To extract honey several sticky steps are needed. One first must get the honey frames off the hives. Sometimes the bees don't seem to mind. At other times they are very determined to keep the beekeeper (honey-taker?) out of the hive. Spring time is usually an easy time. The bees are happily flying from blooming flower to blooming flower and returning pollen and nectar to the hive. Most of the 30-60,000 bees in a hive are out working. Usually only a few guard bees are present plus a hivefull of new baby bees.
After the honey frames are taken into the house it is time for extracting. This spring, as soon as the frames were off the hives, we started uncapping the honey frames. When bees have completed the amazing process of turning nectar into honey they seal the hexagonal storage unit with wax. (A process that my mom copied when canning jelly and jams with paraffin wax.) So before we can put the frames into the extractor the seal must be removed. We use an uncapping knife. It's basically a stainless steel knife that is electrically heated to smoothly and easily melt through the wax, cutting off the seal and revealing the sticky, warm and amazingly wonderful smelling honey.
The honey oozes out of the cells. This year's spring honey was a light to medium color with a slightly fruity, light and delicious flavor.
The wax is discarded into the uncapping tank to drip and collect the honey that was in the wax. But the now glossy honey frame is ready for the spinning of the extractor. Yum.
The honey supers are then returned to the hives. Usually the bees are quite happy to get their wet sticky honey frames back. They quickly clean them, repair the wax that was damaged, and begin to refill the frames.
This weekend we hope to get our second harvest from the hives. The clover has been blooming well. The wonderful smell of honey is drifting from the hives as we drive by. It will be good to get a midsummer harvest of honey.
Today's Journey Joy - warm honey
