HONEY!!!!!!!
Yes, I get just a little bit excited about honey. I love it. I am so thankful for all the hard work my hubby puts into obtaining this sweet, ooey, gooey, goodness for me...oops, for our family! :-))
Here are a few pics of Honey Extraction time....
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| Yum, Yum! The end result! |
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| Jon helping his dad. |
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| Mark Spinning the frames... |
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| Jonathan learning how to take the cappings off.....He loves to chew on them :-) Such a helper! |
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My electric knife has a new purpose.
This year has proved to be a challenging year for bees. We had something happen this year that I never knew could happen. We were robbed...yes robbed...by bees! They were able to drain a whole honey super over night, which amounts to approximately 40 lbs. of honey. Needless to say, it was a disappointment. But as a dear friend told us, look at how much you are learning...so very true! Apparently when the nectar flow begins to slow down or stop, the bees will look for any source, and it happened to be one of our hives. It was full of honey and their scouts must have found it and were able to get in. They alert the rest of the crew and they go to work. Over night they drained the whole box, which we were going to spin off in the morning. I am so thankful that Mark has other hives and puts all the hard work into them. They do take a lot of time but it supplies our honey, prayerfully, for the year. They are amazing creatures...I just never knew they stole before now. Always learning......It has been an adventure.
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Wow!! So cool! I didn't know you all did bees. I am an avid fan of honey, too :) :) :) Good job!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa. The first year there was no harvest, because we needed to keep the honey that was there, on the hive, to help the bees winter well. The second year we were able to get honey! And even though Mark has increased our hives we will not get as much honey this year because of the "robbers". It is very challenging to keep the bees and Mark puts a lot of time into them. We personally go through about 100 lbs per year. He loves his bees :)) We have all learned so much. I keep encouraging Mark to write down some of the lessons he shares with us because they are so fascinating and it is a amazing how God has created all things to work so perfectly, down to the smallest detail. I am sure you see this with all the animals you have there. I asked him what his biggest lesson learned was and he said, " I can do all this work and manage everything just right but in the end it is up to God to bring the harvest because all of the factors that affect the honey, like weather, queens, swarms, nectar flow and pollen are all in God's hands...I just manage it all. Sound like a life lesson? :))) All glory to God!
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