Capri Kel – we sell most of it and eat the rest!

Emily – ever hear of family secrets?

Caprilis – there is another honey flow comprised mostly of goldenrod and aster that I do not harvest. They pack the excess honey from that into the deep boxes to get them through the winter. If we get a bad fall flow, I feed them sugar water as well.

Diane – one would think it would be easier to move the extractor but extracting honey is so messy, we only want to do it one time and in one location. We’ve found that hauling the honey supers isn’t too messy. We put down a plastic mat first before we load up. The location we use is the best size-wise as well. It takes a good bit of room to manage all the stuff that has to go on during extraction.

Gizmo – bees don’t hibernate so they definitely need food over the winter. They slow down some in the extreme cold but they maintain the colony (not hive…that is, the cluster of bees stays warm even if the entire wooden hive does not) temperature in the 80s to 90s by balling together and creating friction. I mentioned above that they will get another flow of honey in the fall when goldenrod and asters and other fall flowers bloom. They keep that harvest.

tipper – we believe in the saying “never muzzle the ox” when harvesting honey. Everyone can eat as much as they can handle during harvest! It is yummy!

ETW – the bees work pretty hard, but honey harvest is some of the hardest work I have ever done…it’s hot and sticky and long and often “stingy”. Still, I sort of dig it in some sick way too!