Our Backyard Bee Journey!💗🐝

[R2elk]

2 weeks ago we decided that we wanted a frame of honey that we could also harvest with the comb. So we put a frame in one of our supers without foundation. Last week nothing had been done with it. This week they are drawing it out beautifully.

If you buy wax foundation for the frames you can harvest it as comb honey. They have specific frames and inserts for comb honey including Comb Honey Cassettes and Ross Rounds.

 

[drstratton]

We've already had many days of triple digits, with more to come. We're getting to old to be standing out in the sun in 100+ degree weather as we inspect our bees. So we put up a temporary cover until we have the time and energy to build an arbor over the top of our Apiary. My husband wants grapes, I want to plant a start we took from the Wisteria that my mom gave to me. We also added a fan, set to come on when the temp hits 78°. It has really helped the bees and us to be more comfortable. They are not bearding as much as they were.

 

[drstratton]

If you buy wax foundation for the frames you can harvest it as comb honey. They have specific frames and inserts for comb honey including Comb Honey Cassettes and Ross Rounds.

I've seen that and it's something I definitely might try. Thank you for the link. I'll check it out.

 

[R2elk]

I've seen that and it's something I definitely might try. Thank you for the link. I'll check it out.

I used the comb honey cassettes when I was a kid. Mine were all wood and worked very well. Much nicer than cut comb.

 

[drstratton]

I used the comb honey cassettes when I was a kid. Mine were all wood and worked very well. Much nicer than cut comb.

I need to talk my husband into building some.

 

[drstratton]

My fun little bee watering station (it's set on a timer and gets filled with water 3x's a day) and a larger trough. Bees can use a gallon of water on hot days.

 

[drstratton]

This post finally brings us to the present.

July 11th, 2025
Yesterday we extracted our first honey. We were able to pull 13 fully capped frames. We will hopefully pull the rest in two weeks. Then we will do our 2nd mite treatment after removing all of our honey supers. We will have another nectar flow this fall. It will come from buckwheat. It makes a very dark and strong flavored honey. Not my favorite, but it's supposed to be one of the healthiest honey's.

Dale decided to remove the cappings with a heat gun. The top layer of honey was barely warm. It worked perfectly.

In our extractor!

Finally the reward of beautiful, golden and delicious honey!

We got around 3 gallons of honey or about 42 lbs. Such an amazing journey, bees are truly awe inspiring. Totally worth all of the work we put into it.

This is from the first 8 frames. 26lbs of pure honey with no sugar syrup.

 

[N F C]

June 13th

The girls are loving our Mimosa tree

View attachment 4172563View attachment 4172564

Beautiful photos Rene!

 

[N F C]

This post finally brings us to the present.

July 11th, 2025
Yesterday we extracted our first honey. We were able to pull 13 fully capped frames. We will hopefully pull the rest in two weeks. Then we will do our 2nd mite treatment after removing all of our honey supers. We will have another nectar flow this fall. It will come from buckwheat. It makes a very dark and strong flavored honey. Not my favorite, but it's supposed to be one of the healthiest honey's.

Dale decided to remove the cappings with a heat gun. The top layer of honey was barely warm. It worked perfectly.

In our extractor!

Finally the reward of beautiful, golden and delicious honey!

We got around 3 gallons of honey or about 38 lbs. Such an amazing journey, bees are truly awe inspiring. Totally worth all of the work we put into it.

This is from the first 8 frames. 26lbs of pure honey with no sugar syrup.
View attachment 4172754

Looks delicious

 

[drstratton]

Beautiful photos Rene!

Thank you Debbie!