Just an interesting video on bees that I thought I would share with you all.

We harvested our first honey last week from our beehives. We had lots of help from friends. It was a lot of fun having a friend around to share in all the excitement.

 A beekeepers must have tool. The smoker.

 We started out by adding fume board on top. The fume board has felt inside which you add a liquid(Honey Robber) to the felt that removes the bees from the super underneath it. The smell reminds me of throw-up. I would high tail it out of the box if it was on top of my house. It smells that bad. Next time I am buying one that doesn't smell so bad.

 Some the girls hanging out on the inner-board.

 I am waiting patiently for the bees to go down to the super below. It took around 5 minutes for the bees to leave the honey super underneath it. I had to use the brush to get a few stragglers. Most of them were the drones hanging out in the stinky honey super.

 Bug showing off a frame of capped off honey. The honey tasted so amazing. Nothing better than fresh honey right out of the hive.

Bug is pulling the frames from the box.

 Into the extractor.

 Bug got the honors of doing the first spin.

 The kids enjoyed watching the extractor.

 The excitement begins when the first honey starts to flow.
 The kids enjoyed chewing on the capping covered in honey.

 We bottled it all up. I understand why they call it liquid gold. You don't really appreciate the value and cost of honey until you have been a beekeeper and you see how hard the girls work and all the time invested into working the hive.

 Some of the empty frames

 We left some of the cappings for the bees to clean up.

Bug's brochure for her micro buisness

We can't wait until next spring. I have plenty of time to clean up our stickly tablecloth and floor. Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We used a tarp and cardboard on the kitchen floor.

I don't know what happen. Obviously, I put the foundation in wrong into the frames. This was in Anastassia's first honey super. There was 4 of them like this in a 10 frame box. She was working the other frames somewhat and a very little comb drawn out. I had put a honey super on her June 22nd and we found this mess on July 6th. What a set back for her. We just put a brand new box on her and I took this one inside to clean up. 

 The good news is that she was looking good in the brood boxes and has lots of broad and honey. This is why I am glad we have two hives so I can take some frames from Bolt if needed.

Our first year beekeeping is proving to be interesting.

 Bug is still loving it she just can't handle the heat at this time. She still helps out a lot.Hopefully with the rain and the nectar flow still going on in mid-July she can recover from this set back.

 I love this picture of the honeybee leaving our water source. This is actually a picture that Bug is submitting to the county fair for 4-H photography. It just grabs my attention with the bee being so clear in flight. I don't think I could ever get such a nice picture even if I tried. 

 We put large plant saucers close to the hives and found a bunch of large rocks so the girls don't drown.

 Sometimes the rocks are standing room only as the girls are coming home from a hard days work of collecting nectar and pollen. They are usually a bit more fussy when the watering hole is crowded so I don't dare get this close. We have three plant saucers set out for the girls.

 I have to fill the saucers twice a day. Once in the morning and then around 3 PM. They like it when the rocks are wet and the water is fresh. They come out of nowhere to get the water. 

When we first got the hives I spiked the water with lemon grass oil to keep them at our water source rather than the neighbor's bird bath. Every now and then I add a drop to remind them. Don't know if it helps but, I read it somewhere that it keeps the girls from your neighbors watering hole.

All in a days work. It's time to get a nice cool drink and head in for the night.

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