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Advice needed - I harvested my first @ 2 gallons of honey today

I am not a fan of bees but keep wanting to get into beekeeping

You have one of the best resources for knowledge in your backyard. Yes, I am a bit biased since it is "our" association, but they were one of, if not the first, clubs that started w/ sustainable beekeeping. Before joining the club, we had researched, read, watched YouTube videos and the majority of what we found was that beekeepers started all over each year by buying new bees every spring. W/ the Coweta Beekeeping Method, we learn to raise out own queens and hope to sustain our bees through the winter. You are more than welcome to come by the house anytime and we can discuss/show you our bees.

Incidentally, we worked the bees last Sunday, I don't have protective equipment (I am a haver not a keeper), so I worked them in shorts and t-shirt. No stings. No, I don't encourage this type of reckless beekeeping, but it works for me. You get to "know" your bees and they will quickly let you know if they are too hot to work that day.
 
I hope you saved the cappings. You can melt them down, filter and pour into blocks. Then when you have enough bees wax, you can make candles and other stuff with.

We "feed" our back to the bees. It takes many many bee hours to produce wax. That's time that they could be making honey, so after uncapping and harvesting the honey, we just put the wax caps back in the yard and they get what they want from it to reuse.
 
Yes sir! I also had one comb blow out in the spinner. And I've been saving all the burr comb. I am going to do a beeswax meltdown soon! It does have some debris in it. I am wondering; should I strain it through cheesecloth, or just let the debris settle to the bottom/top?

Find a YouTube video for solar wax extractor/melters. I have watched a few, just in case we decide to start harvesting the wax. I know one of our members does it this way as he posted pictures on the Facebook page over the weekend.
 
We "feed" our back to the bees. It takes many many bee hours to produce wax. That's time that they could be making honey, so after uncapping and harvesting the honey, we just put the wax caps back in the yard and they get what they want from it to reuse.
I did not know we could feed the wax back to them! When some of my burr comb falls to the bottom of the hive, it usually stays there until I take 2 frames out and dive down to get it. So I assumed they couldn't work the wax. I might try that sometime.
 
I did not know we could feed the wax back to them! When some of my burr comb falls to the bottom of the hive, it usually stays there until I take 2 frames out and dive down to get it. So I assumed they couldn't work the wax. I might try that sometime.

I honestly don't know what they are getting back from the cappings, but I know that last year we did crush/drain method of harvesting and she insisted on putting the cappings back out side. The bees were all over the bowl for a couple of days. There was still some wax left when they were done working it, but it was reduced by at least half.
 
It was a warm night last night. I snapped this pic of the girls, chillin' on the porch. This hive has already produced 2 full honey supers this year. They are crazy!
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Updating older thread here. Just harvested 49lbs from 17 medium frames (2.5 supers) from 1 hive. Light colored and has a wild flower flavor. Other 4 hives are not ready to harvest yet. lftd&pwrstrok'n lftd&pwrstrok'n advised to get to a powered extractor and it was a blessing. Used an Ozark filet knife for the uncapping and it worked like a champ also for $15.
 
Honey is amazing. I love the local Georgia grown stuff. Anyone in Marietta , Roswell, Woodstock —- let me know if you ever sell a little. I put it in my tea and coffee .
 
This is my 2nd year at beekeeping, and I had my first full honey super today. We robbed the bees, took the frames inside (kitchen), uncapped, and spun the honey. We only had 9 frames (10th not capped), and I think we got over 2 gallons of honey.

Here's the strange thing. My honey is very dark (darker than anything I've seen for honey). It also has a strange taste. It does not have the typical flower taste; but rather, has a deeper, almost molasses like taste. My brother said it tastes like wood.

Anybody with beekeeping experience want to chime in on what might be going on? I am in a very wooded area, near the lake, and there are no new developments going in anywhere around me.
So, how much for a quart?
 
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