September 6, 2018
I started honey harvest this week. Ok the first of the week was just spent planning things out but, that still counts in my book. I have never done anything in the bee yard without having a plan. It can help me save steps and foresee troubles.
So, The first of the week was spent deciding which hive to work first and to what extent. Do I just pull one honey super off or both? Yes both need to come off before the cold half of fall. But I was leaning to a “one at a time” strategy. Too much at once can overwhelm this small operation.
We have the two hives. The Five Hive has 3 honey supers on it. The Middle Hive has two. The Middle Hive is a smaller colony. It’s the colony that I split off of the Five Hive earlier this summer.
Being the smaller colony I think doing it first is in it’s best interest as well as mine. I thinking that when I harvest is honey and remove the two honey supers completely these bees will have less space to try and keep warm in the cooler temperatures we all know are coming. Being the smaller colony the sooner I can trim their size the easier they can heat their home when the weather turns. The honey supers that provide room for growth in the warm months becomes a liability in the cold months. Granted all the honey supers need to come off but I am less worried about my timing with the larger colony of the Five Hive. If it takes me large to get that hive pared down they can probably keep themselves warm well enough.
