Thursday, September 25, 2008

MORE ABOUT HONEY BEES

As you know Mickey became a Bee Keeper last spring. You can read all about it on my June 6th post when the hive he ordered arrived.


Soon after his first hive arrived and he had set it up and gotten his bees he knew he wanted another hive so he began building it himself this time.

(click on all pictures to enlarge)
Here is the almost completed hive he built in his work shop. On the saw horses you will see the Base. This is the large white piece on the bottom. On top of that is the Super. Inside the Super you can see 8 Frames. It is on these Frames the bee's actually build their home, and raise their young, known as The Brood Chamber.

Leaning up against the saw horses is the sheet metal cover which will go on top on the completed Hive.

Setting on the floor is another Super, that will be added when needed as the Bee's increase their Colony size.

Last Friday Mickey extracted the honey, for the first time, from his very own hive.

We are thrilled with our wonderful tasting fresh, pure, honey.

"My son, eat honey, because it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste." Proverbs 24:12 Amplified Bible

Well, I'm coming to learn that being a wife of a Bee Keeper can be a very exciting life!! Saturday, right after lunch, Mickey comes in all excited saying, "I think my bee's are trying to swarm." Now what this means is.....some (not all) are trying to run away from home!! In other words, he is about to lose part of his bees. He quickly calls Ronnie to come help and they get this group of bee's and put them in the new hive. Thank goodness he had a new hive built and ready.

Now this Bee Keeper's wife (me) was not about to get out into THAT and take pictures.....so we have none :o( Let me tell you, it was quite an interesting and exciting ordeal (as I observed out of the safety of my French door!!).

Then yesterday Mickey & Ronnie went to get a swarm of bee's from a man's house that had called and wanted them extracted. Both Ronnie and John (our other Church family Bee Keeper) get a lot of calls to remove unwanted bee's from peoples homes because they are well know in this community for doing this. Ronnie had called Mickey to see if he wanted to help with this and then add these bee's to his second hive









The above three shots show them working to get the bee's in the new hive.



Here are the two bee hives, the purchased one on the right and the one he built on the left, loaded with bee's and ready to be wintered over until next spring. Please note the glass jars attached to each hive. Mickey is filling these daily with a mixture of sugar and water so the bee's can build out the comb for the new Brood and their winter honey storage to feed on.
My Show & Tell tomorrow will be about melting the honey comb!!!!
Yet another exciting adventure.

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14 comments:

MightyMom said...

bees swarming is a bit more adventure than I can handle!

Sharon said...

This is very interesting to read about. I can't wait to see more about your bees.
I love honey, when I was growing up a neighbor had bees and he would bring us jars of honey.
Thanks for the memories.
God bless

Charlotte said...

How nice it is to have fresh honey. I think your hubby is brave for keeping the bees though. It reminds me of one day a few months ago when hubby and I were at our daughter's house. She was expecting a delivery and had to work so we went to her house to receive it. While we were there we looked in her back yard and her patio umbrella was covered with a huge swarm of bees. We tried shooting water on them (from a far distance) to no avail. Eventually they all left peeling off a few at a time. It was something to behold. My daughter was glad she wasn't home. I wished for my camera. Now I take it with me everywhere. You never know when you might run into a swarm of bees.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun adventure, and even better that it's him and not you, lol.

Shirley said...

You go, Mickey! And, way to be an encourager (albeit from a distance :), Susan!
Blessings!
Shirley

The Olson's: said...

I found a recipe while at the chiropractor last night & I thought of you! It's a recipe using honey. I'll e-mail it to you. Hope you enjoy it!
~ Leanne

jennifaye said...

That is SO cool!!
jen

jennifaye said...

Oh and i love your clothes pin bags. Can't wait to make one myself. Seeing yours gave me some ideas.
jen

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

I would have stayed safely tucked inside myself when the bees swarmed!

Dawn said...

What a new adventure you've gotten into! When I was a kid in Batesville, Arkansas, the family who owned the camp had bee - we have a picture of the two sons with all their gear on, surrounded by bees. Really scary to this little kid!

Sharon Lynne said...

That is so interesting. I know so little about this "hobby". I enjoyed the post!

... said...

there's a lot more to bees and hives than i would have thought. thanks for sharing.

Nadine said...

Your husband is very handy.

Back in NY, our old pastor was a bee keeper and landed in the paper a few times for going and rescuing the bees from people's homes. I tell you what - people loved him for it.

Momma Roar said...

How wonderful that he could build his own - I am sure that is a huge savings!

And, um, I'd be watching from behind the french door too! :)