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First the Harvest, then the Floor
My kitchen floor was littered with bits of wax and bee glue yesterday. It took me over an hour on my knees to scrub and clean it after I had uncapped thirty frames of honey I’d taken from my hives.
A bucket of honey with strainer supporting wax spun off during honey extraction
In the process of scraping each frame and then unsealing all the capped cells on the front and back of each frame, drops of wax and propolis, or bee glue (created by the bees from bee saliva, wax, and exudate from botanical sources) fell to the floor. I tracked it from the counter, sink, and extractor on the soles of my shoes.
Even before I put my honey buckets under the extractor spigot, I tape fine mesh strainers over the buckets to catch wax and other debris.
Three frames containing honey, but the sweet stuff is locked inside a honeycomb of cells sealed with wax by the bees
Once all the frames are processed and the buckets are sealed, I put the wax I’ve removed from the frames into a mesh bag to drain the honey (usually a much smaller quantity of honey is recovered from this process).
When the honey has been removed from the mesh bag, I place that wax on a cookie sheet and set it in the garden for the bees to clean. After the bees have cleaned all the wax (by eating any drops of honey left), I save the wax to melt into bars for candles or soap-making.
A frame with wax cap cells opened and ready to put into the extractor
Back in in the kitchen, the extractor, it must be washed inside and out. Once cleaned and moved to the patio, I must start removing the wax and propolis from the floor. For that, I use an old thin, metal spatula to scrape the tile free of wax.
A soap and water scrub follows. Then I rinse and dry the floor with rags before moving the honey extractor back into the kitchen.
Honey from a bottling bucket is drained into sterile jars
I won’t take honey again until next year. But now the honey must be bottled–that means I must sterilize bottles and prepare labels. Keeping honeybees is really only this labor intensive during and after the honey harvest. But the harvest is well worth all the work.
If you enjoy reading about farmette topics (including gardening, beekeeping, and delicious recipes), check out my cozy mysteries A BEELINE TO MURDER and also THE MURDER OF A QUEEN BEE in the Henny Penny Farmette series (from Kensington Publishing).
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Enjoy reading about farming topics? Check out my cozy mysteries–A BEELINE TO MURDER and also THE MURDER OF A QUEEN BEE (both in the Henny Penny Farmette series from Kensington Publishing).
These novels are chocked full of recipes, farming tips, chicken and beekeeping tips, sayings and, of course, a charming cozy mystery. For more info, click on the links under the pictures.
The books are available through online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, and Walmart as well as from traditional bookstores everywhere.
See, http://tinyurl.com/hxy3s8q
This debut novel launched the Henny Penny Farmette series of mysteries and sold out its first press run. It’s now available in mass market paperback and other formats.
See, http://tinyurl.com/h4kou4g
NEWLY RELEASED! This, the second cozy mystery in the Henny Penny Farmette series, is garnering great reviews from readers and industry publications.
Consumer Concerns Effect Change at Lowe’s and Home Depot
Increasingly, a growing body of science points to the role of bee-toxic pesticides (specifically neonicotinoids) in the global decline of the honeybee populations.
Healthy bees on a frame
Lowe’s Home Improvement stores announced it will begin to phase out neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics are a class of pesticides harmful to bee health) as soon as suitable alternatives become available. The retailer will also provide customers with more educational materials focusing on pollinator health.
Home Depot has pledged to begin labeling plants on which neonicotinoids have been used. Other retailers are responding to consumer concerns as well.
East coast-based BJ’s Wholesale Club intends to require vendors to label plants free of neonicotinoids; otherwise vendors must label plants on which neonics have been used with a “caution around pollenators” tag.
Ten other retailers in states from California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Maryland have plans to limit or eliminate neonics.
A study published in the Journal Environmental Science and Pollination Research revealed that there is clear evidence that the use of neonicotinoid pesticides are a key factor in honeybee decline.