Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Honey!

I harvested a very small amount of honey from our ladies last week.  The first year of a new colony the bees use so much energy and resources drawing out (creating) the comb that most of the honey they make is needed as food for the winter.  Taking just two frames I left plenty for them to overwinter with, and they are still busily working to fill up every last inch of their hive with the sweet nectar of goldenrod and asters. With so few frames to extract we opted for the slow drip method.  Fortunately we have quite a few lidded beer  buckets that turned out to be just the right size for holding frames of honey as they sat in the sun for days, dripping.

Last night we hung up the straining bag, and allowed it to drip through all night.  This morning we had enough to fill one small jar of our own Frogwater Honey. Not to mention a handful of buckets, pots, and frames for the bees to lick clean (just as soon as the children are done with them).






     Label courtesy or taproot 

 Yum!

3 comments:

  1. The first honey from your hive! What a special thing! I bet you'll savor every little bit.

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    Replies
    1. We are so excited, and can't wait for more hives--and more honey, next year!

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