July 02, 1981 - Time for Summer Work - Spinning HoneySECOND SECTION
Tbe * f f 0 th T l IIt f 5 JULY 2, 1981
Time for Summer Work-Spinning Honey
There are some jobs that can always be
put off for another day, Yet there are those
jobs that must be done right now -- today. And
usually those are the ones that involve
living things! Strawberries must be pick-
ed, peas are ready, chickens and horse
must be fed, and the hay must come in.
The chore my wife and I got involved in
this week was taking off the honey. Bees
don't have the luxury of sitting back and
enjoying life. Theirs is a life of continual
work -- cleaning, building, caring, protect-
ing. The list goes on and on, but their main
thrust is that all- important job of gather-
ing honey. It places such a burden on the
workers in the hive that they'll actually
work themselves to death gathering their
golden honey. There are periods of highs
and lows in their gathering. The highs
being in the spring when the flowers and
trees first put on their burst of flower. By
now the "flow" has reached its peak and
will ebb through the summer until autumn,
when the fall flowers will make an upsurge
in the "flow ".
Because of the peak, the hives are
bulging with newly - gathered honey. When
one section is filled, another must be added
and then another. The amount produced by
the bees is directly proportioned to the
number of bees in the hive, the amount of
flowering and, of course, the weather. This
year was a bumper year for my bees; they
seemed to produce more than ever.
The way you check their productivity is
to actually go into the hive and see how
they are doing. This means donning a bee
outfit that includes heavy coveralls, a
helmet with netting, a thick pair of
long - sleeved gloves and the use of a
smoker. The smoke puts the bees on alert
so they stay close to the comb and the hive.
With a special tool that looks like a big
putty knife, the hives or supers are pried
apart. Bees like to seal every crack and
crevice to keep out robber bees and, of
course, the weather. The glue they use is
pretty strong and it sometimes takes quite
a bit of doing to get them apart.
Once apart, you can check the inside and
see if the hives or supers are full. Mine
were. So that meant get the honey out or
add more space in the form of new supers,
otherwise the bees would swarm and leave
the hive. The reason is simple: there's not
enough room for the bees and the honey
both, and so they go somewhere else to find
room. This is why you usually find the bees
swarming in the spring.
Today Is the Day
I didn't have any more supers so we
come around to the beginning of our story
qr --- - -, (� R� C)�: I col M,
mflQ1NE'g-
-- some days you just have to do the job --
so on went my bee outfit and off came the
supers.
Once they were off, we had to take them
and spin the honey out. You do this by
taking the honey comb that's attached to
the frame and putting it in a centrifuge and
spinning the honey out of each little cell
that the bees have filled with their
precious honey.
Of course, these bees don't like this
fooling around with their supplies and they
look for any vulnerable spot in your outfit
to sting through. I'm pretty protected, but
even so I was stung twice by bees that
crawled up my pants leg. One stung on my
right thigh, and the other my knee cap,
which still gives me some trouble after two
days. I was also stung through the glove
and once right on the stomach through my
suit.
The knack with bee stings is to get to
them right away and scrape across where
the bee has stung. If you can scrape it with
your fingernail, you can pull the stinger
out. If you can't, then you are in for a real
painful time for the stinger will then pass
its toxin into your body. Remember, rub or
scrape across the sting immediately to get
the barb out -- it comes out easily. This
imbedded barb actually breaks away from
the bee whose life is sacrificed in the
operation.
Honeycomb is capped over and sealed
for later use by the bees. This capping
must be removed so the honey can flow
when put into the centrifuge. This is done
by cutting the waxy tops off with a heated
knife. Once spun out, the honey is collected
and run into a large vat. Later the next day
when all has settled and cleared, the honey
is drawn off into jars. We bottled about 175
pounds of it.
Completely Natural
Honey is one of the rare natural foods
that requires no boiling, or additives for it
has its own preservative to keep it from
spoiling. If kept in too cool a place, it will
crystallize. To prevent this, keep it at
room temperature or higher. Should you
CHAROS S oU °D
EASTERN L.L's LARGEST AUDIO -VIDEO SPECIALISTS
28 Cameron St. ( just off Nfiii C i Southampton 2834428
A wokLnoFCULrURF EVERYTHING'S AFFORIIABL E:
Portable Radios & Cassettes - Stereo Components -
Sales /Service Auto Sound Systems - TV's - Audio Accessories
Over 50 Major Brands Large SaPH n Projection T V. - Video Recorders
VHS MOVIES
A fAr Qame,#
CHECKING THE HIVES - -The beekeeper must check his hives
periodically during the peak of the flow to see when the honey is ready to
be taken off. Photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh
have some honey that has crystallized, put
it in water and warm it on the stove. It will
soon clear up.
After spinning and drawing off, the job is
just about done. The empty supers are put
back in the hives and hopefully filled again
to be taken off in the fall. Each year we
must leave enough honey in the hives for
the bees to winter over. This can be 40 or 50
pounds a hive. This is what keeps the bees
alive through the cold winter months. They
do not hibernate and are moving inside
even through the coldest days, slowly
shifting so that all are kept warm.
Bee keeping is well worthwhile, but a
word of warning to those who think there is
no work or cost involved. There is constant
vigilance in checking and then the work of
Vow shho
drawing off the honey. Plus the fact each
hive will cost over $100 to get started.
Then there's the problem of where to
keep bees. If I lived in a crowded
neighborhood, I surely would not have
bees. Yet with all the trouble and work I
find it a rewarding adventure. Not only do
we get our beautiful golden honey each
year, but the bees are part of the insect
world that pollinates our flowers and
without them we would have no world
today. So think twice about those creeping,
crawling insects that most people dislike.
Many of them, including the bees, do an
untold number of tasks that make our
world what it is today. It is all a part of a
fascinating but complicated natural world.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
for Focus on Nature's
August 6 -16
Tourof
PUFFINS
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Sonie of the itinerary: Reykjavik - National Museum, Arbiter Folk Museum,
studio of prominent sculptor, Asmundur Sveinsson. Hveragerdi - view
flowers and fruit grown in greenhouses heated by natural thermal springs.
Gullfoss - the noted golden waterfall. Great Geysir - with many hot springs, mud pools and
geysers. Thingvellir - where the Icelandic Parliament met for centuries from 930 AD.
Snaefellsues Peninsula - encircling glacier- covered strato volcano, Snaefellsjokull, made
famous by Jules Verne's imaginative novel,`Journey to the Centre of the Earth ". Rif -
Iceland's largest breeding colony of the Arctic tern. Stykksholmur - a boat trip on
Breidifijordur Bay, a stop is made on the island of Flatey. East across the moorlands and
magnificent panoramas of Skagafjordur. Akureyri - the largest town in north Iceland and
perhaps the most beautiful in the country. Overlooking the long, deep fjord Eyjafjordur.
Godafoss - Niagara -like waterfall, "Fall of the Gods ". Lake Myvatn - truly fascinating
wonderland of nature. There is no area in Europe of comparable size that can offer such a
wide variety of natural wonders, formed by a lava barrier, is renowned for its waterfowl.
Namaskard - a chance to swim in the 116 pools in the underground caves at Grjotagja.
Dimmugorgir - explore the castle -like formations of 2000 year old lava. Come along.
CALL TODAY 286 -2626