We harvested our first frame of honey this week. We’re not ready to do a full harvest of the main hive yet, but since this frame was completely capped, we took it inside to harvest it.
Stephen’s initial thinking was to wait, but I asked him if we could harvest a frame so I could have some honey to take for allergies. Nothing like fresh, local honey from your own back yard to take for seasonal allergies!
It’s not that difficult to cut the comb off the frame, but it does become a sticky mess.
The cut comb is so pretty though – I love looking at it.
We just bought a 5 gallon bucket for straining the honey this year. It is SO much easier than the mason jar method we’ve used in the past. We both agreed it’s money well spent.
Tulip poplar honey – nice and dark with a spicy flavor. I love it.
The one frame had enough honey in it to fill two pint jars, plus a little left over. It’s nice to know the amount of honey we’ll be getting from each frame once we do harvest it later this summer.
We’ve waited 3 years to be able to harvest our own honey. Although we’ve done a few frames at a time from our old hives, none of them have done as well as the one we have now. We’re really excited to see how they’re doing.