Complimentary Blueberry Juice

Just three months ago we had yet to get our first beehive. Now, we’ve got a massive colony, a bunch of very heavy honey boxes and it’s time to extract.

It’s been a bit overwhelming to have just the one hive and see how all the changes occur. A few weeks ago we nearly lost it…I missed a check and that’s all it took for the hive to explode in population, be crowded with resources and nearly swarmed. After a split and giving them some more boxes and regular weekly checks we got them back on track. I was even lucky enough to watch our queen lay some eggs!

Already I’ve learned another lesson, to not have it stacked 5 boxes high. I’m not that tall, and that top box ended up weighing nearly 36 kilos, or 79 pounds. I might be a farmer and used to physical things and lifting heavy boxes of potatoes, but even that was a bit much for me. In the future we can extract more regularly and not have the boxes get so filled and difficult to move.

Turns out all those frames are heavy when they’re drawn out and filled with thick honey.

We ended up getting a simple manual 4-frame extractor from Dancing Bee, which seemed like the perfect unit for us and it was. I was actually most amazed at how little effort was required to get the honey out of the frames. With a small extractor, in the future we can extract specific boxes at specific times for something like spring honey or sunflower honey. It also helps with box management, as we can put the empty comb right back on the hive the next day.

There’s at least 2 more boxes, if not more, depending on how long the late season flowers last.

Wow!

This has really been an amazing and eye-opening experience to see up close. All the bees, all the things they do, and seeing it all for the first time. It’s even more amazing to taste it and wonder how all those tiny insects could collect so much nectar, and work their magic to preserve it.

The next step is to jar it all, and then back for more!

Graham

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