Did I mention that Joe wasn't all that interested in becoming a beekeeper?
It seems the bees (or the universe) had other plans. All my time away this summer made Joe the accidental beekeeper. I think he got to know them better than me…. and he got to know my our bee mentor, Wayne, while they chased swarms, combined hives (again), and checked on the hives progression. I was kind of jealous and happy all at the same time. Joe was the first to know we would get some honey……. and said they would wait for me to get home to harvest it.
Joe is still the safest of the bunch…. fully geared when interacting with the bees. One bad wasp sting will do that to you. I'm a little less cautious, ditching my gloves for inspections at times. Wayne is usually out there pulling hive bodies apart with a veil over his head at most, short sleeve shirt, never wears gloves….. and this time while helping us pull honey supers to extract he had no protective bee gear at all. He got stung at least twice and seemed to barely notice. Once he told me it helped with his arthritis…. Sophie thinks he is one of the bravest people she knows. (and yes, she is in a full suit with gloves out there)
It's lucky to get honey the first year. Of course, it helped that this hive's neighbor had a failing queen in the spring and therefor got combined into one huge hive early in the season.
Just a few days after I was home, Wayne told me a list of what we needed to extract : the club extractor, a bucket, a contraption he built, and a knee high. He was bringing it all. At first I had no idea what he meant by knee high. Shows you what kind of lady I am. It's just a nylon sock. Turns out they still make those. He builds that little wooden tool for everyone he helps. With a knee high stretched over it, the wax is filtered out. Simple, cheap, and genius.
We took 9 frames from the hive to extract. It was a warm afternoon which made the job easy. I can't even describe how sweet it smelled while we were working, chewing on bits of bur comb filled with honey. Bur comb is irregular bits of comb that you have to scrape off to keep things nice and tidy inside the hive. Extracting is a sticky job and you end up with bits of honey everywhere no matter how you try not to. Especially when we were getting the last bit of honey out and Joe handed me a spatula and said, you are the only one who can scrape the inside of that extractor out. Honey up to my shoulder, but we got the last cup out. We bottled two gallons of pale golden honey. It's got a strong but delicious floral taste…. so much different than anything I've ever had. Summer in a jar.
Thank you bees….
(and Wayne)
xo,
S
Sweetbrier Farms Journal 
Amazing!
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Love this post. Yay for first year honey and Yay for the whole family becoming bee people. Funny that every time I see a bee, which is often, I think of you…and the planet of course! Oh there’s a bee, thinking of you as I’m thinking of you.
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So much fun–I love seeing your photos of the process.
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I’m impressed.
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What a fun post! …and beeswax? My favorite thing for art masterpeices! I love beeswax as much as honey!
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Wow! thats so interesting and impressive. Do you “can” the honey as with jam before storing or…?
Nice to have you back.
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oh, so good to see your post! I’ve missed you!!!
congratulations – how amazing! and way to go, Jo!!!
lets talk this week!!!!!
xo, a
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beautiful! this is the first time i have seem this part of the process documented so well (not that i have been “looking” for it)… wow! that honey truly looks like summer in a jar… i love that description. thank you for sharing 🙂
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That looks amazingly delish!! We get some honey from a farm in Palmer every summer. Sooo good!!!Miss you!
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If you haven’t read “the secret life of bees” you really should, it’s one of my faves, and you reminded it when you spoke of your bee “guru” wearing nothing but a hat to handle the bees. Looking forward to getting our honey this weekend at the state fair in Palmer, AK. So glad to have you back, you were missed!
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It all looks and sounds amazing!
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Amazing!
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Awesome.
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Sounds wonderful!! 🙂
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Oh my word! I’ve never been stung (yet) and am absolutely terrified of bees. I don’t know how you do it! I looooove honey from my farmers market, but can’t even imagine how amazing it must be to produce your own. One part life jealousy, one part total terror. 😛
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Yay for dreams coming true!
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Oooh, “summer in a jar” absolutely! Look at that beautiful colour! I love a robust honey and am super impressed with that contraption of Wayne’s. My bee keeping education starts this summer and will hopefully be followed with our own hives soon after 🙂 Your post has me very inspired. Thanks Stephinie xo
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The sight of all that honey is just beautiful! Welcome home.
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We were pretty excited about the whole process!
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So sweet! Glad that bees make you think of us 🙂
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What a fun sticky mess!
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I’ll add one more hive to the yard next year….. hoping for several gallons next fall!
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One of these days I’ll have to experiment with art+wax. I am excited to have it for making salves though!
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Thank you Thea 🙂
Honey is shelf stable…. so you just have to pour it into nice clean jars. So easy!
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Missed you too! It seems like forever since we’ve chatted….. must talk soon! xoxo~
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Yeah! Glad it showed the process a little…. Wayne has a photo of all us three (Joe, Soph & I) in the bee yard with that one perfectly filled frame…. I’m looking forward to seeing it 🙂 It’s been such a fun hobby for us!
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Good honey is hard to beat! Glad you get to enjoy some 🙂
And I miss you too….. it was so fun seeing you!!
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One of my favorites too….. it was such a good read. I actually read it while I was in bee school this winter 🙂 Enjoy the fair this weekend!
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I am in awe of these little creatures for sure….. and honey will never be the same after keeping them and having it come right from the backyard…. so amazing for sure!
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And delicious 🙂
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You come visit and I’ll share 🙂
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So fun! I hope you get your bees someday KC ~ you would love all of this!!
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I was definitely wary at first…. but I have gotten to know them and they really are gentle creatures. The honey is the best I’ve had…. of course I would say that though, right? My husband still holds one tiny part of terror too… lol!
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Right? Remember how much we talked about this? Good stuff indeed…..
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Best of luck on your journey to becoming a beekeeper! It’s an amazing hobby for sure! Such incredible creatures 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 It’s so good to be home……
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Sounds heavenly! 🙂
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woohooo! congratulations! best honey ever, that from your own hives.
we use a fine-mesh paint strainer (cheap mesh bag at the hardware store) ratchet-strapped to the bucket we collect the honey in from the extractor. works like a charm.
xo
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heavenly and very exciting 🙂
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Awesome idea! And yes…. my oh my it is the best ever. So excited to have sent a small half pint to my swap partner! A jar of sweet gold!
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