*being brave for maintenance & HONEY giveaway!

We finally got the bee hive all taken care of for the approaching fall and coming winter months.  I knew it was not going to be fun due to the fact that I had some time ago, removed one of the frames from that center supra that I had to work in.

 Unsuspecting. Quiet on the home front. Happy. Content.  - This was the status before I got started changing the furniture around as it was inside their cozy hive.

 Once I took the supra off (which you see over to the right) the free standing comb they meticulously made stayed in place on top of queen excluder (the silver frame thing you see there).  Down below lie the queen, safe and sound.  I did not disturb the "hive" part of their home at all on this visit. I figured I was doing enough damage as it was.

One of the purposes of working the hive today was to remove the queen excluder so the bees can work their way through the hive for food in the winter. You see, the bees all sort of gather together and move in a mass to stay warm during the winter months. If the excluder stays in place this will inhibit the mass from moving easily to feed as needed during those lean times.  

I have carefully placed the supra back on top of the deep which is the area I allowed the queen to lay eggs this past season.   I did rob one more of the frames in the supra, so we got about 5 more pounds of honey. I replaced the full frame with an empty one, of which I feel sure they will have filled in no time.   Inside the supra you can see where the free formed honey comb fell when I lifted it up. What you see in the supra now is the last part, which I was NOT removing on this particular day. I figured I had changed the status of the hive enough already. 

 You can imagine that I did have some crazy buzz bys from several of the honey bees during the course of all that I had to accomplish on this visit to the Beehive. I escaped this particular visit with NO stings (again)! Woot!

Busy. Not missing a beat. Of course, if I had not disturbed them, they may have been working to a different beat.. not the clean up mode. 

 I did end up using my hive tool to remove this from the excluder so I could bring it in doors.  Upon doing this the comb broke more and honey, delicious amber colored hone, oozed from here and there.   These creations are amazing, they waste nothing.  They are busy cleaning up every little speck of the disturbed honey. I put an empty frame into the supra, perhaps they will store this in that frame.

Angry. Disgruntled. Confused. Sideswiped. Disturbed. - Status of the hive when I was done. 
I left the excluder out for them. The housekeeping staff would be out soon to take care of the mess.  We are again, thanking God for the harvest that He provided us with this year through the mouth of a honey bee.  Did you know they regurgitate on two different occasions during the honey making process? Anyway.

In keeping with THANKS, with gratitude, I will be giving away a jar full of raw honey with comb to one of you next Monday (August 29th).  Thanks to each of you who read our blog!


In order to qualify for the random drawing please leave a comment on this post anytime between now and next Monday, August 29th  and I'll announce the winner ( random drawing ) that following Tuesday morning.   If you would like two opportunities in the drawing FOLLOW my blog and post this on your blog to spread the word!  If you follow through Google Reader or receive this through a feed burner, please sign onto the blog and leave your comment in order to get an opportunity to win the pint of unprocessed raw honey!

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