Time to extract some honey........

J's Bees~

Jason lifting Italian box off of the hive

Finally getting some honey out of the hives. Jason took off two boxes this morning and had to smoke the bees so they would move away. That didn't seem to work out to well. The bees are reluctant to leave the honey so Jason has put them on a board that will allow them to exit the box but not allowed to return. There is a screen on the bottom of this board, making it hard for the bees to return. Later today we'll start pulling the frames out and getting them to the extraction area, which is in the garage.

We can only do one hive at a time so perhaps tomorrow we can work on the carniolans bees, which is Jason's hive. Looks like we might be able to get quite a bit of honey from these two boxes. 
Meanwhile, the rabbit brush is really coming on strong now so the bees will have something to forage on, especially after all this lovely rain we got. 


Jason ended up pulling the frames one by one and sweeping off the bees. From there he would bring them over and set them into a  tub covered by a wet blanket. The tub was sitting on the bucket of the tractor. We got 14 frames in all.

Jason moving his frames over to the bucket

  Jason will now scrape the caps off the frames to get the honey flow going and then sets them in the honey extractor. I think he can put 2 frames in at a time.  He spins it for about 70 revolutions. Then, he changes them around and repeats the spinning so that all the honey has been extracted. 

Jason cutting the cap off of the frame

What we are wondering now is what type of pollen do the bees go for around here?

I have heard alfalfa fields adjacent to hives typically have a lighter colored honey and the taste is a bit sweeter. The first batch of honey we have is a great rich taste. It has a taste all of its own. If all goes well, we'll get the two other boxes done today and then we'll wait til next year to try it again. In the meantime, the bees are buzzing away in the garden.

Honey being released out of the bucket

I planted a lot of perennials and we fed the hummingbirds all summer long but my garden is very close to the hives and they have been real busy working in the garden in the morning hours.Honey bees also like the Chrysothamnus nauseosus (Rabbitbrush). 
Most ranchers try and get rid of Rabbit brush because it can be very invasive and spread.
Since we have no livestock needing grasses, we'll just continue to keep Rabbit brush on the property. tj