Honeybee_ Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - C. Marina Marchese [38]
HONEY EXTRACTOR WITH FOUR FRAMES INSIDE
STRAINING HONEY OUT OF THE EXTRACTOR
Any beeswax and honey left in the uncapping tank can also be strained into the same plastic bucket. The pristine white beeswax that caps the cells is the most desirable and cleanest wax. Later it can be melted and cleaned for making candles or beeswax salves.
As for the empty frames of honeycomb, they can be put right back into the hive, where the bees will finish off any remaining honey left on the wax. They will eat it as fast as they can, cleaning up all the drips and leaving you with a perfectly clean shallow super of drawn-out beeswax frames, ready to be placed on your hives next spring.
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ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT BELONGING to a bee club is that when one member is extracting his or her own honey, you will often be invited to help and to even bring over your own honey-filled shallows for extraction. Sharing equipment saves time and money, and sharing the work can be a lot of fun. I helped Mr. B harvest his honey in the summer of my first year of beekeeping. Members of the Back Yard Beekeepers Association joined in, and their children and dogs licked up the honey drips as we worked.
One of the most gratifying aspects of extracting and bottling my own honey was being able to label the honey as my very own. No sting or sticky mess could take away from the triumph of seeing my own honey bottled with my Red Bee label. After much research and trial and error, I had developed my signature honey bottle and designed my own Red Bee label. I tried my hand at selling the bottles at local health-food shops and gourmet-food stores, but farmers’ markets were where I found the real demand. The appetite for local, handmade products has grown over the last several years, and consumers are beginning to understand the great benefits of pure honey. We have arrived in a world where the respect for artisanal products is now beginning to outshine mass-marketed products. This fact was a truly victory for this former worker bee who longed to be queen.
CHAPTER 9
A Master Class in Beekeeping
Each member of the Back Yard Beekeepers Association is proud of their own apiary, whether small or grand, and enjoys showing off their gardens and honeybees to fellow beekeepers. During my first year of beekeeping there were many occasions to visit other seasoned beekeepers and even help with their hive duties. Early on in my beekeeping apprenticeship, I was personally invited to spend a full day with a member of our club. I earnestly accepted, knowing that this experience would be valuable. So with my beekeeping veil and jacket in hand, I left the house at 8:30 a.m. to begin work punctually at 9.
An active member of our bee club, William was a stocky and serious man who had been beekeeping for many years. Because he was always impeccably dressed in a full suit and tie, complete with cuff links and a tiepin that gave him an old-world demeanor, it was almost unimaginable to me that William could dress down and actually get his hands dirty enough to keep bees. And yet, his backyard, his own private sanctuary, was home to some thirty hives, as well as rabbits, wild birds, and ducks. The yard sat on the edge of a sparkling, manmade pond, both of which made for a breathtaking view from his home. William’s wife, Margie, was a dark-haired, quiet woman, and although she did not take care of the