Honey!

We pulled honey last weekend...
Aaron getting the smoker going

The middle hive pulled apart.  We had a huge swarm a few months ago we were unable to catch, and then cold rain came for about a week, so we lost them all.  It had to have come from this hive, because there were hardly any bees left, and even though there had been quite a bit of honey earlier in the year, it was mostly gone too.  We pulled this hive apart and left the few bees to absorb into the neighboring hives.

Aaron with our honey!

We added in Apiguard to treat for varroa mites, you can see the little boxes we put in the middle to make room for it.  

Honey taking over our kitchen.

This is always a sticky mess!

Aaron, extracting.

Honey!  We got just under 7 gallons this year.

Aaron did get stung on the last hive.  He always has a huge reaction, but this was his smallest one actually.  We always take a preventative loratadine, and he took another one right away with this sting. I've only had 3 stings in 3+ years, which I think is pretty good.

They all look the same, but we separated out 3 kinds of honey this year.  5 gallons of one, 3/4 gallon, and half of another.

I have to switch out the medicine in a week, remove it for the winter, and then they will be tucked away and I get a break from beekeeping for a few months.