Beeswax clarified

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We have some honeycomb from which we had already removed the honey. I read up all I could about clarifying and extracting the wax and almost gave up trying. It all seemed too difficult, but was very easy after all. I tied the combs up in the top of a pair of pantyhose, put it in a pot of water placed over another pot of water to create a double boiler. I boiled the wax until the wax had melted and leaked out of the pantyhose leaving the crud and rubbish behind, easy to lift out and put in the bin.  After cooling overnight I had this beautiful yellow disk of beeswax floating on the water in the pot, ready for various projects from moisturiser cream, furniture polish to coating my cheeses. It smells so good, too.

Autumn Magic in Dunedin

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Our first autumn in Dunedin. Charming old buildings and houses, streets lined with golden trees and the spectacular Botanic Gardens.  Dunedin has very eye catching trees, none of the names known to us. We will ask and find out about them when we can.  I felt a compelling need to share these pictures, taken in the Botanic Gardens!

I also had a look at what was still producing in the Herb Garden. I could identify the sage, poppies and verbena the rest were sniffed ans nibbled at.

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1833 – Early maturing, high producing Coturnix coturnix

2014-04-26 - No 18 - 5 2014-04-26 - No 33 - 12014-04-26 - Eggs from No 33 - 2

Following the phenomenon of exceptional early maturity experienced in two of my Coturnix coturnix birds, and many research projects that support a positive correlation between early sexual maturity and total production, I have decided to commence with a new breeding line i.e 1833. The reason for the name is that the Male, No 18, commenced crowing as early as 18 days of age and the Female, No 33, laid her first egg  at 33 days of age and repeated it on days 34 and 35, where we are at now. The family tree of the two birds, include Italian, White and Tibetans on the Male side and Pharoah and Tibetan on the Female side – so a real out cross would result from this mating with hopeful maximal heterozygosity.  The male also comes from a group of Italian females that produced exceptionally and at one stage produced 100% for 18 weeks in a row.  All these Italian hens are still producing at the 90%+ level and is in excess of one year of age. It would be the intention to continue to select for early maturity and total production as primary selection criteria.  The Male and Female respectively weighs 170 and 185 g at five weeks of age, and I shall guard to breed this line too big, aiming at females of 220 – 250 g and males 200 – 230 g. Very early days, but exiting times and I cannot wait for the first progeny of this mating, and as No 33 is already laying eggs, it wont be long.

 

Hen lays egg at 33 days of age

2014-04-24 - Egg by 33 day old hen

Coturnix coturnix Quails never fail to impress. Today I have had a hen laying an egg while she is only 33 days of age.  What the reason or significance of the early maturity is, I do not know. This hen is also from the same batch that produced a Male crowing at 18 days of age.