Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Second harvest - it's been a good year for our hives

We pulled off three more supers last night and spun it all out resulting in an additional 6 gallons. This second harvest yielded a much darker honey, which I understand is pretty normal. That makes a total of 20 gallons for the year, which is pretty amazing considering many MABA beekeepers are getting little or nothing this year. What makes it even more significant is the fact that both of these hives were new this year, one from a nuc, the other a captured swarm.

There were many frames in both hives that had a significant amount of honey in them, but not enough of it capped to be harvested, so in addition to the second deep brood boxes that have a significant amount of honey, each hive now has a 50% full super going into fall and winter. This should help ensure a good winter and a fast start in the spring.