I used the manual extractor to get about 90lbs of honey out of the 3 supers. It took hours and I was hot and exhausted by the end of it. Daughter K helped me do the last one, as I was feeling very sorry for myself by then. Didn't get to bed until the wee hours and then had to get up at dawn to try to clean the kitchen.
Perhaps it is worth it, as people do appreciate it, but at times last night I was wondering why I didn't just leave it to the bees. I've ordered more jars as depending on the weather there should be more to come. The 90lb was off one colony and there were 3 more partially capped supers on that one. On the other colonies the frames were't sufficiently capped to extract yet. I do think that the high density of beekeepers in my area is affecting honey yields. I wonder if interest in beekeeping is starting to decline yet? Just my luck if that happens jsut when I am trying to sell nucs!
Perhaps it is worth it, as people do appreciate it, but at times last night I was wondering why I didn't just leave it to the bees. I've ordered more jars as depending on the weather there should be more to come. The 90lb was off one colony and there were 3 more partially capped supers on that one. On the other colonies the frames were't sufficiently capped to extract yet. I do think that the high density of beekeepers in my area is affecting honey yields. I wonder if interest in beekeeping is starting to decline yet? Just my luck if that happens jsut when I am trying to sell nucs!
