Honey Extraction!
Honey Extraction and Making Splits - at the Southland Community Nursery, 15 February 2017
On Wednesday night following the monthly Southland Bee Society committee meeting Murray explained how to make a split (which essentially was how to build up your hive boxes by halving the resources – bees and pollen, including a Queen cell). I never even fathomed the intricacies of making Queen cells, the dependence on the weather, and the need to provide enough food to produce good Queens! It made me appreciate that keeping bees is complicated – and then as Murray and Norman (Southland Bee Society members) showed how to extract honey, it made me realise how messy (and yummy) it can be. And well, to be fair, I probably hadn’t even thought about the process of how to get the honey out of the hive and into the jar! What a process it was! We were shown different methods of breaking the wax (in order for the honey to flow out), members got to try the spinning and watched the anticipated golden flow of honey into the bucket! So, bees are not only important for our environment and our planet but they produce lovely honey. It was a great night and my knowledge of bees and honey increased immensely. The Community Nursery Education Centre made a great venue for this potentially messy activity - which was why the Bee Society changed from their regular venue! Thanks. Bronwyn G
We have a range of resources for planting to attract bees to your garden, including lists of native plants appropriate to the Southland Region - see this link for further information http://www.southlandcommunitynursery.org.nz/restoring-your-patch/planning-your-project/planting-for-bees/
For more information abou the Southland Bee Society email Sonya Crook
Posted: 25 February 2017