Sunday, August 9, 2009

Valuing honey

I just realized that if the honey is $13 a pound at the store, I harvested about $676 dollars' worth yesterday. (Not to mention what it does to my harvest poundage -- over the top!) It's all neatly in bottles now and nearly all cleaned up off of the kitchen surfaces. Looking back, the last harvest was in May, and I anticipate another light one in October. Not bad at all.

Only one and a half stings putting those frames back. Eric was right; the bees can sting right through thin pajama pants. Fortunately, by the time I dropped a box half full of brood upside down, I'd put on my thick suit and boots. The half sting was a stinger in my glove that I gripped against well after I'd left the hives. Hurt then, gone now. Topical Benadryl is my friend.

Sigh. No harm done in the long run, I hope. The bees are cleaning out the empty frames and I'll put the unused ones in the freezer until I need them. Having already-drawn frames put away makes me feel like a very rich beekeeper indeed.

7 comments:

Jeff Vandiver said...

Oh...i'd love to have a colony of bees on my property. The benefits are two-fold.

kitsapFG said...

Wonderful honey harvest. Not being a bee keeper, I am wondering if you leave the bees a certain amount for their winter food?

Heather said...

Beekeeping is on my winter reading list. I even have a friend who has a collection of items in her barn she said I could have. I can't wait. Now to get my hubby on board!

Stefaneener said...

EG, I wonder if you couldn't find a local keeper who would put a couple of hives for you -- go in for a share of honey. See if there's a local beekeeping group nearby. Your ag extension people might know. I heard you know them. . .

kitsapFG, yes I do. I might do another light harvest as I said, but they'll have stores for the winter. Unless we have a huge rainy season, they get some forage all year 'round here.

Heather, what a great idea. It's easier with help, but it's something you could easily handle alone too. Equipment is a big outlay, so getting some used is good. See all the cautions about foulbrood, etc. when you read.

Susan said...

52 lbs of honey...that is something. Sorry about the stings. Our only sting was gotten putting back the frames, too.

We were at the farmer's market on Saturday and Greta went up to someone selling honey and said, "We don't have to buy any of your honey because we have our own." Sassy kid!

Science Friday this week had a segment on beekeeping and the experts said, "you have to know what you are doing". We've been happily defying that credo for more than a year now...

Kristin said...

Congratulations on your harvest.
Was it an effortless extraction? It seems so. Except for the stings, I didn't read any complaints about the process. You've got it down!

Stefaneener said...

Kristin, no it wasn't. I won't use that extractor again. Guess I'm a manual kind of girl.

And there's some sturm und drang with the coordinator for it. I did, however, put stuff down on the kitchen floor, and once all the sticky was gone, we were all happier.