Getting Prepped for Honey Extraction

This was a month ago, and I'm only now getting a chance to write about it. For the trap-out at Cory & Nolans, I needed some empty comb. I didn't have any, since I'm in my second year. However, I'm now putting my nucs into comb-production mode. Still I had an immediate need, so I decided to take two honey frames from Boris and Natasha, and give them another empty frame to draw out each. This will also bide me some time. Both brood nests are getting back-filled with honey. Each has a full super of honey on top. I've got to convince them to draw out a second super. Aaaugh, so much to do and so little time. So, I took two honey frames and had to extract them. It was time to get out my simple bench extractor and get reacquainted, so come harvest time, just around the corner, I'll know exactly what's going on. I can't tell you how pulling a few honey frames is a remarkable learning experience. And, guess what? You get honey out of it! Each deep frame can hold 8-9 pounds of honey. Since I'm running 9 frames in a 10-deep, my frames are in the 9-pound range.

I've eaten a lot of honey over the past year and a half. I bought nice, new comb-styled jars for my customers. But I broke out my big old used honey jars I'd gotten from Hillbilly Produce and others to take care of this extracted honey. So, while extracting, I had to first uncap the frames. Then, after uncapping, I decided it'd be smart to put the cappings in the extractor along with the frames, you know, to spin out the honey. Big mistake. What came out of the extractor was honey and wax, and all kinds of extra bits. Yes, I'd forgotten the part called straining, which comes before bottling. Good grief, I won't make this mistake again. So, I kept all of this honey from mid-April in various jars and a bowl. I waited a couple weeks, busy with other things to do. And I realized that if you let your honey sit, all of the foreign particles, wax and other bits, float to the top for easy removal. Still, I had a much better tool, a straining system and storage bucket with honey gate. I waited until Yvonne had no more patience and demanded her glass bowl back. I strained all of the honey, and then bottled it. I originally told Yvonne that this was most likely left over sugar syrup stores from when I'd fed the bees sugar syrup last fall, prepping them for winter. I should've known I was wrong. I was delighted to see this beautiful early spring "top shelf" light honey chock full of Spring 2012's pollen. So, even though I'd have to wait another month or more to do my spring harvest, I was able to put aside my first bottles ever of my very own honey. I put a sticky label on this highly prized jar, and will enjoy this first bottle by the fire on a brutally cold day in winter, remembering what a glorious Spring we've had, and my first harvest ever.