We all put on aprons and Donna and Dick, my new beekeeping friends noted at the end that they didn't even get honey on their aprons!
I had my camera on the macro setting for taking pictures of bees in the hives and didn't get good pictures of the day, but the one below, while fuzzy, does show Donna and Dick hard at work. Don't get me wrong, I remember Tom Sawyer - the key is to get the other person to think that work is FUN!
Dick devised his own special two handed pestle method which made the crushing go quite fast.
After we had crushed all the honey and put it in the bucket to strain, we put the bucket outside in the Hotlanta heat to begin the filtering process. We sat down for iced tea, watched the beehives on my deck, and waited. We talked bees and honey a little while - I showed them my harvest so far this year, my 18th pour wax block from last year, and the various ways you can harvest honey - chunk, cut comb, and liquid.
After a short while, we brought the bucket in and I showed them how easy it is to fill a honey jar from the honey gate on the bucket. I do think that we all had fun.
They went home with a bottle of honey that they could claim as the result of their own hard work (thanks, Tom Sawyer!).
I'll bet I could have convinced them to paint a picket fence if I had had one handy!
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Hi. I've been following your blog for about a year now. We're finally about to buy our dream piece of property but just found out no bees are allowed in residential areas. we were wondering ... on this 1-acre, mostly foresty, would it be possible to hide a hive of bees? We're in Colorado, moving to the mountains. We don't want to be dishonest but this property is perfect except for this. Thanks. Vikki at www.homesteadingbasics.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteDonna and Dick are very fortunate to get hands-on experience with you! And we're fortunate that you share it all with us.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda.
Susan L.
Ciao, I read for the first time your blog. Nice work. And it's nice to have in your hands the result of your work. Have a nice week end. Italo.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda! I missed you :) We're neighbors now lol we moved to Winder. Thanks for sharing your experience..it's very interesting.
ReplyDeleteEdit
ReplyDeleteCurtis said... ThrtnWmsFam,
I will jump in here. I am surprised that bees are "illeagle" anywhere in the US. There have been recent law written in larger cities to allow honeybees. But bee that is may, yes you can "hide" a bee hive. Do some research on topbar hives.
You could simply build a topbar hive to either look more natural or build it out of something that looks like a log i.e. sawmill cut off slabs. you could build a hive in the side of an out building or shed, the options are endless.
The only thing the bee cares about is that they stay dry when it rains and enough space to store enough honey to survive winter. All of the other "features" of bee hives are for humans. Things like removeable frames and foundation are purely for ease of harvest. The ability to over winter is a good thing but only the queen and a few bees are needed for survival. Over wintering in large numbers is good if you are interested in harvesting honey.
Visit my blog. We can get into more detail.
Plus your neighbors will never know you have a bee hive in your back yard unless you tell them or they see you working your hive. If they catch you then just pay them hush honey. :) Remember LOCAL HONEY is the best kind and you can't get any more local than your back yard.