BEE SPITTLE!
Fore ground, yours truly de-capping honey super frames. Background, Alex's "baby," the sprayer
Removing white cappings with thermostatically controlled knife
Saturday, September 14, 2013
2013 Fall Honey Harvest
Today was a real success! We harvested the most honey ever since we began our beekeeping adventures! Happy Fall Everyone!
BEE SPITTLE!
Fore ground, yours truly de-capping honey super frames. Background, Alex's "baby," the sprayer
Removing white cappings with thermostatically controlled knife
Wax cappings drop into capping tub
12 Frame Extractor. Here is a frame de-capped, loaded and ready to go!
See the pile of cappings in the tub?
Honey Harvest Setup in Benoit Farm Shop
This extractor makes extracting a breeze! Look at that baby spin!
Yea for Honey Harvest! (Aunt Mary and Cowboy Robert)
Freshly extracted honey drips into...
Screen sits on top of this bucket. The screen removes any access wax and other bits and pieces etc.
Screen/bucket setup
Honey Bears awaiting filling
Almost done! Once honey runs through screen we are set to begin bottling (and yes, I have THAT much hair on my head!)
Partway through the bottling. We filled a few mason jars as well for at home use.
BEE SPITTLE!
Fore ground, yours truly de-capping honey super frames. Background, Alex's "baby," the sprayer
Removing white cappings with thermostatically controlled knife
Monday, September 2, 2013
End of summer and Wax Moths
We are only a few weeks away from our fall harvest. It looks like we will have nearly all the frames from both hives to harvest from. Unfortunately, with the extremely dry and hot weather, when we checked in on the girls today, from all appearances, the nectar flow must be over because there was little to no progress made from when we checked a few weeks ago. But we are still excited to be able to harvest from both hives this go around--a first for us!
Bad news, when we checked on our extra honey supers (which we keep stored away in my Dad's shop when not in use) Wax Moths had completely destroyed the comb throughout the entire box. We have never had Wax Moths before and weren't real concerned with them due in part because we are working on only 2 hives. But obviously, they are a real problem no matter how large or small your beekeeping operation may be. We had to rip all of the bees' nicely drawn comb out. It kind of made us sick to do it, as it was filled with eggs, larva and a few adult moths. Back to square 1. Looking at it as a lesson learned; next time we will have our moth crystals ready!
Of course...photos below:
Your truly!
Haha! Staged or not staged? :)
Smoke
More Smoke
Empty frames, after removing all infested comb
The yellow, powdery stuff is a byproduct of the moths
See the little brown eggs? GROSS!
Adult Wax Moth!!!
Bad news, when we checked on our extra honey supers (which we keep stored away in my Dad's shop when not in use) Wax Moths had completely destroyed the comb throughout the entire box. We have never had Wax Moths before and weren't real concerned with them due in part because we are working on only 2 hives. But obviously, they are a real problem no matter how large or small your beekeeping operation may be. We had to rip all of the bees' nicely drawn comb out. It kind of made us sick to do it, as it was filled with eggs, larva and a few adult moths. Back to square 1. Looking at it as a lesson learned; next time we will have our moth crystals ready!
Of course...photos below:
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