Honey Day!

It's finally here! The Honey Harvest! Yesterday we pulled supers of honey from the beehives. Today we are extracting the honey from the frames.

First we use a hot knife to open the capped honey. The knife melts and cuts away the top layer of wax protecting the cells of honey below. Later we will melt and refine this wax for other uses, like making candles with our Jr. Beekeepers Camp next week.



Karen's using the hot knife to open the cells of honey.

Next the frames of honey are placed in an extractor, which we then spin...and spin...and spin.

 

Interns Brad and Jonathan spin the honey out of the extractor.

 

The honey drains out of the extractor and through a filter into a bottling bucket.

We'll let the honey set for a few days in covered buckets so the air bubbles settle out. Next week, we will bottle the honey, and it will be available for sale at the Interpretive Center starting on Monday, July 28th!