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here we go again
. I’m harvesting honey today. The hard way. Like last time. That’s what happens when you let the bees build their own foundation comb. Since the comb is built mostly perpendicular to the frames, I basically need to cut it out and mash it to get the honey out. Beeswax candles, anyone? I’m generating way more beeswax from this honey harvesting event than normal beekeepers would. Normal beekeepers, I’m told, use plastic or wax foundation in their honey supers so that the bees will build where they’re supposed to. Hm. Well. I wanted to try a different technique that I heard about. I got mixed results. One of my honey…
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what not to do
. I made myself a cup of garden tea this morning, and I thought it would be a great idea to throw in a bit of honeycomb, since I’ve got two honey supers sitting in my kitchen. I grabbed my trusty hive tool and sliced off a bit of comb to throw in, and mixed it all up. Well. Not the best idea. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you like flecks of wax in your tea. Oops. I ended up straining it a few times, and did drink it with tiny particles floating in it. Live and learn. .
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fire power
. After Thursday’s fiasco, I wanted to make sure I could light a good fire in my smoker no matter what. So – I borrowed a fire tool from my hubby. Propane torch, complete with sparker. No need for matches, even…. very nice piece of equipment. It did a great job of lighting my smoker – look at that smoke: These pictures are from yesterday, when I went to get the honey supers. I have two mostly-full supers now sitting in my kitchen waiting for me to harvest the honey from them. One will need to be harvested like the first time, and the other, I think I will actually…
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don’t wash your hive tool
This here is a scrap piece of metal I found in my 'bee bag' that holds my various beekeeping tools. It's a good thing it was there, because I somehow ended up out at the hives without my trusty hive tool.
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bee escape
Setting up the bee escape and waiting for a few days allows the beekeeper to come back and take the box of honey without having to shake out the bees and piss them off. Or use a bee brush on the frames, which I can't do anyway since the comb is not actually in the individual frames. It's kind of meandering through the honey super. So I need a bee escape. And I need to go check it soon, since it's been on there for a bit. Here's a pic of the escape:
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new ideas
Here's the thing about beekeepers: put any two together, and you've got five different ways of doing things. My mom was talking to a beekeeper at the Port Colborne Market and happened to mention that her daughter was a beekeeper. Well, there's another thing about beekeepers: once you get them going, it's hard for them to stop talking about bees.