BEEKEEPING 101 : STARTING YOUR SMOKER

So I thought it would be kinda fun to start adding a series of tutorials on how to do some of the various jobs I've either had or currently hold. For starters, it makes blogging about them MUCH easier, but also I tend to gravitate to really interesting and arcane jobs that I think you will enjoy learning about. I know I find most other people's jobs curious.

Today's entry deals with one of the basic tools of beekeeping, the smoker. When working with bees, it is important to remember that they communicate primarily by smell, and that subjecting them to a cloud of smoke gums up the receptors on their antennae. This effectively renders them deaf to alarms from other bees about your intrusion into the hive.

The construction is quite simple. Essentially, it is a tall cylinder with a bellows attached to it (on the right in the photo). As you work the bees, you fan the embers with the bellows to generate smoke from the material inside the cylinder. However, many novices end up with a smoker that constantly goes out. Here I explain an effective way to make sure you can smoke bees all day long.


STEP ONE : Add a Small Amount of Tinder

There are many schools of thought on what type of tinder to use. Here at UC Davis, we use pine shavings for our kindling, but many old time beekeepers use other materials, such as burlap, instead. The key is to find something that smokes, not burns. Do not add more than half an inch up the canister.


STEP TWO : IGNITE IT

Drop a couple of matches on the tinder and fan it with the bellows until all the material catches and bursts into flames. Try to get as much of the surface area burning as possible.



STEP THREE : SMOTHER IT

Slowly drop the in the rest of your tinder, so that you smother the flames. Fan the bellows to keep the embers beneath your kindling burning. Fill to about one inch below the lip of the smoker.



STEP FOUR : Add a Screen

Add it to the inside of the lid of your smoker. When it catches the embers your bees with thank you for it.



STEP FIVE : Top It With Grass

Smoker stopped smoking? How will you tell if the fire's gone out, or if you're just out of fuel? When the grass starts burning it will stop smelling like pine... Now close it up, and you're done.



A quick word about smoking bees, though. You want your smoke to be relatively cool, as a hot, dry smoke will harm them. Otherwise, go ahead and be liberal, it won't hurt them. So long as you add more kindling whenever you smell the grass burning, this should last you until you get tired of working.

One of those days...

Does anyone else find it ironic that the online fee for "credit protection services" caused me to exceed my credit limit?


In other news, I spoke to early about the job situations. I have an interview for Deputy Coroner next month...

Yosemite Falls

That about does it for my photos of Yosemite. I had a story about my truck overheating on Tioga Pass, but really, I think we just sort of assume by now that my car is going to do something irritating on whatever trip I got on.

Bethany and I on the footbridge just below Vernal Falls

Say Uncle...

So, my sister took her state board cosmetology license (yes, Matt, that's hair stuff ;-p) exam today. We're all very proud to announce that she passed, too! So, after nearly a year of classes and internships, she is finally qualified to hack anyone's hair off. It was a pretty grueling ordeal, since she got up at 0530 hours and didn't finish until 2pm!

Saavy readers might wonder, then, what became of 7 week old McKinzie during that time... well, I ended up watching her in what was my first completely solo newborn babysitting job ever. She's a really well behaved kid, and although I fed her most of the time, she did manage to sleep for a good four hours after her mother left. Unfortunately, the only shot I got wasn't a very good one:

Yosemite

Ok, so I sorta lost steam and forgot to finish my story. Instead of trying to tease out the last three days of my trip, I will just recap the highlights:

1. I had 14 hours to kill between meeting up Bethany in Yosemite and my departure from Mount Whitney, so I ended up getting my front brakes redone, ROTORS AND ALL in the city of Bishop. I missed out on the chance to visit the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest because of engine cooling problems. However, I did come across this monument outside of Big Pine, and immediately thought of Jerid, since it was of historic interest:




- I finally met up with the group at about 1am at the gate to Yosemite, and I spent the night in the bed of my truck staring at nearly a billion stars. I spent the entire next day on the main reason I added Yosemite to the agenda. *insert mushy couple who hasn't seen each other for months stuff*

- Part of the deal for getting the secluded campsite we did was that our group had to do a service project for the park. We ended up replacing barbecue pits with a ranger who reminded us all a lot of Toe Mater from Disney's new movie Cars. Aside from smashing my finger open on a bbq and dropping a pike on my toe, it was a fun way to spend the morning.

