Honey Harvest 2014

We recently celebrated our fall honey harvest at Lyman Woods! We had a full house come out to learn how honey is harvested and get some (sticky!) hands-on experience extracting honey. Check out what all the buzz was about!

While we waited for everyone to arrive we...

made bee-themed crafts!

and checked out the observation hive!

We began the day by learning about the parts of the hive and the uses for different products of the hive -- including honey!

We learned how honeybees communicate the location of a nectar source -- through dance!

Leading children in a waggle dance

Then it was time to harvest!
Honeybees cover honey-filled comb cells with wax for storage; these wax caps must be removed before honey can be extracted. Our Naturalist/Beekeeper Marge demonstrated how to use a hot knife to slice off those wax caps, and then it was time for everyone to give it a try!

wax capped cells (picture taken previously)

We loaded the uncapped frames into the extractor

 Gave it a whirl...

 And out poured the honey, spun right out from the comb!

Bottling the harvest for a taste test!

 The group then headed out to take a peek at our apiary, or bee yard.

The fall harvest gave us honey that was quite a bit darker than our spring harvest. The color of honey varies depending on the nectar source -- different flowers produce different colors and shades of nectar and even pollen! The harvest we pulled in July was made from nectar gathered primarily from the spring wildflowers on site: Virginia bluebells, wild phlox and spiderwort, among others. The second harvest is comprised mostly of mid- to late-summer blooms, such as goldenrod or wild bergamot.

 

L: fall harvest, R: spring harvest

We are selling honey on a first-come, first-serve basis at Lyman Woods! 1lb jars are $9.00, 8oz jars are $6.00. Sales tax is included, and we accept cash, check or credit.