Olly Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 I was amazed a few weeks ago to discover that the first super was full of honey, as I hadn't expected them to fill it so quickly and I had to rush to get a second one ready to put on. On Saturday I took the top one off, extracted it, and yesterday I bottled 21lbs of honey! It is exactly a year to the day since I got my bees. I've always wanted to keep bees, but honey wasn't part of the objective; I had no idea how much honey they produced, and before I started learning I would probably have guessed 4 or 5 jars to a hive. They are already filling the second super, so with the right conditions I could get a similar crop at the end of August. It's a lovely amber colour, but my mentor says it will set as it's already got crystals in. When you know how many journeys a bee has to make just to fill one cell, it was a humbling moment to open the tap on the extractor and see a river of honey pouring out. I'm told that honey will never taste as good again as this first crop! No doubt experienced bee keepers will yawn and move on, but for me this has been a fabulous weekend - I can't believe that all these lovely jars have come out of a box in my back garden. The only problem now is that I seem to have wildly and generously promised honey to lots of people, I suspect this first crop is going to end up being given away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Congratulations Olly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Wow, that's fantastic . You must have happy honeybees . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 congrats olly! We are in the same position as you we have just taken off the first super. Unfortunately i don't have an extractor and i have to wait till thurs to borrow on! Lets hope it doesn't crystalise before then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Either keep it very cool or very warm if it has OSR in it. Otherwise it may well be impossible to completely spin it out. Regards, RAB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furball Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 SSShhhh don't tell anyone, if you weren't expecting your honey so soon then neither will your friends, just give them the August honey and save this for yourselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Congratulations Olly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OXFORDBEE Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 No doubt experienced bee keepers will yawn and move on Oh no I won't ... I got 27lbs of honey from my very first hive. I saved up for months from my paper round to be able to buy my first ceder hive in 1979. That was a long time ago and I was only fourteen! I will never forget that first crop, or carrying back home (2 miles) the aluminium painted extractor I borrowed to get it out of the combs. Or the fact I actually needed TWO supers and ran out of kit! Oil seed rape does set in the comb but if you have fresly drawn foundation then it appears to take a little longer to set so you might be all right. Oilseed rape hopey will set faster when cool than hot so the best option is to keep it as warm as you can... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 Wonderful Olly, I am so I hope my first anniversary is as memorable. My original nuc is struggling having been A/S then losing its queen so I have one box with lots of bees and a QC that should have hatched yesterday and another box of two and a half frames of bees with two sealed QCs that I spotted yesterday. The other one is looking good and the blackberries are out. Once again, well done and I agree, keep that honey for yourself. There will never be another first batch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 Well I'm surprised at how well mine have done, because they've been queenless for quite a while - I eventually had to get a test comb and they seem to have requeened, though it's too early to tell for sure. It hasn't stopped them making honey, though. Oxfordbee - thanks for sharing that reminiscence, it's good to know that you still remember that first crop of honey. While I am still marvelling at how lovely the jars look, now I've realised that I need to find somewhere to store them all - yet another thing that didn't occur to me. I'm beginning to realise that I could devote an entire shed to bee equipment. There's no chance that my garage is ever going to house a car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 I'm beginning to realise that I could devote an entire shed to bee equipment. There's no chance that my garage is ever going to house a car! Garage for the car? Don't be silly My hen stuff has taken over the utility room and we used to have a kit room; sleeping bags hung up, racks of boots, running trainers, camping and garden equipment. There is bee stuff in there slowly squashing and inching out the aforementioned. It's only a matter of time........................... There is a guy in the beeforum who has converted two containers toward his bee endeavours, one solely for processing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaches Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Olly - congratulations! It's a lovely feeling getting honey, isn't it? We've only taken one frame off and are s"Ooops, word censored!"ing the honey off it - lots of toast and honey for breakfast here. We'll probably put the frame back in the hive at the weekend. Equipment - yes, us too - our back room is full of equipment for plants, bees, chickens (hope to get them back soon), and dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilda-and-evadne Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I was amazed a few weeks ago to discover that the first super was full of honey, as I hadn't expected them to fill