Well we didn't have much of a Spring so the bees got off to a slow start but they have made up for it the past three weeks. One of the three hives swarmed last week even though it had an empty box on top. The other two however have filled two deeps and three western boxes. The new hive has not finished capping the comb in their top box but it is time to harvest the one on the old hive.
My helper (the oldest granddaughter) looks on while I remove the inner cover. I am going to remove seven frames from the top box. I usually leave the two outside frames in the box because they are usually not fully capped.
Yep, the hive is full. They are building comb on the inner cover so I should probably check for queen cells to see if they are getting ready to swarm.
Here is a frame of honey ready to harvest.
I brush off the bees with a soft brush over the cover in front of the hive. I then move to an empty box several yards away.
I move the frames to the honey house and begin to uncap them (remove the wax caps that cover the cells). I use this uncapping fork rather then a knife. it is much slower but I only extract one box at a time.
Here are frames spinning in the extractor. The Honey is thrown to the sides then runs down to the bottom. This is a small extractor so only holds two frames at a time.
My helper and I remove the empty frames.
Seven frames yield just over two gallons of honey. Next it needs to be filtered and put into pint jars. You can see the bits of wax starting to float to the top.
We now return the wet empty frames back to the hive. In a few days we will do the other hive.
Fascinating to read about your honey harvest. I enjoyed looking at all the pictures too. I would love to keep bees here in my English garden. We have lots of lavender (a whole hedge in fact) and buddleia too. Lots of plants that bees like. I looked into it last year but was discouraged to see that the hives were £300 to buy. Is that right, do you think? What should I pay for a starter hive? Any advice appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThe bees have had a hard time over here in recent years and no-one seems to know why; however, this year there has been an encouraging upturn in their population so maybe the tide has turned.
Blessings, Star
I could actually smell it while I was looking at the photos of the wax and honey. Oh, and Little J. says " I like honey Papa Bees!"
ReplyDeleteStar, A 3 pound package of bees around here runs about $65.00 to $75.00. I assemble my own boxes and frames for additional savings.A deep and 2 Western boxes, the top and bottom board are about $200.00. You might to ask around for the beekeeping supplies , etc, from retired or hobby beekeepers. Tell friends and neighbors you are interested and inquire if anyone they know wants to sell used equipment.
ReplyDeleteOur bees had a hard time in recent years too, this year will be an average year because of the wet and chilly spring and early summer.Although there are still many cases of hives lost to colony collapse disorder,we too seem to be turning the corner~ good luck!
A.Joy & Little J, I am bringing you some honey tonight!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is very interesting...Christine
ReplyDeleteThis is WONDERFUL to read about and I've joined you as a follower so I don't miss anything... We have always been fascinated with this. We have neighbors with hives and their bees are always in my garden, SO when I buy their honey I feel it's MY HONEY too, hehe... a few years ago I had a hive in one of my HUGE old Oak trees and we TRIED to figure out a way to remove and domesticate it, BUT other than cutting the tree down it was not going to happen...
ReplyDeleteDonna