Honey!

After doing some research, B. decided he could take the honey from the top super of his hive.  A fellow church member also kept bees at one point and had a honey extractor which he allowed B. to borrow.  What?  You've never heard of a honey extractor?  Here is what one looks like:


It is a hand operated machine which helps to separate the honey from the comb using centrifugal force.

First B. had to remove the wax caps from the top of each little cell which was filled with honey.  He started out using this scary-looking tool which heats up and melts the tops off.  That proved to be fairly tricky, so he ended up scraping off the caps with a fork.


The frames were then loaded into the extractor.  You can see it sitting in the basked waiting to be spun around and around.  The honey is thrown out of the comb and against the wall of the extractor where it then drops down the side, through a screen, and into the collection tank in the bottom.  It is a fairly time consuming process.  And sticky.


After the honey ran down, B. was able to open the spout and fill-up the jars.


He's not quite done, but the total for this year's honey crop looks to be at least 5 pints; he still has some honey left in the extractor.  A lot of time is spent waiting for the honey to s l o w l y run through the screen into the collection tank.

There has also been much licking of fingers as people make taste tests.  It has been deemed 'Yummy'.

Comments

asian~treasures said…
Yummy, indeed! How fun!
Ann said…
What a sense of accomplishment! Wow! And there are health benefits to non-processed honey too! I do have to ask, have you had many bee stings this summer? It seems like that would be a downfall? Or am I just ignorant about honey bees? Loving learning all about your bee farm :-)
thecurryseven said…
The only person who ever got stung was B., and that was because he was the one messing in the hive. (The bees don't like that, if you can imagine.) I became so blase about the whole bee-thing that the little girls would go right up to the fence and watch the bees. As long as you didn't make the bees angry... swatting at them, etc., they left you alone.

e

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