I used my lunch hour to complete today's task. I am able to drive out to the farm, complete several tasks and return to work in my allotted hour for lunch. Today my task was to remove 3 supers (2 from hive #1 and 1 from hive #2) and to trim the brasilian pepper bush ... yes I did remember to bring a hand saw.
In the first hive I removed the cover and found as expected that most of the bees had vacated the supers through the bee escape. I carried the super over and place it in my trunk. I estimate the super weighed between 60 and 70 lbs. each. I carried the 2nd super to my trunk and returned to replace the hive cover on this first hive. The bees seemed little disturbed and I quickly moved to hive #2. I had prepared my smoker and gently smoked the entrance to the second hive before removing the cover. This top super had quite a bit of bees and activity. I smoked the top of this super to get the bees to move farther down into the hive and out of this top super. I then remove this super and shook it to dislodge more of the remaining bees. I placed this super in my trunk (now full of supers) ... 3 is all my small car's trunk will hold ...
I returned and replace the cover on the 2nd hive. I then proceded to trim the bush and allow a clear view of the southeastern horizon at the hive entrance. This will allow early morning sun to hit the hive entrance and hopefully encourage the bees to begin their day a bit earlier than when the entrance was quite shaded. I removed my bee suit and returned equipment to my car.
It was a nice sight to see that the board covers and dripping with honey from my last visit was now "clean" and showed no signs of ever having any honey on it. The bees had recovered all of this honey are returned it to the hive ... such efficient work they do!
How onto the next phase in my journey as a beekeeper ... honey extraction. I will be working with my mentor tomorrow evening to extract the honey from the 3 supers and 30 frames contained in them using a 4-frame hand crank extractor. With a trunk load of honey, I returned to work ...
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