Day 195 of 365 - Thurs 13th Jul 2017

Another invitation to do some more bee keeping.
​Time to harvest some honey, without getting the bees too upset
​& then extract it from the honeycombs.
I was dressed the same & wearing thick, sting resistant  gloves,
​using a camera, which isn't easy.
PS the smell of honey is/was out of this world...

Bees fanning the entrance, there can be up to 50,000 bees inside a hive!!!

Remove the lid & a little smoke to pacify the bees

Remove a honeycomb, inspect it for content (how many cells are sealed)

Shake the bees off, check clarity against the sunlight, before setting it aside,
​& replace honey comb with an empty one

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Back at the house, a special wide comb is used to remove
the wax seal on each hexagonal cell.
Nothing is wasted, the wax is collected, melted down
​and exchanged for beekeeping goods.

After both sides are done quickly (once turned over the honey starts to run out)
​the honeycomb is loaded into the centrifugal drum 

Once the carriage is fully loaded & equally balanced (as near as can be judged)
the motor is set off very slowly, too fast and the honeycombs will shatter.

Honey is spun out of the honey combs, runs down the drum sides, and flows into the collecting bucket, after which the honey is filtered to remove any wax.

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Then 1 lb jars can be filled, labelled & sold

NORTH YORKSHIRE
HONEY

William Atkinson
The Delves
Egton Bridge
​01947 895429