Hampshire Rocks!

I know I haven't even finished posting the photos from my last trip yet, but I couldn't resist going out and getting some more uncivilized hours logged in for this month. This month, I took our scout troop to Hampshire Rocks, a state park located next to The Rainbow Lodge near Lake Tahoe.

The main reason I selected this site was so that we could take a two and a half mile hike to Loch Leven Lakes, teaching the younger scouts about orienteering and map work along the way. Unfortunately, Kenny overheated just outside of the historic mining town of Auburn, which took me several hours to get diagnosed at the Chevy dealership, so one of the new dads lead the hike instead.

Despite this fact, the outing was tremendous amount of fun, and with just 4 scouts - all new boys about 11 years old- the atmosphere was condusive to getting to really know the people I was camping with. And Matt, if you can believe it, I even got offered a job :-p

I didn't get many photos of the actual locality, so I'll leave you with this last shot of the Yuba River behind our campsite:

And my blood pressure returns to normal...

So, I called the soon-to-be tenants and explained my housing situation to them. Often times I've claimed that though I have an unusually stressful life, I am somehow the luckiest bastard that walked the face of the Earth. This is one of those times.

Girl three is studying abroad in France fall quarter, and was stressing over finding a sublet.

Problem one solved. In less than 24 hours, too...

Well, That's Interesting...

It would seem that my landlord "doesn't remember" me telling him I wanted to stay in the house next year, so he leased it out to three girls.

My lease ends in two weeks.

Wonderful.

Because I hate Being Left in the Dark

Not too surprisingly, the trek back down the mountain was disorienting. The entire leg of the trip that was cloaked in darkness seemed to drag on and on as if the rangers of Inyo Nat'l Forest purposefully moved the trailhead several miles in the opposite direction to spite tired hikers.

Fortunately, the landscape was no less beautiful, and although my legs were so tired I nearly reached muscle failure the final four miles, I could not resist a few final snapshots to bring back home to you.



Trailside Meadow



Outpost Camp



This one probably needs some clarification. Look closely at the rock slab in the center of the photo. It's wedged between the roots of a fallen over tree. One can't help but wonder how smart and strong the Whitney Black bears are...



That about does it for my photos of Mount Whitney. We arrived back at the trailhead around 1800 hours, and promptly regained some of the lost calories with a juicy bacon cheeseburger and root beer before heading to bed. I didn't get a picture, but the pancakes the Whitney Portal General Store sells are outrageous! They are easily 10 inches to a foot in diameter, and I have yet to see anyone eat the whole thing in one sitting...

One Last Look

The view from the edge of the summit, back down into the Owens Valley.

Almost to the End of Day Two, So I'd Better Summit Up...

We reached the top of the mountain around 1030 hrs, which is not a fantastic rate when you consider that some trail runners can finish the whole thing in about 3 hours, but it was not a bad clip either. During part of the journey I wondered how long it took to build an 11.2 mile trail in such extreme conditions; that question was answered by the plaque above. Can you believe it only took TWO YEARS?! Incredible...



For some reason, my father doesn't look too winded in this picture...



And finally, the main reason I came on this trip: to reach the summit with my dad! See the road over my shoulder that eventually disappears? At that vanishing point is about where the city of Lone Pine is.



Now, I had told you that this trip took some interesting twists and turns. If you recall back to the legally blind man who nearly scaled Mt Muir (which is kinda bizzarre in and of itself) it might interest you to know that it was also his 50th birthday the day of this trip. Regardless, it will definitely interest you to know that he decided to commemorate the whole affair by packing up a $150 bottle of Dom Perrione champagne to the top of Mount Whitney!

Since the entire contingent was composed of engineers for Raytheon, naturally there was a huge pool betting on what altitude Mike's bottle would explode at. In the end, he won out, uncorking the beast at the apex of the mountain, and everyone in the vicinity was adequately rewarded with what is perhaps the BEST champagne I have ever tasted.

I dare say, that was the classiest birthday party I had the honor of being invited to.

