August Already?!?!?!

Here we are…August. June and July were pretty good months for our bees. All six hives still seem to be doing ok (I do have some concerns about one in particular but we will see, fingers crossed). The one hive out at the property didn’t put any honey in a super for us but it does seem to have calmed and settled. Not nearly as buzzy and seems acclimated to going in/out like a normal hive now…remember, the bees had been using only an entrance at the top of the hive, took a few attempts to get them to adjust to in/out the bottom. That lone hive seems to be thriving and I’m anxious to see how it does through fall and winter this year. This week was hot and humid, we had to make a trip out to the property to store the extracted honey supers and while there we peeked at that hive…appeared to have a good amount of bees bearding…I think that’s a good sign! 

Speaking of honey supers…we extracted at home this year. What an undertaking! We’ve been spoiled in the past by our mentor. He has a fabulous set up at his house for honey extraction and is always gracious and welcomes us to extract at his place. But this year we increased our hives and we thought it might be time to become a little more self-sufficient so we purchased an extractor. I knew I should have gone down to the local honey shop to pick one up (ashamed I didn’t) but due to time constraints/convenience (or so I thought) I succumed to Amazon. I looked online, read reviews and finally decided on an extractor that cost a little more but was scheduled to arrive quicker. For the added price I thought it was worth it to have it ship quicker – but that didn’t hold true. It didn’t ship on time and while it was still earlier than other options it arrived damaged. Our drone worked to get it assembled and “fixed” but it wasn’t right and for the price we had paid I didn’t want it to not be “right”. So I contacted the seller who was very responsive and easy to work with and they simply shipped us a new one. They told us to keep the first one for extra parts…kinda like they maybe knew the second one might arrive in less than perfect condition as well?!!?!? It arrived in better condition than the first one and we only needed to borrow one bolt from the first shipment to have the second one up and running successfully. 

We pulled four supers this year and yielded enough honey to meet our needs! I don’t feel like we have any surplus for selling this year but we should have enough to use/share until our extraction next year. While I never feel good about “counting my chickens before they hatch” surely, we will have some hives pull through and thrive for the year to come…right?!?!?! Having six hives and only getting four supers is a little disappointing it seems healthy strong hives should yield at least two supers per season BUT these hives all have a story/drama and were rather young this year. Happy we were at least able to get four supers of honey and trying to remain optimistic for what the future might hold. Truth be told…extracting four supers took a lot of time. The set-up, the process, the clean-up. If we ever do end up with 8+ supers we might not be able to handle it! I don’t know how large-scale beekeepers do it. Honey extraction is very rewarding but it is a big job. Any beekeeper with more than ten hives…shout out to you!!!! 

Our family worked together to complete this year’s extraction and it was a group effort. Taking turns, lending a hand where needed, merging in…it took all four of us. Howards’ Hives and Honey is definitely a TEAM EFFORT. We hope to be able to share some of our sweet goodness throughout the upcoming year and always appreciate the support so many offer us. Many root for the bees, plant and water a garden, offer to purchase honey (when we have it available) or simply offer a listening ear or encouraging word regarding bees. Thank you…we love sharing our hobby with you.

As summer closes out, we will be preparing for mite assessment and fall feedings (if necessary). We’ll keep you posted on anything exciting regarding the hives. I think this was our fourth successful extraction. We have had a lot of help and support from our mentor, Easter Missouri Beekeepers and friends at the local bee shop – we never would have made it this far without them! 

Have a wonderful August…if you have the opportunity to pick up some local honey directly from a beekeeper, you should!