Wow! The Bees Have Gone Honey Wild!

We never expected to get any honey this season since the bees need to have plenty of food to winter over, but our mentor who has about 45 years of experience, just came over today and he said we can harvest an entire super from one of our hives. For those who don't know bee jargon, a super is a box of ten frames where the bees build honeycomb and store nectar which becomes honey when capped. After capping it loses a large percentage of moisture. That's when it becomes thicker and more syrupy. Among the sources of nectar our bees were visiting we can confirm one for sure. The little gal in the picture is gathering nectar from my lavender. During the entire blooming period we had dozens of busy bees flitting about gathering for the hive.

Today when we went into the hives with Gordan and Tom (after two weeks) the bees had already worked so much and filled one of the supers so much that we needed to give them another entire box. Most of the frames were filled with capped honey and most of that work was accomplished in the past two weeks! Everything they gather from here on out will be saved for the winter, but the capped honey they have made up til now we will harvest. Yum!

I wish I had taken some pictures today because the bees had filled the box so much they were building extra comb and storing nectar in a space at the top. We took that comb out, I squeezed out the nectar which is delicious, but it wasn't capped so it will ferment if I don't use it up quickly. I already put some in my iced tea and will probably mix it with maple syrup for french toast. Yum!

We also got a big chunk of wax and I will be making some lip balm sticks out of beeswax, coconut oil, honey, and a few drops of clove essence. I already made one batch a few weeks ago and poured it into two little jars. I gave one to a granddaughter and have the rest in a little jar to my bed. I use it every night and, oh, it feels lovely on the lips and smells like ginger cookies. Maybe that's why I've been sleeping so well.

When I went to the bee store yesterday, I picked up little plastic chapstick-style containers and will pour my next batch into them.

What a great hobby! I love playing with the bees. They are the most amazing little creatures on the planet and our mentor said, our "girls have a great disposition." I said they are mirroring mine. After all, I may not be the queen bee, but I'm the bee yard mom!

Bee Keeping Resources: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Honey Bees!

Bees bearding on the front porch

I think I need a resource page so I can find answers to all my beekeeping questions easily. Obviously, our mentors will be the primary sources since they are local and know the problems and challenges specific to us here in Virginia. But I've found so much good stuff on the internet (despite our classroom teacher telling us not to go to the internet -- Sorry, Brenda) especially videos, that I will continue to google my questions and read a variety of what comes up. My question last evening was why are all these bees congregating on the "front porch?" The answer: They were probably out to cool off because the hive was warm. One way to cool it off -- give them a little more space, so I added a bee shim which provides extra ventilation. We'll see if that sends them back into the hive.

Here are some good sources I've found with lots of great information some of which keeps me from "bothering" our mentor.

The Practical Beekeeper - Lots of great information on just about everything related to bees.

Beemaster.com - A forum for beekeepers to share/exchange information. I've already had answers to questions. Great site!

American Beekeeping Federation  I found a great article here for beginners that gives the feel of excitement and enthusiasm beekeepers seem to have.

Health Benefits of Honey - Here's a honey of a site (couldn't resist!). It has lots of fascinating information about honey including the method "honey hunters" use to find a wild bee colony.

Well, I guess that's enough for starters. I have several books about bees that I'm working on and look forward to learning as much as possible about these fascinating little insects.