BEE KEEPING

We wandered over to Jordan’s house today where Maria and  Laura were visiting from the States, Jordan has kept bees for years, now he’s retired it’s just on a small-scale (Large for most people) but back in the day he used to produce 2 Tons of honey a year.

His granddaughter Laura also keeps  Bees back home in Washington and wanted to see how things are done here in Bulgaria, so running back home as fast as a professional smoker can run, bounding across the road like a gasping three legged Gazelle with a Hernia, I grabbed my camera and returned.

The top comes off after wafting some smoke about, both Linda and Maria kept a safe Chernobyl style distance away from the hives, but yours truly, with the steely determination of a BBC  War correspondent, stayed within 15 feet of the blood thirsty swarm.

Next the lid is removed.

Then the honey combed wooden slats.

The honey combs are inspected for bee eggs and if the honey is ready for harvest and some other things I’ve forgotten.

The feather is to gently waft the Bees away, the white coloured eggs at the bottom of the honey comb were the wrong kind of Bee and needed to be killed off.

I probably asked a hundred dumb questions about Bees, but both Jordan and Laura were very patient with me and answered all my queries. I fancy having one bee hive myself, and apparently just one Bee hive can produce up to 30 jars of honey per year, which is plenty for the average family or just enough for my toast in the morning.

~ by travelswithmymotorbike on June 24, 2011.