More tests were done on this honey than usual, in fact, most marketed raw honey has no laboratory testing at all. Notice that the high profile microbes are all less than 3/gram, or better. The mold count, probably comes from viable spores, since no fungal structures were microscopically observed in product. Most of the honey now has been extracted and put in jars of all sizes. Several pounds remaining will be sterilized and made into honey-butter, whipped honey and just sterile honey for Max.

collecting honey

After Hilary opened the hives and smoked the bees slightly, Paul used a leaf blower to brush off the bees remaining on the frames removed from teh hive. This was fairly gentle and a lot faster than by hand. The bees were later given sugar water, not a fair trade, but it pacified them somewhat.

Golden rod and wild asters are abundant but not many other flowers are available now. Lidino clover planted this spring did not do well, the area is probably too wet.

We have not weighed the extracted honey yet, we also saved several frames for comb honey, actually our favorite for eating.



Tomorrow Hilary and I will test composites for Salmonella, Listeria, total coliform, E. coli, staphylococci, streptococci and clostridium. We do this periotically when we remove honey, with satisfactory results.

The new queen was accepted, she looks healthy and larva are seen. We tasted honey from the other two hives and it is wonderful. We will not bother this hive again for a few weeks then we will check for mites. I hope to have enough time to do some cultures simular to what I did when I started this project. (refer to start of blog and early entries).

left behind bees are without a queen

No viable larva is seen, no queen or queen cells are seen. since the workers live only about 6 weeks, this colony will be extinct unless we can add another queen. Paul brought a queen cell from one of his hives and a queen emerged on the way here. She was carefully introduced to the hive. We will examine the hive in a few days.

bees need attention, one hive swarmed

The swarm stayed 40 feet up for 24 hours then left for the woods.

dead bee count

The metal sheet was cleaned with peroxide and tomorrow will do a dead bee count and cultures on them. Worker bees live only about six weeks, according to several books, including my latest, 1975 "The Hive and the Honey Bee" a gift from Neale Koening.

visiting bird

There are a few warblers here, and other birds; orioles, wrens, grossbeaks, barn swallows, finches, nuthatches, tufted titmouse, chickadees, cowbirds, red wing blackbirds,others, including one we can not Id, but have seen only one hummingbird.