I robbed the bees this weekend. They are doing quite well this year, unlike last year when the spring was wet and cold. I didn’t get any honey last year and had to nurse the bees through the winter. I managed to harvest a nearly full 5 gallon bucket of raw honeycomb.

Because I am using Top Bar Hives there is no frame to support the comb so I can’t use a traditional method of slinging the honey out and then replacing the comb. I have to cut the comb from the bar and return the empty bar to the hive. Then I have to crush the comb and strain the honey out. I borrowed my system from Gold Star Honey Bees on the internet. It basically consists of 2 food grade 5 gallon buckets with lids, 5 gallon paint strainer bag and a potato masher.

I took one lid and cut about a 6 inch circle out of it. Then I took one of the buckets and set the modified lid on the bottom of it. Then I traced the inside of the circle onto the bottom of the bucket. This is so you can see where to drill your drain holes. I used a 3/8 drill bit and drilled holes inside the circle but not too many or too close together that it might cause the bottom to crack. These are the only modifications. I plan to add a honey gate to the collection bucket but it hasn’t come in yet.

To use this set up I place the unmodified bucket on the floor. Place the lid with the large hole cut in it on top. Then set the bucket with all the small holes in the bottom on top of that. Then I place the paint strainer in the top bucket. I use the potato masher to crush the honeycomb in a separate bucket or pot and then pour it into the strainer. Put a lid on the top bucket and let gravity do its thing. By the next morning nearly all of the honey will have dripped into the bottom bucket leaving the crushed comb in the top.

comb left in strainer

looking through the lid at honey in bottom bucket

It looks like I ended up with a little more than 2 gallons of honey from this harvest. I only took half the honey because the bees will have to not only make more honey but also replace the comb that I will be using for candles, salves or any number of other projects.

I love having a milk cow!

Olive

Not so much the getting up early every morning but I am getting used to that too. It’s not only the fresh milk whenever I want a glass that I love but the other things I can make with it. I am very impressed with the fresh butter and the ice cream is terrific. I made mozzarella cheese last night and to my surprise it tasted like mozzarella cheese. It was really easy but a little more time consuming than I thought it would have been. It’s a beginner cheese for a reason. It’s probably hard to mess up or I would have. I didn’t have everything handy and still did alright. I will be better prepared next time. As soon as I either build or buy a cheese press I am going to tackle Colby cheese. It is my preferred snack cheese.

after kneading the cheese like bread dough

finished mozzarella

We finally lost Rosco. Whatever condition he was so susceptible to finally got the best of him. He got sick again Tuesday and Thursday morning I thought he was turning the corner but when I got home from work he was gone. I guess it was inevitable but I hated to lose him. He was raised from an egg we hatched out in the incubator. He was the only goose that we could get close to. It was funny how when he would start honking we could start telling him to whisper in a softer and softer voice and he would honk in a matching soft tone until you could hardly hear him.

Rosco in the tub.

There was a turkey chick that hatched out at the same time as Rosco. We named her Alice. She and Rosco were inseperable until she came up missing last spring. We think she went into the woods to set on a nest and fell prey to a fox or coyote.

Alice waiting on her buddy Rosco to finish swimming.

RIP Buddy