BenelopePitStop
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A few bee hives
Early season - no honey yet, this comes laters in the extra compartments put on top, called 'supers'.
Checking the health of the hive
Taking out the frames one by one - this happens almost weekly in the season to make sure the hive is healthy and to ensure the queen is laying well
Long live the Queen!
(Sorry for Potato quality!) The queen is marked with paint or nail polish to make it easier to identify. This is quite a small one.
Working 9 till 5
Foragers come and go - travelling up to 2 miles or more in search of food & pollen.
Supers, supers everywhere!
Quite a few to get through! There can be up to 25 pounds (for the benefit of the American audience and the imperial ones over here!) in each of those blue 'supers'.
Nectar of the gods
These are the honey-filled frames. The bees cap the honeycomb to make sure nothing is wasted.
Afro-samurai
We use this afro comb looking device to take the caps off the honey cells and then put the frames into the spinning machine
The spinning machine
NB: Don't forget to get yourselves a grandad that loves keeping bees!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
This machine holds about 12 frames in and spins the honey out of the frames where it runs down to the well at the bottom and out of the tap.
And there it goes!
The honey is strained to get any excess wax out and then put into jars!
Sharing is caring
We also let the bees do most of the cleaning up!
Frames left out too
It's much less work for us
AnAwfulName
That's nice, honey.
Kind0ne
@OP
v
DarylWeenus
Cellbeep76
#BeeLivesMatter !!!!
smiles669
This is totally something I want to start doing next year!
BenelopePitStop
Make it happen! There's a great community pretty much everywhere that's always willing to help.
Orpheusko
Why not use the new flowhive thing where you just turn a nozzle and the honey comes right out?
BenelopePitStop
It's new technology, not widely available everywhere. Plus it's not quite so straightforward as it looks
SwolasaurusFlex
Oh bee hive!
bendistraw
Can you set up a hive and not extract honey? Now that they're endangered seems like less work but helpful.
BenelopePitStop
Yeh for sure. You'd just need to manage the queen so they won't just swarm and leave.
jbulldozer
I feel bad for whoever has to get in that car to leave
BenelopePitStop
We keep the bees suits on with that car anyway, takes us up to the hives.
MagicalDoctorZ
Unbeelievable, robbing those bees. I'm buzzing mad about this
BenelopePitStop
Technically, a lot of these bees were homeless before we came along so it's really just rent
MagicalDoctorZ
So they are indentured servants...
coologrego
Neat!
FryingMonkies
This seems like none of my bees wax
YouRTerminated
This seems like none of my bees nest
SwolasaurusFlex
Cool setup. Thanks for sharing @OP
BenelopePitStop
No worries!
MFCK82
Jealous. I want to do this
BenelopePitStop
Look into it! Easier to set up than you might think.
MFCK82
Yeah, at my next house. I live in the city right now with dreams of getting out into the country in the next couple of years.
jrsofty
Apparently bee keeping is pretty popular in our town. Two schools are named after bee keepers, one was a local.
dontneednoaccount
Nice. I will get myself some beehives when i'm retired
BenelopePitStop
Grandad started out with one and now we have 10. He's loving it.
dontneednoaccount
It's an awesome hobby. Especially since bees are dying...
BenelopePitStop
Every little bit helps!