Yesterday we pulled off the honey supers from our hives. This was not a good honey year, unfortunately. We only have 10 supers of honey instead of the usual 15. And some of these supers are not really full. This was a very windy summer with high winds for days in a row, week after week. It was difficult for the bees to get out and work the flowers. And then we also got lots of rain which washed away nectar and pollen from the flowers. One day we got 6 inches of rain in one storm! It was also a poor year for the basswood blossoms, which is one of the main flowers that goes into our honey. But - we will take what the Lord has given to us and be happy about it, and hope for a better year next year. (Beekeepers are always hoping for a better year!)
We will begin extracting the honey today and all week long.
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Harold poses by one of the hives.
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Harold is spraying BeeQuick on a felt lined hive cover. This is a strong almond smelling spray that drives the bees down into the bottom of the hive so that we can lift off the top honey supers without having to fight a lot of bees. He will place the cover over the hive and wait about 5 minutes and most of the bees will have left the super, just a few stragglers.
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We stack the supers on the back of our pickup and drive it back to the house.
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The supers are stacked on the kitchen table ready to be extracted.
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2 comments:
Seems like all the food in the garden comes at once. Same time as the honey. I'll be anxious to find out how much honey you extract.
No wonder I'm behind keeping up with your blogs. You write two a day! Good thing that you have all these tasks to keep you busy. Never a dull moment around there huh?
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