This weekend we will be taking honey from both our home hives. The main nectar flows have slowed right down now and we need to start reducing the sizes of the hives so that by the autumn they will be compact and able to keep warm through the winter.  We like to keep the honey from each hive separate, so today it was hive #2.

I put special clearer boards under the super on the hive last night and by this morning most of the bees had moved down into the super below. I used the brush to gently remove the few stragglers before I took the box inside – we really don’t want a load of angry bees helping with the extraction!

Today’s honey was really dark and has a wonderful flavour. I’m looking forward to seeing what it looks like after it has settled and been bottled.