Yum!

I took advantage of a warm day earlier this week to remove the extra honey super I'd left the bees for winter security.  They made it through the winter with good numbers, and now with a bit of pollen coming into the hive (from Red Maples, Pussy Willow, Colt's Foot) I wanted to get that honey super off before the queen decided to lay some eggs up there.  Fortunately there was no brood in the honey super, and still quite a lot of honey!  I got about 4 frames worth, and by the weight of the hive body I'd guess they still have plenty of honey in there to keep for themselves. 

We have no extractor (hoping to buy one this summer with a few friends) so for now we're letting them drip slowly.  Five gallon brew buckets by the woodstove work well--though a bit slow.  We should have a few pints of honey by next week.  I'll save one frame as a housewarming gift for the new hive of fuzzy ladies who should arrive in June.

    photo by Juniper