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This past weekend, with a few well-toned biceps pitching in, we harvested 50 frames of honey from five heavy hive boxes. The sweet rewards have already been jarred, labeled and packaged for delivery. And, guess what? This year yielded even more honey for Bee-SA members than last year! Whoop! Whoop!
What's more, the honey this year comes in two colors! One is very blonde and yes, lots of fun. The other is a deep, dark brunette with tons of flavor. For those of you who have double membership, get ready for one of each to compare.
Tending beehives is fascinating work. I always learn something new. And tending them is different every year. Some years we deal with drought and other years with way too much rain. This was one of those years. To help the bees next year, we will watch the rainfall patterns very carefully and supplement not only with nectar, but also with pollen to keep hive populations strong. You make these best practices possible.
Winter provides obvious and sneaky challenges. This year we have added substantial winter food in case the honey the bees stored runs out. And we added some moisture boards to keep the bees dry. Still, doing a little "Go Bees!" dance and crossing your fingers also helps. So, thanks for all of this too.
When we harvest honey, we also learn interesting facts about the season, the queen and the forage. This year, one hive built it's comb on a few frames in an interesting pattern that allowed us to harvest a few sheets of comb with the honey in it. A rare prize, indeed. Another hive filled its 10 frames early in the season resulting in a very blonde honey. The bees, upon checking the frames later in the season, filled a hexagonal comb or two with darker honey which was super cool to see. One hive even filled one frame like this: blonde, brunette, blonde. Super interesting.
Sign Up Now for the 2019 Bee-SA
If you would like to take advantage of the Early Bee Special for the 2019 Bee-SA, you can do that here for big discounts. (It's a simple Google form. Just a note: If you work in a big corporation sometimes these forms are blocked. If you experience this, it's best to do your sign up from home.) No need to pay now. That will come a bit later.
Just an FYI, this year's BSA sold out and all the honey is spoken for. Sadly, we had to turn away a few late member requests. So... stake your claim now on the prospect of a booming 2019 honey season!
The Honey's On Its Way
I hope you have enjoyed this year of The Buzz, keeping you informed of the progress of your Bee-SA (if you missed some bee news click here to read any of the 17 posts on your bees' progress and challenges). The best way to enjoy the progress is, of course, by tasting the delicious honey that your support made possible. I will be delivering your honey in the next week -- either to you directly or to a general pick up location. You will hear from me on this separately.
Thanks again to all the environmentalists, bee enthusiasts and honey lovers among you. You are the Bee-SA!
xoxo Catskill Mountain Honey's Beekeepers & the Bees
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