A few weeks ago we harvested honey from our bees for the first time. It was an awesome experience. A couple fellow homesteaders from down the street, Sophie and Rachel, came over to help. The first step was to move one of the supers away from the hive. I pulled the first frame and Sophie brushed the bees off the frame. That was probably the most intense part. We weren't quite prepared for the mass of pissed off bees and suddenly they were everywhere and agitated. Even though I had my head protection on a bee got in and stung my throat. Another one got Sophie on the wrist. After that we covered ourselves a little better and calmed down enough to move quickly and steadily. I didn't get any more stings but Sophie got another four. She also didn't have the long gloves that I had so I think all were on her wrist and arm.
The first thing you do is uncap the comb. When the honey is ready the bees cap the entire frame with wax. Using a serrated knife we cut that wax cap off uncovering the mass of honey.
The honey comes in all shades, depending on the pollen. The dark honey looked so rich and delicious.
I think we had to do both sides of three frames before the honey started to come out slowly. But then from there it just kept coming and coming.
Beautiful honey with me in the background working on the last drops.
We harvested forty pounds of honey, about 3 1/2 gallons, from twelve regular frames. We filled miscellaneous jars that we had been collecting along with some mason jars. It was magnificent to see them all.
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