Ohhhh myyyy gawdddd. Honey! So much honey!!!
These guys were camping outside because there was no place inside for them to be—honey bound—so much honey that the bees were storing honey in the brood cells leaving no place for the queen to lay eggs.
I initially thought that they were outside as it was so hot. It was 8 AM when these pictures were taken and it was the coolest it would be all day at 71 degrees. It is supposed to be 98 degrees today, breaking a record by several degrees. I really had no desire to get into a thick hot bee suite but I had to for the sake of the bees.
I examined seven of the nine hives. And I pulled honey frames out of each one; some I pulled more than one frame. Four hives got another hive box (called a super). One hive got combined with another as neither one had a queen . They both had capped queen cells two weeks ago and I should have seen eggs today. No eggs. So I recombined them and gave them a frame with eggs and another frame with capped brood so they would hopefully make a queen. I put all 15 frames of honey in the freezer for now. Each one weighs anywhere from 8-9 pounds. So somewhere around 100 pounds of honey. I will start harvesting this week because I have got to get my garden in!!
I have another tomato plants and another 15 or so peppers to get in the ground, and I have to sow seeds.
I wrestled three cattle panels into place last weekend. I managed to put 36 bamboo stakes in a line with my tomatoes. I am going to try a “Florida weave” to keep them upright this year. In prior years my indeterminate tomatoes way out grew the little tomato supports so trying the 8 foot bamboo poles instead.
I also have to get the baby chicks out of the house. They need their own space as they are getting bigger now…they are all feathered in and it is certainly hot enough outside!
And soap. I have to make soap. So much to do…so little time…
Homesteading after living aboard 