Adventures in Gardening: Be Like a Bee!

Shhhh.....don't tell them I'm coming!

After all spring and summer of checking the hive, adding on boxes, and worrying that all this effort would result in one little jar of honey, the time was here to find out how our little friends did this summer! I suited up and snuck up to the hive, maybe they wouldn't notice me as I stole their honey? Charlie is allergic to bee stings, so it was up to me to get up my nerve and do it.

Kids were nervous and hung out at a distance

The kids were pretty nervous and kept their distance. We found out this summer that Jackson is allergic to bee stings too, after he fell one one and got stung in the knee. Not a goot thing for a beekeeper!

Kristi ready to steal the honey from the unsuspecting bees

Prying open the lid is really hard to do, since the bees stick it shut with wax and propolis. At this point, I got the cold sweats and slight hyperventilation. After I pried open the top, the bees swarmed out and hung out all around me. This time, I couldn't run and scream, since I had to stay calm enough to get the first box.

Cutting out the comb

Success! The first box was about 2/3 full. It was a cut comb box, so Charlie just cut out the honey-filled comb from the frame. There were still bees on the frames, but we realized at this point that the bees thought this was OUR honey now and that they were stealing from US!! They were so docile and their only mission was to steal our honey.

Unfilled, perfect beeswax sheets

The 1/3 of the frames that were not filled with honey had perfectly formed, beautiful white beeswax. Elin promptly went inside and made a little candle with some of it. We were so awed by the work that these little creatures had done, all the while pollinating our entire neighborhood's plants and trees!

Cut comb ready to be frozen for 3 days

Here's some of the cut comb, ready to be frozen for 3 days and then packed in jars. It is so delicious, and we all kept eating pieces as we worked! Jackson is the photographer for many of these pictures.

Perfectly formed beautiful ivory honeycomb

A closeup of the perfect comb

Charlie with the heated knife uncapping the wax

Now it was time for the other 2 boxes, which were honey, not cut comb. I went to get the second box, and immediately realized there was no way I could lift it. So Charlie had to do it, allergies and all. I've never seen him run as fast as he did after grabbing that first box of honey from the hive! Here he is with the heated knife, which uncaps the wax from the comb so we could spin it out.

Here they are ready to be spun

Here's a frame, ready to be spun. I was going for a "glamour beekeeper" look in this one. What this lovely shot does not show is the honey that is completely covering us, head to toe. We felt like Pooh Bear, after dipping his paw and head in the honey pot.

Kristi and Charlie spinning the honey and uncapping the wax

Here we are spinning the honey. The big metal pot has a hand crank and some baskets inside, you put the frames in there and then it throws the honey out of the comb

Charlie washing down the honey spinner

Charlie cleaning up the spinner afterwards. We found out that honey that sits at the bottom of one for a day smells really bad, especially when it is dumped out in the back of your car. Like honey beer gone bad.

Here it is, before straining

Here's the honey as it filters through a mesh screen. We were so impressed with the bees afterwards. We had about 1/4 inch of honey and about an inch of wax left after we were done. We left it out, and the next day the bees were swarmed over it. Within 2 days they had cleaned it completely. An example of a no-waste society!