Extracting Liquid Gold

[stovie]

Its that time again, and despite the poor start to the season (weather wise) we have extracted 500lb of honey...which puts us well on course to break the tonne by september.

As always, a few pics

even after two days the clearer boards still miss a few...a sharp tap sloves that problem..

A few of the hives after clearing the supers..

De-capping...

Liquid gold...X 2

This is the queen rearing hive. Deliberately overcrowded in order to produce strong queens, effectively under an imposed swarm condition. The trick is to extract the queen cells just before they begin to emerge. if you miss the emergence, you then run around the field chasing the swarm.....

You cant beat a good cup of coffee afterwards...too much cider...had to clear my head...
Just for Spamel, 'cos i know he misses it

 

[Cobweb]

Wow that's amazing!
I'd love a few hives...unfortunately I'm allergic to bee and wasp stings.
Can I ask, how do you know which are queens and which aren't? They all look alike to me

 

[Wallenstein]

Lovely

I'd also like to have a few beehives - ideally in a walled orchard somewhere

 

[stovie]

Queens are approx 50% larger than the rest. They can be difficult to spot amongst all the others. one way is to mark them with a dab of paint. It does no harm, but makes identification easier. That said, it can make you lazy, and miss another emergent queen, precipitating a swarm.

this is a destroyed queen cell found in a hive with a resident queen.

 

[match]

Bees are quite docile in a swarm, so you can effectively knock them into a big box (wherever the queen goes, the rest follow). Then 'pour' these into a new hive and you have a new colony!

Out of interest how many hives are you keeping there? My first year of beekeeping this year, and I've started from a nuc, so having to wait until next year for the honey to come flowing in

 

[Tadpole]

As a kid I used to love honey, I’d have it on everything (toast, cornflakes, custard, pork chops, everything) Now even the smell makes me heave, however I love the smell of beeswax.
How much wax do you get from each comb, and what does it take to process it, in to usable wax, for say candles or waxing thread.

 

[stovie]

well done - I do like my honey but living in a flat.....

I do have a (dumb- probably!) question re:
" if you miss the emergence, you then run around the field chasing the swarm....."

errrrmmmm then what? these zillion flying stingers don't look as if they could be netted!!

They are indeed quite docile. You wait until the queen settles, and then knock them (or clip the branch they are on) into a skep. leave for them to settle for an hour or so and transfer to an awaiting hive...

 

[stovie]

Out of interest how many hives are you keeping there? My first year of beekeeping this year, and I've started from a nuc, so having to wait until next year for the honey to come flowing in

We extracted from 9 colonies, which equated to around 27 supers.

 

[stovie]

As a kid I used to love honey, I’d have it on everything (toast, cornflakes, custard, pork chops, everything) Now even the smell makes me heave, however I love the smell of beeswax.
How much wax do you get from each comb, and what does it take to process it, in to usable wax, for say candles or waxing thread.

Not sure how much wax from each comb, but ended with around 3lb of cappings. this is put in a feeder tray and placed on top of one of the colonies, who kindly clean all that is edible, leaving just the wax. This is then rendered into managable blocks...

 

[JonnyP]

Hi Rich... We have all the stuff for bee keeping here, though I have never had anything to do with it in the past. Is it worth going into it, you reckon..?

 

[JonnyP]

Hi Rich... We have all the stuff for bee keeping here, though I have never had anything to do with it in the past. Is it worth going into it, you reckon..?

 

[JonnyP]

Hi Rich... We have all the stuff for bee keeping here, though I have never had anything to do with it in the past. Is it worth going into it, you reckon..?

One more for luck..
Whats up with this site at the mo..?

 

[stovie]

Hi Rich... We have all the stuff for bee keeping here, though I have never had anything to do with it in the past. Is it worth going into it, you reckon..?

One more for luck..
Whats up with this site at the mo..?

Three times yes...

Get in touch with your local bee society and they will set you up with a colony. Before you know it you'll be flowing.

Hope all is well with you, and the west country air agrees with you.

 

[spamel]

Nice one Stovie, nice to see the coffee pot is still going strong!

I would love to have a go at beekeeping, although maybe in a helper capacity and not the owner of a hive. I suppose it is one of those things that you have to try before you commit yourself. I do love a cheese and honey sandwich!

 

[Kepis]

I do love a cheese and honey sandwich!

Not tried that combination, Have you tried Cheddar & Golden Syrup?