October 2000
The last of the winter feeders ready to be removed
October is the month when the last jobs are done on the hives before the bees are left alone over Winter, also for extracting the honey from the frames we had taken from them.
On October 1st, we removed the empty feeders from the hives having made sure the bees were well fed and, of course, that none were still in them!
Next we placed mouseguards (small zinc strips with holes in them) over
the hive entrances to deter inquisitive rodents in search of food during
the Winter from raiding the hives. The holes are large enough allow bees
in and out of the hive but not to let mice through.
So, now the bees are all tucked up for the Winter. But what shall we do with the stored frames of honey?
A frame ready to be extracted
The first job, after the frames have been inspected, is to scrape the hard, waxy top layer or "caps" from the frames - (this must be done carefully as not to damage the wax foundation) to release the honey from the comb cells. When this has been done the frames are placed in an extractor (a large, plastic container resembling a giant salad spinner) and spun! Lots of elbow grease is needed to spin the combs fast enough to fling the honey from them. It runs to the bottom of the spinner and then through a tap and filter into a large, clean plastic bucket.
Scraping
the wax caps off the frames
Spinning
the honey out in the extractor
Cleaning-up
the cappings (Mustn't waste anything).
Honey
being filtered into a large bucket
A
Bucket Full of Honey!!!
After
allowing it to settle, our final job is to weigh and measure the honey
out into sterile, glass jars.
HARVEST COMPLETE!
The empty frames or supers were still very sticky so we returned them briefly to the hives so that the bees could clean them up replenishing their energy supplies. Two days later we removed the supers and left them in peace.
Empty frames back on the hives for the bees to clean-up
I hope the bees have a good Winter.