Visit to beekeeper's hives today

Took camera to get some piccies of part of the honey process.Hope you find them interesting.
1) A frame of cells waxed over - full of honey, suprisingly heavy

2)combing to break open the cells after the wax has been sawn off

3) 2 frames in a centrifugal drum,turn handle so that honey is forced out to the sides of the vessel



4) vessel with lever opened to fill a 1lb jar of honey





5)
Bees feasting on cut away wax with a little honey still left on.They will take it back to the hive and start again!!


6) And here's the Queen. In the middle, just below an open cell being prepared for her.
My apolgies for imperfect presentation. Hope it makes sense. Spruce, probably best if you do NOT look!

 

Oh wow Jenny

Spruce will think you've been playing away

 

Queen bees are allowed to do that sort of thing.

 

Lovely pictures Jenny. Bees are amazing creatures, aren't they?

 

Yes Sheal, so smart. This guy is going to give a techie talk to our local U3A Gardening group in the Winter so I can learn more. I was surrounded by a thousand bees yesterday who were gleaning all the honey left on the waxed strips. I did not feel anxious in any way at all. Like dogs, I think they can sense that you are not a threat and will quite merrily get on with what they are there to do. And I was allowed to chew some of the honey wax and lick the comb clean !! Yummy!!

 

Very interesting Jenny, thank you.

 

I spoke with the beekeeper this morning as I had left him a homebaked loaf on his doorstep yesterday and wanted to make sure that no critters had found it before he got home. He told me of an old keepers' saying relating to the time bees swarm ( after they Queen's been mated and is looking for somewhere nice to lay her eggs in.) If they swarm now, there little chance of the babbies surviving the Winter as the males were too old and past it!!

• bees that swarm in May are worth a bale of hay
• bees that swarm in June are worth a silver spoon
• bees that swarm in July just 'ain't worth a fly

Jenny