Lughnasa Waning Artemis Moon
By Kate’s calculation we have 4.875 gallons of honey. Not bad. In terms of, say, filling up your car, 4.8 gallons doesn’t sound like much, but in terms of filling up canning jars filled with honey, it’s a lot. The following photos will give you an idea of how the day went.
The gear. I wore the white suit and the gloves for the extraction because it protects me better when the bees get defensive.
Each time I have tried to work in the hives without this essential tool, the smoker, I’ve gotten stung. Every time.
Doing the extraction. The frames with honey go in the extractor, lid up. Then they whir around and centrifugal empties them of their honey while leaving the honey comb intact. That means next year’s bees won’t have to waste energy building comb. They can go straight to honey production.
Afterward, my fastidious wife (as she referred to herself), hit the extractor with soap and water.
The lawn tractor got a workout today. Here I’ve loaded it with honey supers that now have empty frames. They go back on the hives for a couple of weeks so the bees will clean them out before storage for winter.
The bees on the parent colony just before I put back on the recently spun out frames. BTW: Kate made all the wooden ware you see here. I think it’s beautiful.
