Friday 28 August 2015

Collecting the Honey

Last weekend we robbed the bees of their honey. About a month ago the husband could see that there was a lot of honey to be harvested but the weather wasn't good in July so the bees ate quite a bit of the honey themselves. So we didn't get as much as we thought we were going to but, nevertheless, it's just great having our own honey.

Here are some of the frames before the honey was extracted.


The beeswax will also be used. We don't waste anything!


The honey has to be strained through two very fine sieves to remove any little bits of wax and any little bits of bee.


This year we bottled some of the honey in these hexagonal jars. They hold about three quarters of a pound. The other jars that we use hold a full pound.



You can look back at last year's post about harvesting honey to get some more information.

The weather has improved slightly this month over July. We get some nice sunny, even warm, days but also so much rain. Everywhere is starting to feel and look autumnal. A couple of weeks ago I took these pictures of our holly; berries already. Lots of the trees have their berries too. Some of the leaves are turning colour and starting to fall. It's been a very strange summer!



There's our wee dog hiding in the hedge!


Remember I told you about the field next to us being used as a 'maternity' field? Well, there ended up being three calves and their mothers. Here they are all together.


This one is a beautiful colour.


These two are very alike. You'd almost think they are twins but they're not.


Look at that wee face! Love the eye patches.


They've all been moved to another field now, a bit further away. Some day the calves will be separated from their mothers and we'll have to listen to them lamenting over their loss. It's so pitiful.

Thank you all for your lovely comments about the sea glass shawl. My big blanket is finished too but I still need to block it. The thing is, I don't really know how I'm going to manage it; the blanket is enormous! Maybe this evening. 

Anyway, all the best for now. Bye!

18 comments:

  1. I love honey! You brought back childhood memories of me helping our neighbour in Italy with his honey (we used to have a house in Italy, my dad was Italian). The best was when we were allowed to suck on a piece of honey comb. Have a lovely weekend. x

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  2. How wonderful to harvest your honey from your very own bees! It looks delicious......I do love honey! The cows and calves in the neighbouring field must be lovely to watch over the summer.
    Happy weekend, Gillian.
    Helen xox

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  3. I love your description of robbing the bees of their honey! Hope that it is very tasty for you! xx

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  4. And is there honey still for tea?
    Love the descriptions and pictures. It's easy to forget how complex honey making is; and there isn't any way to industrialise it, is there?

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  5. The honey looks so yummy! I wish I could have my own bee stock one day! :)

    Take care
    Anne
    Crochet Between Worlds

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  6. This is so interesting, Gillian, thanks for sharing. I loved following the process with you.
    Amalia
    xo

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  7. That honey looks delicious. I would love to have that as my view, those cows are so beautiful.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  8. Thanks for sharing your pics, love the babies!
    Cheers, Anita.

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  9. The honey looks great! Such a pretty golden color. Will you be making candles with the wax? Beeswax candles smell so good and burn so bright. We've had a strange summer here too, and the leaves are already starting to turn color and fall from the walnut trees. Cute photos of the cow/calf pairs.:-)
    Enjoy your week! ♥

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    1. Yes we'll be making beeswax candles. They are great and more or less for free.

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  10. I find honey just magic, I'm so envious of those who can keep their own bees, but who knows, maybe someday... : )

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  11. Listening to the cattle here crying for their young after they've been separated is one of the things I like least about living in the country.

    Your honey's looking great :o)

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  12. The honey looks beautiful, so clear. I do feel for those poor cows being separated from their calves, it much be terrible hearing their cries when it happens.

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  13. What a luxury to have your own honey! Bees are such fascinating creatures. We had a swarm visit our garden one springtime and although we needed to move them on, I was sad to see them go too because they were just so interesting. I loved watching them 'tuck themselves in' at night to sleep as a colony.
    You have such a beautiful outlook of fields and farms. I love being able to 'escape to the country' when I view your posts.

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  14. Hi Gillian, lovely to have your own honey, I bet it tastes great with all the nice flowers growing in your garden!
    Ingrid xx
    Myfunkycrochet.blogspot.be

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  15. Hi Gillian, I am a little behind on reading/visiting blogs as we've had a lot going on here, too. Nice to see the photos of the bees wax, and your honey looks delicious. It's interesting to see the animals. I was taking photos of the cattle close to us this week as they were drinking from their water trough - such amazing animals. I will put some pics on my blog soonish. Our cattle look very different to yours. Luckily we didn't have the young calves here this year so we haven't heard them being parted from their mothers. Barbara xx

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  16. Huuuuuuummmmmm ;-)
    Céline & Philippe

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