Honey Harvest 2009

No I'm not joking. Earlier this year i set out a Swarm trap; Nuc, pheromone, & one capped honey Deep frame. I had placed one extra honey frame in the freezer in case I needed it. And there it stayed. The Wife found it tonight while cleaning out the freezer. A whole deep frame of capped honey. That's it. My entire honey harvest for 2009.

Well I don't believe this requires an extractor (Ha ha) so I used the Mash method. I've not done this before so it would be an experiment. Cut the comb into a pan and mash to a pulp. Pour into strainer and place on top of large saucepan. For a handful of frames I would prefer this method to spinning. Much less equipment.

So now the honey mash sits draining into a pot. Tomorrow I'll jar it. Should be 2 lbs. worth. Plus I have another wad of wax. Which will be added to the bur comb wad and processed. There might be several ounces of the stuff now. Cool.

A little honey & a little wax

Now let me look a gift horse in the mouth. The honey is what I call brood honey. Coming from a brood frame the honey gets made in cells used for brood rearing. To me it gains a distinct off flavor being in the presence of cocoons and what-not. However, we will definitely use it. Most likely in cooking than in tea.

I suppose I could use it on the bees. I don't remember which hive it came from but neither hive had AFB or EFB this year or last.