First harvest ....

[CaBees]

Super was so packed and heavy I decided to harvest some and store.... 5 frames got me 5 liters, wow! Is that a lot? These are from the Italian girls and was a split last August. Bees are still going at it strong in my neck of the woods; now I know why CA is called the land of milk and honey.....

Hope you like my pic!

SpringHoney.JPG

Edit to correct to 5 liters, not gallons!

[Solomon Parker]

Is that a lot?

I usually average about four gallons per deep. What are you doing differently because I want to go to there.

[cg3]

Yeah, wow. Four full med. supers got me 10 gals.

[CaBees]

Maybe you need to come to California? This is my first year and I have a feeling I am getting spoiled. The oldtimers are saying they've never seen swarms like this and after two years of fickled weather ruining budding crops this year is making up for it. Last year we had cold and rain that ruined the olive blossoms and who knows what else..I had no olives...this year I have a bumper crop of everything! And it isn't because of my bees since my neighbor had bees in her old oak tree for years. When that tree went down I started getting interested in saving them (a more experienced beekeeper did) and that is how I got into it...

So yes, location, location, location......

[Solomon Parker]

Wait, is that a gallon jar? It doesn't look quite big enough to be a gallon.

[GeezLouise]

Is that small one a pint jar? 2 pints to the quart, 8 pints (4 quarts) make a gallon, so there would be 40 pints in 5 gallons. I wonder if there is a conversion mistake involved.

[CaBees]

It is a 5 liter jar, excuse me, not gallons, liters. Honest mistake, thank you for pointing it out nicely. BS, bs, bs is not nice.

[avesterfelt]

It is a 5 liter jar, excuse me, not gallons, liters. Honest mistake, thank you for pointing it out nicely. BS, bs, bs is not nice.

That is typical; I will generally get around 25 pints or more from a med super.

1 liter = 2.1 pints

So that about right for the bees.

I agree that just calling BS is not very nice and could have a little more tact.

Just make sure when harvesting early that the frame is very close to 90% capped or you will waste honey or be forced to make some mead quickly.

[CaBees]

Thanks. I had just read that on this list so I made sure they were capped. I do date my frames when they are empty so I can see how long it takes to fill them up. Will be interesting to see how long these get filled again.....

[NasalSponge]

Aside from the confusion from using the metric system.......Congrats!! Looks yummy!!

[cg3]

Apologize for BS. Was just riffing on Location, location, location. Only way to get a gallon from a deep frame is if it is more than 1 3/4" thick. I guess this is possible with 8 frames in a 10 frame box. Sorry.

[CaBees]

thanks cg3. Good to keep me honest and I do have a feeling this is an exceptional year and will probably be different next year...

Btw, 5 liters = 1.32086 gallons and I only had 5 frames from a medium but they were very, very thick as I did not push the frames close enough together. One frame had double comb...one layer of comb on top of the other. Learned my lesson and now the frames are close together...

[cg3]

Well, I need to correct my math, too. I forgot bee space. Make that 6 frames in a 10 frame box.