YES! John came home from work yesterday with a new washing machine on the back of his truck. It is small, efficient and most importantly – it works. I hate to buy new but in this instance new is cost effective.
The old dead useless mammoth of a washing machine has been shuffled to the side and the Tall Teenager is going to take it apart and see what we can salvage before scrapping the rest. There must be something I can do with the bowl!
I am going to harvest more honey today and tomorrow. I forgot to show you this bee escape board last time. Yesterday I placed it below the super full of honey. 
As the evenings are a little cooler the bees prefer to huddle together for warmth. I leave the bee escape board on the hive overnight. The bees in the honey super will zoom down through the hole in the evening, then into the maze to get to their cuddly sisters. But they are unable to figure out how to get back up as quickly. So when I take the box off, I only have a few stray bees to brush back down. 
So I am able to take the super (box) full of frames full of honey, right off the hive with a minimum of fuss the next day. Today. 
Plus I have bee presents. Each hive will receive a super half full of honey. Remember that hive of bees that completely disappeared in the spring. That abandoned honey has been waiting in its supers in the freezer to be distributed in the autumn after harvest. Seems kind of fair to give honey when I take some.
Good morning. You can see the bee escape board in place in the image on the right. And in the image on the left you can see that I have one more honey box to take off. I will pop the escape board under it this afternoon (once I have harvested the hive on the right) and harvest that tomorrow. In these supers are nine frames of capped honey. Each frame can weigh in at about 5 pounds. Sometimes more. So each super can produce over 40 pounds of filtered honey. Lifting these boxes is heavy work. Lucky I have been building those muscles carrying buckets to and from the milking parlour.
It is possible that we may have honey to sell this year. Now that really would be grand. I sell eggs all year round, which covers the chook feed. It would be wonderful if the honey started paying for the gardens and a few new hives! I may reach subsistence yet! (laughter!)
So today and tomorrow will be sticky sweet days.
The Tall Teenager starts his new country school today. He is being very stoic. First days are tough, we all know that one don’t we.
Have a lovely day.
celi
On this day last year. 7 links. This is a challenge where I was asked to name seven of my posts. I am unable to do these kinds of posts anymore. Writing my blog journal of the farm, farming, writing the books, minding my old people, managing a home AND doing these excellent awards challenges is way too much work for one person. So the awards, though delightful and I am always grateful to be nominated, have had to be put on the back burner. Which does make me feel bad. But a year ago I did have time and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “A crazy maze for bees”
Stella, my 89 year old beekeeper neighbor, and I are checking hives and taking honey off today too :-).
Oh i would love to have am experienced beekeeper to work with, that must be fantastic learning.. c
Celi, you are so clever! Wish I was closer to buy your eggs and honey! Thinking of the Tall Teenager with his first day of school – hope it is better than anticipated.
Enjoy the new washing machine.
🙂 Mandy xo
I just hung out my third load and it is so much cleaner!! what a treat.. c
Best wishes for the first day at the new school, I hope all goes well!
So do I! Poor fellow.. which reminds me we are having the chick peas in spicy tomato sauce with dinner tonight! c
Is that one of Sid’s favourite meals?
Hmmm, surely we can come up with creative uses for the old machine 🙂 Does it work at all? I use my machine’s spin cycle as a super-sized salad spinner. When I have huge amounts of greens to put up, it is the fastest way to get them dry. I put freshly washed greens in a pillow case and let them spin for a few minutes.
nope, it is completely dead, ready to be dismantled and re-purposed! c
I love your bee maze- what a good idea! Best of luck to the Tall Teenager. Just the thought of first days is dreadful. Enjoy your washing machine- few things rival the joy of clean laundry…
and the scent of taking it off the line.. lovely .. morning siobhann. c
All the very best to Tall Teenager! We use the guts of old washing machines as little fireplace/barbecues outside. Love that picture of laundry swinging in the wind C!
OO, a little outdoor fire pit, I know who will enjoy that idea! c
I have honey envy! I hope to get hives in the spring but may have to wait another year. My next door neighbor at our new farm is learning bee keeping so maybe we can help each other! Hope the teenager has a great 1st day and hope you get lots of yummy honey!
I must pop over and see if you have posted any shots of the new farm, i am dying to see more.. c
I have to bring my camera down to my computer. I really dislike trying to live in two places! All livestock should be moved by the 1st of next week!
you are going to be so relieved when you are all in one place.. c
First days are tough – good luck to Tall Teenager –we have all been there.
Your honey tutorial was fascinating
Am I visitor 2482 on your Canadian flag counter today?
wow, I so seldom look at the numbers or the stats, tho i think the flag counter only logs you the first time you visit. I think.. now I am not surec
Good luck to the Tall Teenager – though if everyone in your part of the world is as friendly as you, he should have no problems.
The idea of a maze for bees is intriguing.
Hooray for the new washing machine: I bet you are relieved. I put a scrummy recipe on my blog yesterday for a seriously sinful chocolate cake. I was thinking of you and hope that you enjoy it. You give us so many good ideas for foodie things.
Chocolate cake – what a great idea, i shall make it for Sid. he will be grateful after a stressful first day.. c
I am so impressed with your honey harvest! You just inspired me to eat honey with my breakfast, though sadly mine isn’t “home grown.” Wishing you a sweet day. 🙂
As long as it is local honey! a little a day is the best! c
I have a question. Is there a reason the hive boxes are different colors? My husband and I drove past even more colorful ones this past weekend and wondered. (Yes, I wish we’d had time to stop so I could photograph them; they were beautiful.)
Second, your description of the Tall Teenager as stoic is the precise word I would use to describe my son on Saturday morning when we left his North Dakota State University dorm room and drove nearly 300 miles away back home to southeastern Minnesota. I forget sometimes, in my own selfishness, how difficult these changes are, too, for the young people. Thanks for the reminder.
I paint my boxes a different colour for each year. First year white, second year yellow, etc. i am not sure why other people paint them the colours they do, maybe there is a code i am missing. good question.. c
If nothing else you could turn the washing machine or bowl into a plant pot 😉
true.. they are a good size.. c
This reminds me of the jars of honey you showed on a previous blog, which were light in color. Is this a different honey?
Different hive, but it should be the same shade.. we will see I guess1 c
Bee keeping certainly sounds complicated. Where did you learn about the process? It sounds facinating but I think it’s too cold and damp here at Garybuie but I do envy you your honey!
Christine
It is true that the bees do not like it wet but don’t you have wild flowers? You might be able to have bees. Like everything i am learning as i go along.. c
Yes, that’s what’s so tempting as we’re surrounded by heather at this time of year and heather honey is certainly appealing! Reading about it in the past also made it sound expensive but I’m sure that you’ll tell me that’s not neccessarily the case! Maybe I’ll look into it again
Christine
“My” Michigan bee keeper and honey purveyor doesn’t collect his honey until mid-September. He’s a good 200 miles north of you and I wonder if the difference in growing seasons is the reason for the delay. Not that it matters. As you know better than me, the honey is so much better than any that can be bought. Good news on the washing machine front. Congrats and good luck to Triple “T” (The Tall Teenager)!
Triple T!! I bring my honey in when the nights start to get cold and if it is capped and ready to go.. I imagine bigger concerns have other criteria.. they say if you leave it too long it might crystalise. the same is said of taking it too early so every season seems to be different. All my flowers are gone so soon i might want to feed them and i need all the eating honey off first.. c