While working through a mature hive, cleaning out burr comb, etc., I discovered that this hive had an abundance of early honey.  As it was mostly from burr comb and an irregular "free form" comb, I cut it out so I could replace the broken frame that was the source of the mess.

Once I brought it home, I cut out the comb with the thought that I would press it and take out the honey.  I didn't want any comb honey right now. 

So I thought, why not just cut it into a 1 gallon freezer bag and put it into hot water.  The idea is that the honey would sink to the bottom.  I could then snip the bottom of the bag and let the honey drain out, and deal with the wax later.  Full gallery below.

Now that was easy!  From here, I put the bag-o-honey over the jar, supported it with some chop sticks, and clipped the end of the bag.  Out came the warm honey.  This seemed too easy.  

I know some of you beekeepers out there, who are as frugal as I am, are probably saying to yourself:  "Tim, you wasted a perfectly good plastic bag!"  And you know, you are right.  I will take the bags, put these in the freezer and dig out the wax later, then put them in the recycling bin.

Until next time, see you around the hive.
tim

One of the things I like about beekeeping is the experimenting. Hopefully never at the cost of the lives of the bees!

This year I am trying the 'D' frames (from Kelly's: http://www.kelleybees.com). These are supposed to replicate the process the bees use in a 'top bar' hive (Maybe I'll try that next year).

On the whole, I'm very pleased. Especially if you like comb honey, you will find the D frames a wonderful alternative to the thin foundation, since the bees do a great job of drawing out the comb their way. If you are a perfectionist, you will want to skip this method entirely.

The key is taking some old wax and prepping the inside top, bottom and sides with some bees wax. I took a small block and just rubbed it on generously.

The bees then drew out the wax and filled and capped. But as you can see, the girls decided that one side needed to be deeper than the other.

I will definitely continue this method in the future for comb honey. It's a little messy, but I like that all the wax is from the bees in that particular hive. This helps me understand the strength and work ethic of that particular hive.

And the taste, as always, never disappoints!

Until next time, see you around the hive!

Tim

P.S.  Found this lovely reflection during this writing.  Enjoy!  From Odes of Solomon (Hebrew Christian text from the beginning of the 2nd century) No. 30 (trans.©James Charlesworth, rev.) 

Fill for yourselves water from the living spring of the Lord, (Jn 4,10; 7,3) because it has been opened for you. 

And come all you thirsty and take a drink, and rest beside the spring of the Lord, 
because it is pleasing and sparkling, and perpetually pleases the self. 

For more refreshing is its water than honey, and the honeycomb of bees is not to be compared with it; (cf. Ps 18[19],11) 

Because it flowed from the lips of the Lord, and it took its name from the heart of the Lord. 

And it came boundless and invisible,and until it appeared they knew it not. 
Blessed are they who have drunk from it, and have have quenched their thirst! 

Amen!

At one time, I was a new  beekeeper.  I think I was 12 when I got my first hive over on 22d Street in my parent's back yard.  I got the bug because my neighbors got a hive they had captured out of a barn.

So yesterday I had the opportunity and the rare pleasure of introducing my friend Yettie to the bees of suburban Loami.  I hope you get to do this as well this year.

Yettie wanted to see the inside of the hive and learn about what the bees were up to on a nice summer day.

I wanted to see why the girls were spastically producing so much honey all of a sudden.  And then we took one frame off for tasting!

We covered the basics of the hive: from the parts of the hive body to the frames and cells.  It reminds me of the history of guilds and how knowledge was passed on in those organizations.

It was fun pointing out the various items to Yettie and showing how the bees were moving.  Even showing the equipment and tools and patterns was great fun.

One of the things I realized while talking with Yettie, was that I take many aspects of beekeeping for granted.

For example, when the hive is opened, I'm listening to the hive.  It's hard to describe but I can tell when the bees are "angry" or settled by their sound.  Similarly, the smell of the hive tells me about it's general health and the state of their production.  I'm sniffing for sour smells that might tell me that there's foul brood or mouse urine, or some other nasty element that's afoot. And of course, I'm always looking for the dreaded varroa mites!

In this picture from a few years ago, my friend, Dave, is helping me retrieve a swarm from out in front of my house.  Since then, I've captured several swarms on my own. And shown a few others how to do this as well.

So there have been many bee-keeper mentors in my life and I have been working toward helping new beekeepers get started or get to the next step.

When I got back into beekeeping, LLBK set me up with new bees, training, hardware, etc.  The cost of the hobby was insignificant compared to all the help and free advice I got from these dedicated people.

Now yesterday, I was scanning through facebook when I saw that one of the beekeepers I had worked with a few years ago was tearing apart a barn to save a hive! 

I can't tell you how satisfied (and proud)  I felt seeing Cynthia's work unfold.

Looks like Cynthia and Matt are well on their way to showing the next beekeepers how to do it.

So my question for you is:  Who have you helped get started in beekeeping?  What are you doing to show the next generation or the neighbor who's always asking questions about your bees, how to get into this very rewarding hobby?

My wish for you is that you will pass the love of beekeeping on to others.

Until next time, we will see you around the hive.

tim

First, let me apologize for the infrequency of posts over the last few months.  I keep waiting for the news to get better, which I'll go into in a later post.  But winter SEEMS to be over here in Central Illinois, but I don't want to be hasty.

I saw this article from National Geographic, and had to re-post it for everyone's delight and amazement.  I'm also posting two links from the article, that are also a good read.  So as you check your hives in the coming (eventual) warm weather, zip up!

While we've all been stung many times, I have to report that I have never intentionally had a bee sting me.  A friend who has MS reports that bee stings give some relief from her symptoms.

So, why would you intentionally have bees sting you?  Why, to measure the relative painfulness of the sting vis-a-vis your particular body part.

Thankfully, that's what college students are for:  This alert young lad decided he would subject his body to our stinging friends over a period of a few weeks, and gauge the stings from 1-10. 

And the accompanying article relates, this young lad decided to find out which parts were most sensitive.  No REAL surprises, but some interesting results.This is a quick and fun read, especially if you've had some surprising stings yourself over the years.  Be sure to click through to the links on the article.

If you have a moment, share a comment about your "best" or "worst" sting you've encountered.

Just to be fair, I'm posting "My Most Embarrassing Sting" to encourage you to share your story in our comments section.

Until next time, which won't be that far away, and when I'll report on how my bees did over the winter, keep 'em flying!

A sad day this week when the weather warmed to 50 degrees and I went to check on my hives: Two colonies down due to the weather.  I'm hoping the others don't succumb.

The girls had food, but I'm guessing the population wasn't sufficient to keep the hive warm enough during the protracted cold spell known as the 2014 Winter Vortex. 

Details.  The bees shifted a bit, but had their heads in the comb. 

I had put candy boards on this hive, late this fall.  The board still had plenty of candy on it when I checked the hive. It did not look as if it had been touched, really.

The bees had decent stores in the late fall, but not a lot.  I did not take any honey from this hive as it was a new colony.  Their population was a bit  lower than I like. 

Lesson Learned.
1. In hind sight, I should have combined these with the other colony I lost. That would have  saved both.  But who can predict the weather?
2. The other idea would have been to boost the population in the fall.  Frankly, I'm not a very good judge of how much is enough, other than going by weight.  But on the newer colony, I should have simply done it. 

Until next time, see you around the hive!
tim