Keeping bees isn't always pretty.... now I know why I wear a face veil around the bees!

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Our second year begins...

Well, we are officially into our second year. Thanks to all of our investors, we have grown from 1 hive to 5 hives- located in the city. Hopefully, we will be seeing a nice honey flow at the end of June. Due to the wonderful (rainy) weather,we should see two honey flows this year- June and September-ish.

We have 2 hives set up at the Green Center in University City- they are peaceful hives and right on track to produce honey for us. One of our hives is located at a church, The Gathering, located in the Franz Park neighborhood. Although located at a church, they are the farthest away from peaceful as possible. I have been stung 3 times already this year... can't wait for the next one... Just know that it's not all fun being a beekeeper.

now I know why we should wear our face veils... keeping bees ain't always pretty!

Honey Harvest 2008

The last step to our first year of beekeeping: harvest the honey. We were able to borrow the vital tools- a honey extractor, wax melting knife, and the buckets to strain the honey- from the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association (Joe and I are card carrying members). We decided to harvest the honey in the late afternoon, which was a good and bad choice. Good because the day was beautiful, we had almost all of our family at my house to participate, and we have an open back yard which enables us to spread out. Bad because if we had started two hours earlier, we would have had every kind of bee from a 3 mile radius joining us in our harvest- the honey smell would have drawn them in, like moths to a flame.or bees to honey. Lucky for us, we waited- but not on purpose. My dad always said when you make a mistake in doing something, it should be called 'character'. Joe and I have a lot of character when it comes to our bees...

After we cut the wax caps off, we put the frame in the extractor to spin the honey out.

The extractor can hold two of those honey filled frames at once. The honey is forced out of the wax and collects in the bottom of the extractor.

After spinning, we opened the bottom to let the honey flow through a mesh filter- that removes all pieces of wax, pollen, or bee legs that may have somehow gotten into the honey. Last, we put it bottles and passed it out until it was gone. We kept the wax and melted into decorative candles. We figure we got about 30 pounds of honey from one box this year. Next year, we want to have 4 or 5 hives, so we will be in the honey for sure next season. Melissa grilled some killer pork steaks with honey BBQ sauce...mm mm....



Back to the whole 'character' thing... we were too tired after our event to clean up outside, so we left it for the next day. Right. The back yard was out of bounds for two days while the neighborhood bees took care of our little mess. Now we know for next year...

Surprise!

Well... we need to make sure our bees are ready to go for the winter. That means taking the top honey super off to ensure the girls stay in a tight bundle in the two bottom boxes for the winter. Which, by the way, should have been done about a month ago- I have just been too lazy to make the drive up to the hive. Keeping them in tighter quarters help them keep the hive warm- and hopefully ensuring their existence in the spring. So, I went to remove the top super (the one with no honey, but full of wax) and .....

It was full of honey. I was not expecting this... I am stoked!!! I am by myself... I need help...

Lucky for me, My dad and brother just happened to be spending the day on the property. They went there to cut some fallen trees and chop wood, but they got drafted as beekeepers for the day. I showed my brother, Roger, how to start the bee smoker. My dad got and empty hive box out of the barn, and I picked up the bee brush so I could gently remove 8,000 bees from the honey they had worked so hard to make. We had no idea what we were about to get into.

To remove the honey, the first step was to get the bees to go down into the hive- away from the honey and away from what I was about to do. Toward the end of the summer, when the girls have a great amount of honey made and stored, they tend to get a bit protective- which puts them in their most aggressive state of the season. We smoked them well. They filled their bellies with nectar, and retreated to the depths of the hive. Not quite enough for my comfort, but some down was better than none.
The second step is to take out the filled honey frames, one by one, and transfer them (bee free) to a covered box that the bees can't enter. We set down the empty box about 20 feet away from the hive, and took out the first frame. It was completely filled with honey and completely covered with buzzing bees. I took the bee brush and literally swept them onto the ground at the front of the hive. Of course, as soon as they hit the ground, they were in the air. Swarming around, but kinda dazed and not too aggressive. So, I then walked the empty box, put in the frame, and went back to start again. My brother- the smoker part of this- retreated about a minute into the escapade. Too many bees... So, the sweep and swarm repeated nine times, and at the end we had a full box of honey. The air was full of bees. I had no idea what to expect, but it was really peaceful. No drama, no stings, and completely amazing to experience. I thanked the girls, and put on the top cover to close up the hive. Their hive now was back to the 2 box start, and ready for the winter. Easy does it! My dad braved the whole thing with no bee veil, no covering at all- and was amazed at the subdued hive. He carried the full box of honey- it weighed close to 50 pounds with all the honey and wax- and put it into the back of my car, and I drove excitedly to show off our goods to Joey and the rest of the family. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the event... like I said- surprise! Next year, we can document it to show everyone.

The third step is to remove the honey from the wax and bottle it up. More to come on that...

Not This year...

We went to check on the honey progress- our box has no surplus honey. There goes our high expectations of passing out the best ever honey. No glory. No sweetness. Nothing.

On the up side, the bees did fill out our super with beautiful- though empty- wax comb. At least they were trying...

The bees typically need about 30 lbs. of honey in the second box for their own supply- they eat it during the winter months. They did have enough honey for themselves, so we can measure that as a success! Next year we will be off the a great head start, and we will most likely have a great surplus.

That stings...

We added our top super today- the own that the bees will fill with our honey. The day was overcast, and buy the time Melissa and I got to the hive, it was raining. Being a rookie- I thought I could just stick the box on quick and there would be no problems.with no veil. no gloves. no calming smoke.bada bing. I waited for the rain to let up,and as soon as I lifted off the cover, they struck. The hive has guard bees, and they know what they are doing. Two came straight up out of the top of the exposed frames, and bee-lined right for me. Again with the rookie moves- I had short sleeves on, which the ladies immediately flew up. I quickly walked away from the hive so as to not anger the rest of the bunch. Before I could react, my left arm was pierced and felt stingy hot. My first sting! I am now an official bee-keeper. the other sleeve was still loaded with an angry bee- her fury soon to be felt. I rolled up my sleeve and somehow did not get stung by her. I had to go back to the hive thought- I left the top off in my haste, and still hadn't put on the new super. I calmy grabbed the box, put the top on, and then placed the extension ontothe top of the exposed hive. They ladies were covered, and I got outta there fast. We will be checking back the first week of August- hopefully to take our honey.