Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Honey house

After having bee stuff stored on the porch, in the basement, in the barn, and in in several other places in the house, at last everything will have a a place to go. With the cut outs & swarms, I'm up to ten hives now this year. We harvested from only three, but got 15 gallons of honey from four supers and a deep. Next year should be even better and if nothing else a whole lot easier. I still have to wire it with outlets and hang some salvaged light fixtures, and add something better than a hose for the water line,  I'll tap into the overhead line from the house to the barn, at the pole about 15 feet to the right of the shed. Then racks for frames, a work bench & some shelves.

10' x 20'





Some of the frames were light colored, some really dark. I just let them mix. The honey is much darker than last year

7 comments:

  1. That's a damned fine haul. I typically get about 2 gallons or so off a medium but I usually only run 8 frames in it. Having a storage shed for the honey and stored wooden ware is the bomb as well.

    I have noticed around here Spring honey is lightest and it gets darker as the season progresses until Fall when I get the darkest stuff.

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    1. I'm starting to see the wisdom of cutting the boxes down to 8 frames.

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  2. Beautiful. I've a five gallon pale waiting to be filled. Be there tomorrow.

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    1. Too late. I'll be sure to let you know in advance next season. :-)

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  3. I always keep two or three buckets at the outlet and swap them as the yield changes. Sometimes you find a micro yield that can be quite interesting. I label those as 'craft' or 'select' and always keep them unheated and sell them as 'raw.'

    Hot water and a floor drain or at least an incline outside is helpful and a screen door.

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