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I've been keeping this blog for all of my beekeeping years and I am beginning my 19th year of beekeeping in April 2024. Now there are more than 1300 posts on this blog. Please use the search bar below to search the blog for other posts on a subject in which you are interested. You can also click on the "label" at the end of a post and all posts with that label will show up. At the very bottom of this page is a list of all the labels I've used.

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I began this blog to chronicle my beekeeping experiences. I have read lots of beekeeping books, but nothing takes the place of either hands-on experience with an experienced beekeeper or good pictures of the process. I want people to have a clearer picture of what to expect in their beekeeping so I post pictures and write about my beekeeping saga here.Master Beekeeper Enjoy with me as I learn and grow as a beekeeper.

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Sunday, June 21, 2009

First Honey Harvest of 2009


Here is my daughter Valerie with the first jar of honey harvested in 2009!

Today I harvested for the first time in 2009. I had two excellent honey helpers, my daughter Valerie and my grandson Dylan. We first cut the capped honey off of the frame and let the pieces drop into the prepared pan.


Then Valerie and Dylan crushed the honey comb with their pestles.

My job was to take the honey-laden silicon mat and scrape as much honey as I could off of it and into the filter bucket.

Dylan helped with that as well. We then put the filter buckets out in the Hotlanta weather to encourage the honey to filter through. They each took home a jar of their honey harvest.


To see a more detailed view of crush and strain, visit my video on crush and strain honey harvest.
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9 comments:

  1. I wish much more crops and other bee prodacts,staw well.Best wishes

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  2. Nice lookin' honey. It is hot here too! I love your blog and am always facinated by the bees. Happy Harvest!

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  3. Linda, I love your blog. This is my first year beekeeping and I have learned so much from you! I have plastic foundation in my frames can I still use this crushing pestle method when I harvest my honey?

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  4. Lisa, you can crush and strain with plastic, but you will have to scrape the honeycomb off of the plastic. If you plan to continue using plastic, the bees won't like it without the wax coating. So if you scrape off the comb, you'll need to make a different decision about how you set up your frames next year - for example, letting them make their own comb from a starter strip or using wax foundation rather than plastic.

    Hope that helps,
    Linda T

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  5. the color of the honey looks so pure.

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  6. Looks like a very worthwhile way to spend a day - visiting with family, working together and having a sweets!

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  7. Man, your daughter is GEORGOUS!!! Great looking honey as well. Tastes good too...

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  8. Anonymous6:19 PM

    Linda,

    I am a beginning beekeeper and want to do crush and strain. What kind of foundation do you use?

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  9. I don't use foundation. I use foundationless frames with a few cells from the year before. If I'm putting in new frames, I use popsicle sticks or wax strips. To do crush and strain, the bees need wax in the frames - not plastic.

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