Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, it is once again time to bring in some more honey. I always wear duds under the bee suit, not because I am afraid of the bees, but because I think I might do something clumsy and have the entire hive swarming about me. So, I'm pretty warm before I even leave the AC. If the temperature is even above eighty-five outside, all my pores are working overtime to cool me off. When I wring out my headband, there is an appreciable amount of salt water. Okay, it's pure sweat.
There were three supers on the hive. Instead of filling the frames completely on one super before moving up to the next, as I've instructed them many times, the bees have filled and capped the center frames of each super and then gone up and filled the middle frames of the next super. Lots of frames have uncapped honey. The bees are like me with my knitting projects; many things started at once. That's how we are.
I'm finally learning how to use the empty super box to unload some of the heavy frames and save my back. Brushing the bees off the capped frames, I load them into the cart and cover them. I leave the the bees to get out through the bee escape. After a few trips, I'll have sorted the frames that still have honey that is uncapped, and leave that super on for the winter. As I've mentioned, it's not a commercial enterprise.
The smoker, like a barbecue, seems to be at its best when I'm finished with it and driving the cart back to the house. Pine needles are the best fuel. I always add some dried sage. It smells great. I have rather a lot of sage growing in the front border. From time to time, I cut some and hang it to dry in the workshop.
The hive is tipping. I'll need some help to level it soon. There is an extra bee suit and veil that my granddaughter Carolyn isn't using. She was a beekeeper as a teen. Now she and her husband Karl are going to college in Georgia.
Some of the honey from 2014 has granulated in the jars. It's a normal thing. There is a fun moment when I take the lid off and the honey rushes out. I hastily pour off some of the honey, put the jar in hot water in the crock pot and warm it up to liquefy it. Like all honey projects, it's messy, sticky and very tasty.