it so quickly and I had to rush to get a second one ready to put on. On Saturday I took the top one off, extracted it, and yesterday I bottled 21lbs of honey! It is exactly a year to the day since I got my bees. Congratulations! I am so I hadn't realised how heavy a frame would be, when full and ready for extraction. Did it need two of you to lift it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 Yes - I'd recruited a 'bee buddy' last year as I knew I would struggle to lift a full super on my own, but in fact my mentor came round to help us and he kindly carried it down the garden. Otherwise I'd have had to use a wheelbarrow, or carry the frames down a few at a time - it was very heavy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Congrats! How many jars was that? Any photos of it all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Well done - thats so much better than my rubbish first harvest last year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I extracted my first honey crop yesterday too. 2 supers yielded about 45-50lbs of honey all settling in honey buckets. It wasn't nearly as messy as I had anticipated and was very satisfying. I licked up a few spills ( ) and it tastes lovely. Any tips from more experienced beeks for cleaning the extractor? Not trying to hijack your thread, Olly. Honest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 well done Medusa What are you going to do with all that honey We left the extractor outside in the garden for the bees to lick out - I seem to remember being told off a bit for this as it attracts clouds of them, but given 3 of us beeks have 0.75 acre between us and our boundaries then go into open land we took the risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 We left the extractor outside in the garden for the bees to lick out - I seem to remember being told off a bit for this as it attracts clouds of them, but given 3 of us beeks have 0.75 acre between us and our boundaries then go into open land we took the risk. As I live in urban Birmingham, I don't think I'd better be doing the same as you Daphne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Not hijacking the thread at all - perhaps this should be renamed 'the first honey crop' - I'm just delighted that someone else is experiencing the same thrill as I had! Clean the extractor with COLD water. This seems counter-intuitive - surely hot water would be more sensible - but I was told, and it's true, that hot water will just melt the particles of wax and it will stick to everything. I put mine on the lawn and hosed it out, and then finished off with a hot-water rinse when it was clean, same for the bottling tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Yes, cold water! - like you say it does seem counter-intuitive!.........very hard to not turn on the hot tap. We also used opened out cardboard boxes and not newspaper on the floor as newspaper sticks to your shoes as soon as it gets sticky (on the one occasion we extracted ) We've taken just one frame out and are leaving everything else as stores. I was so pleased as the swarm that moved into the bait hive have been brilliant and even drew out the one frame of unwired foundation I put in, not daring to hope that they would! I now have a few small boxes of Comb Honey to include in the Christmas Hampers! (...and all the broken bits for me!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OXFORDBEE Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Use a pressure washer on the extractor. Brilliant for the job and will probably use less water than a hosepipe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OXFORDBEE Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 We left the extractor outside in the garden for the bees to lick out - I seem to remember being told off a bit for this as it attracts clouds of them, but given 3 of us beeks have 0.75 acre between us and our boundaries then go into open land we took the risk. As I live in urban Birmingham, I don't think I'd better be doing the same as you Daphne. I appreciate this a cutting statment, but sometimes, to make a valid point; tough love is needed..... As I don't want to be responsible for spreading foulbrood I certainly won't be leaving my extractor outside and leaving the bees to clean it up. It's not the cloud of bees that are the problem but the possiblity of bees carrying away honey contaminated with bacteria that cause brood diseases. Brood diseases are readily spread in honey. Please respect your fellow beekeepers and when you wash the extractor or other beekeeping appliances that come into contact with honey chuck the dirty water down the drain. You might get away with your way of cleaning extractors for a while but it is NOT worth the risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Oxfordbee is absolutely correct on that point, except I might add that if 'outsider' bees do come and join in it may be your bees that get contaminated with brood diseases, or other, as well as the possibility of spreading disease around a wide area in one easy action. Remember bees can easily forage up to a couple of kilometres and it only takes one to fly home, do the waggle dance, and come back with a lot more! The same goes for shop-bought honey and the ('empty') jars - imported honey is very likely to contain AFB spores (not 'sorted' by pasteurisation). One only has to look at the AFB 'hotspots' to see likely areas where there are honey-processing operations going on! Regards, RAB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Thanks both - we shall do things differently this year Just been to check on our 2 honey-bearing hives and I can see 3 supers worth so far so I think we will be getting a good workout in a month or so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
