As some of you may know, my husband and sister-in-law started keeping bees this spring. And after adding new boxes at the beginning of the summer, the bees were pretty much left unattended to do what they do best- pollinate and make honey! It's pretty common to not harvest honey the first year, since the bees need as much honey as possible in order to survive the winter. BUT, that being said in the middle of August, we decided to check in on the bees and have a little taste of the honey while we were in there! Here are some favorite pictures from our most recent beekeeping adventure.
*above: I changed in to more "Beekeeping appropriate" footwear (it's very rare that I get to participate in this hobby since I'm usually in charge of keeping the toddler from charging the hives! so this was a fun treat for me!)
The beekeepers about to enter the hive.
After smoking out the bees, we find a nice portion of honeycomb, this hive is doing really well!
So we decide to cut a portion to sample the bee's hard work.
The most unbelievable honey I have EVER tasted. There was a lot going on in the flavor department. And we put on our best wine connoisseur voices as we commented on the notes of the local hydrangeas off of route 52, or the neighbors flower trees are really prevalent at the end, yadda yadda. ; ) but it's kinda true, there is a lot to taste.
Capped broods where the eggs are placed and new bees hatch.
And we found a new bee hatching out of the comb! See it on the top left corner?? Its little head and wings poking out, it was pretty cool to witness.
The hive closest to the house is rocking it... but the hive you see Cameron checking out, is not as productive, not nearly in fact. We wanted to discover what happened but unfortunately a thunder storm rolled in and we had to close up shop. My sister-in-law and brother think that perhaps a portion of the bees swarmed and left town, which would explain the tiny population and lack of honey and broods compared to the first hive. Maybe this month we can venture back in and get more clues.
But all in all, it was a fun day to check in on the bees!
A view of our honey from the inside of my beekeeping hat.
We did a little honey taste test against the store bought brand, sorry nature's promise- no contest our honey is rocking!!!
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