but then again am on the cold prairies and my bees are by the boreal forest. we don't get tropical plants here to grow.

 

[R2elk]

I don't think it will grow near my bees then, as there right next to the boreal forest, last time i checked it was zone 3a or b but really cool, as i never knew olives grew here (or a type could)

Russian Olives would grow there but most states have declared them to be a noxious weed. I don't believe anyone sells them online because of that designation.

 

[R2elk]

The bees found the irises.

 

[R2elk]

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I don't think it will grow near my bees then, as there right next to the boreal forest, last time i checked it was zone 3a or b but really cool, as i never knew olives grew here (or a type could)

Well, not sure to what plant you are referring now, but Sunchokes of Fartichokes are hardy. They can certainly grow in zone 3. The above ground part of the plant dies in fall but the rhizome survives and regrows in the next spring.
And Autumn Olives… once »contracted« its difficult to get rid of them! They grow and spread fast. Even the vicious West Virginia Deer can't control them. Its not really an olive, i guess they have been nicknamed that way because the little berries resemble tiny olives and, similar to olives the fruit is more stone then fruit-flesh. But tasty and loaded with vitamins.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Russian Olives would grow there but most states have declared them to be a noxious weed. I don't believe anyone sells them online because of that designation.

Nobody needs to sell them here! They grow everywhere. They are an invasive species and are really hard to control:
https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/publications-forms/documents/autumn-olive.pdf
But they have their benefits too: They produce flowers during the whole season and apparently produce plenty of nectar. For me they prevent my soaking wet hill-site from sliding. In the future, after i have improved the drainage i like to replace them slowly with fruit-trees and berry shrubs, turning my hill into an Orchard meadow.
I think Russian Olives is just another word for the same plant.

 

[R2elk]

Nobody needs to sell them here! They grow everywhere. They are an invasive species and are really hard to control:
https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/publications-forms/documents/autumn-olive.pdf
But they have their benefits too: They produce flowers during the whole season and apparently produce plenty of nectar. For me they prevent my soaking wet hill-site from sliding. In the future, after i have improved the drainage i like to replace them slowly with fruit-trees and berry shrubs, turning my hill into an Orchard meadow.
I think Russian Olives is just another word for the same plant.

There is a difference. Russian olives thankfully only bloom for about 3 weeks. Smells like stinkum. Not good for my allergies.

 

[WallyG74]

Nobody needs to sell them here! They grow everywhere. They are an invasive species and are really hard to control:

Same thing is said about the Chinese Talo here. Bees love talo. I have a couple on my place but they don’t really seem to be invading anything. As a matter of fact, I tried to transplant a sprout last year and it died!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well, that is embarrassing! - It seems i was ripped off two years ago when i bought my first bee-hives. Yesterday i started to sand down my hive boxes, finished two bases, one brood-box and two honey-supers when i noticed that next brood-box was covered in an unusual thick layer of paint, so thick that my 80 grade paper clogged up immediately and i had to switch to the coarsest paper i had, grade 25. Then the paint started to create little "worms":

After a lot of peeling and sanding a big chunk of stuff came off the box and revealed this:

The next brood-box had the same layer of thick paint applied and then one of its corners came off:

So apparently both boxes have been damaged by termites and before selling them they were patched up with some "stuff" and covered in a thick layer of paint to hide the damage. Now i know how the water and the cold air came into the hive…

@R2elk - i assume those boxes are beyond repair and should only be used to store unused frames in my garage, right?
Dang, i'm down to two brood boxes now and will receive a nuc and a package of bees withing the next two weeks, guess i will startup both hives with one box only then…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

There is a difference. Russian olives thankfully only bloom for about 3 weeks. Smells like stinkum. Not good for my allergies.

You are right, Russian Olives are actually Olives that can be harvested for oil.