First Harvest

Uncapping, spinning and bottling: our first small harvest.

It's finally time: our first harvest is underway. The swarms, stings and boiling bee suits are all starting to pay off.

A frame of golden, capped honeycomb tilted up in a super, with other frames lined up beside it in a sunny window.
A full frame, ready to come off.

We only have a few supers this year because the colonies are so young, so every little bit is precious.

From uncapping the frames, to spinning them, to bottling the honey, this really is an amazing experience and fun for the whole family.

A serrated knife slicing white wax cappings from a frame of golden honey.
Uncapping.
Looking down into a red hand-cranked honey extractor, with two frames of honey in the metal cage.
Spinning.
A pyramid of small hexagonal glass jars filled with golden honey, with gold lids, on a wooden table.
The first jars.

I'm sure it will become a bit of a challenge once we have more hives, but for this year it's a pleasure.

Follow the hives.

New entries land here as the year goes on. For photos and quick updates, follow along on Instagram or Facebook.