Tuesday, July 30, 2019

harvest 2019

bee, beekeeping, escape, harvesting, honey, wax, foundationless. walter t kelly,
bee, beekeeping, escape, harvesting, honey, wax, foundationless. walter t kelly,
bee, beekeeping, escape, harvesting, honey, wax, foundationless. walter t kelly,
Click on the first photo and notice the thin stripe above the 3rd box (count up from the botttom), it's the triangular bee escape. 24 hours prior, I added the escape so that I can inspect frames above the escape without disturbing the vast majority of bees. I placed a plastic tub twenty steps away from the hive and a few remaining bees were brushed from the frame halfway between the hive and the plastic tub. Harvesting frames went so smoothly that I began to doubt why did I wear a hoodie.

Click on the second photo, this is a stunning example of comb building using foundation-less frames.  What I found unusual is that all the honey cells are completely capped.

Most likely my honey surplus will be considerably smaller than last year. In the third photo, frames are blue tape sealed inside the plastic tub and ready for the next step which is to cut out the comb.  More about this in the next blog post.

No comments: