First honey harvest
susie
Member Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭✭
Getting down right chilly so it was time to pull the supers. The super is the top half of the hive that has a screen that keeps the queen out so no eggs are laid in it. The deep is where the queen lives, and lays brood. It is the bottom half. In the winter you want the bees keeping the deep stocked in honey to feed the queen and brood so you pull the supers.
One hive was shaded this summer, one had a lot more sun. The one in the sun produced so much that I had honey pooling on the screen and dripping down into the deep. Each deep hold ten frames. Each hive started with five frames of bees and comb and five empty frames. Both are now full of bees and each have ten frames with comb. I will slowly inch the shaded hive into the sun to see if this helps it produce more next year.
Here is the harvest from the sunnyside hive. Looking at nine full frames with about 50 lbs of honey. Son-in-law has spoken for a gallon to make mead. Remaining honey will be split between myself and the four kids.
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Grandpa slowly cut the little tree at the base with a small buck saw while dad held the top. They gently laid the tree on the ground. Dad held light and Grandpa commenced to beat on nail keg with a stick in a timed rhythm. Out of this mass of bees marched this big old fat Queen bee and the rest followed her right into that nail keg until the last one was inside. Grandpa stuck that small nail keg under his arm and off we went. I guess I was around ten and I had never seen any thing like it.
When Grandpa harvested the honey he did not even use a mask or mesh for protection. Sometimes a couple would sting him in the hand and he use to say they will not sting you unless you are afraid of them.
One year I remember he had three hives near some trees that had lots of wild fox grapes in them and there was a parasite or worm in the grapes that got in the hives and destroyed all three. He was devastated. He loved those bees almost as much as his work horse Maggie. He use to feed the bees Horehound Candy in winter time to supplement their food. As I recall it was yellowish/oblong and kind of looked like a Ludens cough drop. -------------------Ray
I haven't even checked the deep to see how the queen is doing her job. There are no beekeepers in the vicinity as far as I know (2 mile bee radius) so I assume they had all they needed without competition from humans, only wild bees that might be in the area.
I am lucky in that I had at least an acre of white clover and other wild flowers growing throughout the summer. Still have white clover growing at the moment as well as all manner of fall wildflowers. The honey is very light colored and has a distinctive taste reminiscent of mint for some reason. They may have overindulged in the flower bed I planted that had catmint and sage. Lol.
Looks like I will be able to harvest enough propolis to make two tinctures, one oil based and one made with Everclear.
@4205raymond what an awesome memory. I haven't gotten brave enough to open and extract without a bee hazmat suit. The one time I have been stung was when I was near the hives and one bee got stuck in my hair. I tried to get it by shaking my head. No luck so I had to feel around and locate it which made it go defensive. I learned that a ponytail or cap was my friend when near the hives.
I have been stung many times but never when I was helping tend hives. According to one friend who was a full time bee keeper in California for several years, working for an operator so big he owned multiple semis to haul his bees around for pollination purposes, once you get stung enough times your body gets used to the bee venom and you get stung and you don't even have a red mark where you were stung. I told him I was happy for him but I was never going to get stung enough to find out if he was correct!!
I remember one day helping Grandpa thin corn in the corn rows and it was really hot. He had about seven hives set up at edge of cornfield with a clover field on other side of hives. I went to house to get a drink of cold spring water and passed a little to close to hives. At that time I was still a little afraid of the bees and this one bee had me in his sights. I swear they really can sense if you are afraid of them. It was like he was the squadron leader and about ten more followed him right into my neck and left shoulder. I screamed and hollered like I was dying and Grandpa came a running. He was afraid a snake had bit me. He grabbed some red clay out of a mud hole and made a mud pack for my neck and shoulder. It really took the sting out. Before that he pulled all the stingers out. As I understand it, they die after they sting you. Sometimes Grandpa would take out a chaw of tobacco and use it like a mud pack. Works the same way if you hold it on.
I would say as I got a little older I became less and less afraid of the bees and you start to build up a immunity to the stinging. I really do think the bees know if you are afraid of them and if you are afraid you best stay away from them.------------------------Ray
Combat Vet VN
D.A.V Life Member
Where I live in a rural Amish area there are many bee keepers and we do have a lot of honey bees tending the flora around my property. I have always had a way with bees of most types. I can get very close to hives and nests without any retribution. One exception is those darn yellow jackets! Over my life I bet I have been stung many hundreds of times and 99% are from those dang yellow stripped bastages!
Our local Family Farm & Home store sells all of the Bee keeper hardware and supply's including the bees themselves. I have been tempted giving it a try but as I said earlier, there are a lot of area keepers. Maybe will stick my neck out anyway! You are an inspiration Susie!