Honey harvest!

Today was a big bee day. I headed to A-Z Hardware in Grass Valley where I saw a powdered sugar treatment demonstration for Varroa mites, then afterward headed to the honey house where I harvested my honey. Below is a picture of the honey super with frames of capped honey.

Above is the uncapping tub. This is where the wax cap is removed to expose the cells of honey. As you can see, it’s a messy, sticky, honey and waxy mess. The tub has holes where the honey drains so there is no waste.

 

This is the inside of the extractor. Three frames in, seven more to go.

 

And here is the honey! It’s strained through two different sized mesh to remove any wax, clumps of pollen and bee debris.

 

And here is my bucket of honey! I harvested approximatey two gallons of honey from one honey super. I can’t get over how dark it is! Now it’s time to purchase jars and design my label.

The experience of harvesting honey can be summarized in one word, HOT. Literally! The honey house is kept over 90 degrees so the wax is easy to cut and the honey can flow effortlessly. It took me two hours to extract one honey super and clean the equipment. Imagine working in a sauna and you will know what the conditions were like. I was completely drenched from head to toe and probably dropped a few pounds of water weight before I was done. To make matters worse, the honey house had many bees inside and I was stung three times!

When I returned home I put the honey super back on the hive where the bees will keep busy cleaning up the frames and repairing the honeycomb. At this point I was tired and didn’t take the time to light my smoker so the bees were on high alert when I opened the hive. Ended the day with one more sting, four total for the day…an all time high!