honey
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How Much Honey?
It’s the big question everyone has when we harvest a honey box. How much honey is in there? Family wants to know, “Will we get some for Christmas?” Colleagues ask, “Will you have any to sell this year? Mr. Beekeeper asks, “How many pounds did I carry up from the bee yard?” Mrs. Beekeeper asks, Continue reading
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The hot, dry air of winter
This is the winter that will not die. Some people are tired of the cold. It’s March–when the bees are supposed to emerge to pollinate budding red maples– and the weather forecast is still calling for a temperature of ZERO. Some people are sick of the snow. My husband, for example, is outside right now chopping more firewood in anticipation Continue reading
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Honey Harvest 2012
If there’s anything more satisfying to a beekeeper than seeing buckets of harvested honey, it is seeing that golden sweetness in jars. It’s a little bit arrogant on our part to take pride in a good harvest since the bees make the honey, but there’s enough work on the part of the beekeeper to justify it. Continue reading
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Preparing for the honey harvest
Today was an exciting day as we got the hives ready for harvest. Today’s tasks: to put bee escapes on the honey boxes and put entrance reducers on the front entrance to the hives. The goals: (1) to get the bees to exit the honey box without getting back in, and (2) to try to prevent robbing Continue reading
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Harvesting the honey
Let the honey harvest begin! Sunday afternoon John began harvesting honey. A sudden thunderstorm cut his work short, so he only pulled frames from one hive. The rest will have to wait until next weekend. He was able to pull ten frames of honey from that one hive, yielding about four gallons of honey. We’ll know Continue reading
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It’s almost honey time
It’s a rainy day and the honeybees are hunkered down in their hives, probably fanning each other like crazy to keep the heat down. Next week we will be on the beach in Cape May, where John will be hunkered down under the umbrella to keep the sun off. But when we get back, it will be Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 