Guitar Lake

Most landmarks, in my opinion, are like the constellations, in that they require some stretch of the imagination to see what the person naming them was thinking. In this case, however, it was pretty clear, even before consulting a map, that this acoustic guitar shaped lake was the infamous Guitar Lake.

One Last Shot of Trail Crest

... because every explorer needs an official looking pose to put everything to scale, and prove he was there.

Mount Muir

One overzealous member of our group tried to bag Mt Muir on his way to Whitney, but as he is legally blind, some portions of the rock scramble seemed to precarious for his taste. Perhaps if I ever return...

Trail Crest

Most backpackers make it the 6.3 miles to Trail Camp, which is also the last reliable source of water along the Whitney Trail, before they camp there for the night. Most likely, this is because at an elevation of over 12,000 feet, most people begin to experience the effects of altitude sickness, and need to spend some time acclimating to the thin air.

Of course, it could be that it is the last place to rest before the infamous 97 switchbacks as well. This grueling leg of the trip not only climbs a thousand feet in elevation over 2 miles, it also has remnants of the past snow season dancing across several portions of its upper leg. Good thing they also cut the switchbacks into sheer drop offs, too, in case the icy trails, lightheadedness and thin, dry air weren't intimidating enough for the determined hiker. I kid you not, I almost thought the old man was history a few times on that trail!

However, the view from the top of Trail Crest (the "summit" of the 97 switchbacks) is reason enough to brave the treacherous trail.



From it, you can not only see back down into the valley (the lake on the right is Consultation Lake):



but you can also see the Eastern slope of the Sierras, including the John Muir Trail:

DAY TWO

Most hikers finish the Mount Whitney Trail in 10-18 hours, and the members of our contingent left at various time intervals to reflect that range of paces. Some left as early as 10 pm the previous night, but my dad and I, seasoned veterans as we were, chose to begin our trek at the ungodly hour of 2am.

It's interesting how psychology plays such a huge role in backpacking. When you leave in the pitch black of the night, you can only focus on one thing: "Man, I hope I don't trip on something I can't see!" The thought is so pervasive that you don't realize you've been at it for several hours and already traversed half a dozen miles until the sun starts to rise, calling your attention back to the world outside the microcosm of illuminated wilderness provided by your handy mag-lite.



As you might imagine, we were both incredibly tired by this point, and most of the hiking done in the dark was a blur. (See above picture for proof...) But we had made it past Mirror Lake by sunrise, and the view was well worth the extra effort.

DAY ONE

Most of the day, beginning at 0530 hrs, was consumed by the eight hour
drive from Davis to Lone Pine. Since I essentially went to bed after having lunch with my Dad in Lone Pine, it seems like a better decision to say a few things about Mount Whitney

The mountain is the the tallest in the lower 48 states, and currently there are four ways to reach the peak. From the east, the trek takes about 6 days, and spans over 70 miles. One may also take the mountaineering route and climb up the face directly, which is by far the shortest route. There is one other lesser known path, but our group decided to take the most popular route, The Mount Whitney Trail. This path has an elevation range of 6,000 feet over the course of the 22.4 mile journey.



I tried to find the distances between the landmarks, so that I could show you an elevation profile, but that data seems to be beyond my googling skills right now, so the topo map above will have to do for now.

Interestingly, the Inyo National Forest website mentioned that so many people visit this place, that last year alone the hikers packed out 1.3 TONS of human waste! In case you were wondering, the peak is named after Josiah Whitney, chief inspector of the California Geological Survey in late 1800's when the mountain was first scaled. Prior to 1861, Mount Shasta was believed to be the tallest mountain in the United States. It stands 14,496 feet above sea level.

Like most of the Sierras, it is an absolutely breath taking place, as you will see tomorrow. Even my amateur photography skills had a difficult time taking a bad picture...

I'm HOME!

Well, folks, I made it back from my 5 day camping trip. After a nice hot shower, a shave, a few beers, and a good night's sleep, I am ready to head back to work. Like all my other seemingly simple trips, this one was packed with a lot of surprises, extremes, and generally good story telling fodder. However, unlike previous trips, I made sure to take a lot of photos, so I think I will post an account of each day for the next half a week, starting tonight.