Today the lovely Laura came out and we collected the honey from the top box of our first hive!! it was so exciting!! - I got to help out holding the knife, brushing off bees, handing her stuff and finally getting to wear the bee netting my sister gave me.. : ) --- I took LOTS of photos for you all and thought I'd give you a step by step of the whole process...
Laura gave me a very specific supply list and I got all the stuff together we needed.
She arrived with bee suit and smoker and all the knowledge!
First step was to visit a bit then we headed out and Laura suited up and lit the smoker...
We headed for the hives... she smoked the bees just a little bit as they seemed pretty calm...
first she took off the top roof part and then the 'insulating' box that is full of straw ..then she preyed open the hives and took off the box we were gathering...
then there was some clean up of the comb on the hive we left so she could put the hive back together.
then Laura started the process of pulling out each bar and comb and scraping off the comb into the pail all while trying to not crush or piss off bees in the process I helped by brushing off bees and opening and closing the lid to keep the bees out of the comb we collected.
After we were all done we put the empty box where the bees could go back over the next 24 hours and collect any left over honey and take it back to the hive... then after that Laura re-assembled the hive and the bees seemed to settle right back down...
The next step was to take the comb back to the kitchen where we crushed it up with a potato masher and then started the straining with this clever home made honey strainer system using tape screen and two mason jars with lids : )
we also saved a bit of the comb with honey still in it ...
total is a little over a gallon of honey!! pretty exciting!! BIG HUGE THANKS to Laura!!
Wow! I LOVED seeing the whole process - amazing that you could catch all the shots and be part of the collection. Laura is indeed very talented! The honey looks absolutely gorgeous Clare! Seems that only Laura can do this without pissing off the bees and you helped - one more art form to add to your sash of accomplishments! So from last fall till now is how long it takes to collect that much am I right? Didn't the hive get put on your farm by Laura last fall? Congrats Clare & thanks Laura! xox Bee
ReplyDeleteGreat shots of the process…how lucky are you to have Laura around? And all that gorgeous honey to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteYea!! Yum! Thx for the photo essay.
ReplyDeleteAww shucks you guys! The bees did all the work, I just gave them a place to live on a beautiful farm. And I fear that wine and good company and draft horses have much more to do with my visits to the farm than luck....thanks Clare for the opportunity for so much fun!
ReplyDeletecheers,
Laura