Honey Extracting

I finally got to harvest some honey yesterday. Two hives have gotten rather tall. The top box (#6), full of honey, is awkward and dangerous to lift. Svetlana had enough ripened honey to harvest, and I took a total of 9 frames from two of the boxes. I would have taken the tenth, but the comb was built out so far that only 9 would fit in one box.

Ekaterina has many full frames, but not enough of it was ripened & capped. Unripe honey has too much moisture and will ferment, so I'll have to wait a little longer. Besides, I need to assess how much honey all the hives have so that I can decide how much to leave for the girls' winter pantry.



Joy also had some too-tall hives, so we convened for a small extraction party. Some of us have recently bought a plastic two-frame extractor, and this was its maiden voyage. Joy's husband Steve and visiting niece Jane, plus Julia and Sheri joined in the fun. Julia and Steve were already in Joy's bee yard robbing the hives when I arrived, and the rest of us started in on my box right away. That meant I didn't get to go out and document the hot and sweaty stage of the harvest.



The extractor worked well enough for a small harvest, though we weren't able to get it spinning as fast as a four-frame or larger extractor; the balance wasn't good enough. But the remaining honey goes back to the bees, so I didn't mind too much.

It was good sticky fun, with much licking of fingers and saucy jests. Comparisons were made between the two honeys. Jane seemed determined to lick up every drop off the ground tarp. Joy thoughtfully provided snacks and beverages. All too soon we were done and cleaned up. Joy and I each got about 2 gallons of liquid gold.