sticky situation

one of the things on my list of things to do while i was home was to harvest honey. my dad put in the bee escapes a few weeks ago, so all we had to do was pull off the top supers since the bees were trapped in the bottom (this cut down on the stings 100%).

the extraction went fairly slowly because the extractor only holds four frames at a time, and i think we had about 100 to do. it took us about 2 days (we didn't work on it the entire time) to extract all the honey, and then we started straining. this takes a really long time because it has to go through a 600, 400, and 200 micron filter and they clog up fairly quickly and have to be cleaned often. this leads to honey all over everything. the counter, the floor, and the workers were all coated in sticky sweetness. i even got some in my hair.

i think dad said he got about 10 gallons in the end, and i was able to bring back some jars to my co-workers. mom even got some wax to use in candles or soap or maybe just to carry around and smell the waxy scent. i think that she will send some to anyone that wants it, just remember to send back your empty jars.