Honey harvest #2

[Circle W]

On the 4th of July we collected honey from our hives for the very first time. The first hive yielded a little over 1.5 gallons, the second had none to take when we went inside. After hearing another local beekeeper had harvested again I decided to see if my hives were ready for collecting again. And they certainly were! The hive that produced 1.5 in July produced 6 gallons this time and the other pitched in another 1.5! The first picture is the uncapping of the honey cells. The second is 5 gallons of canned honey.

 

[dave1949]

Nice.

That's certainly a clean looking hive, which I guess from my little knowledge means your bees are very healthy.

 

[creekbend]

Nice job. Have you ever considered putting some of the Comb in the jar when canning?

 

[Knight9]

That is very impressive! :thumbsup:

 

[forgeblast]

wow looks great!

 

[J F]

Yeah, neat stuff. :thumbsup: How old are these hives? (or do they die off each year, I know zilch, obviously).

 

[Circle W]

Nice job. Have you ever considered putting some of the Comb in the jar when canning?

We thought about it but the bees have to replace the comb you take so we decided to give it back.
These hives are about a year and a half old. The hive is constantly regenerating itself. The worker bees live between 30-40 days before they die. They will build up a reserve of honey for the winter and stay inside the hive until the spring.

 

[cqaigy2]

Great looking honey! Bees are a lot of fun. How much honey do you leave on for the winter?

 

[troutsqueezer]

It's not unusual to get three harvests per year. Depending on where you are, the honey gets darker as the year progresses.

The bees won't reuse the comb if you've scraped it from the foundation. If you used an extractor and the comb is intact, you will need to freeze it to kill the wax moth eggs and store it where it can't be re-infested. I always put comb in about half my jars, it sells very well and you can jack the price up a bit too, especially with the latest Chinese honey fiasco. The leftover comb goes into candles, a worthwhile hive product.

Since you are using large-cell foundation, it's time for Apistan. Don't put in any comb back into the hive that will eventually contain honey for humans during this period.

 

[RobertBrown]

Do you any health concerns regarding the use of this synthetic pyrethroid?
Do you use it to increase production? Or to keep your bees alive?

 

[troutsqueezer]

Do you any health concerns regarding the use of this synthetic pyrethroid?
Do you use it to increase production? Or to keep your bees alive?

Fluvalinate (Apistan) is used to control varroa mites. Almost all "domesticated" bee hives have it if you don't use small cell foundation. Eventually the mites will kill a hive if not controlled, or at least render it unproductive due to reduced bee population within the hive. It is illegal to use when honey supers are placed on a hive. Usually gets used for 6 weeks in Fall and sometimes in early Spring before the nectar flow.

I have no health concerns as long as it isn't used during the nectar flows.

 

[Circle W]

Great looking honey! Bees are a lot of fun. How much honey do you leave on for the winter?

We leave everything that is in the two bottom brood boxes for them to winter on.