Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I am excited about this, so if I am wrong in what I have done, go easy on me!

After attending the classes earlier this year, I got hung up and was really late starting, so I only went with one hive to start. I got set up with a hive from a gentleman in Germanton in May, and got a NUC from a gentleman in Pfafftown on May 29. On 6/17, the hive was practically full, so I added a medium super. On 7/12, an inspection revealed a super practically full of honey, with a couple of frames already capped. Now I remember being told by my hive and bee supplier that I would probably get no honey this year, but I reported what I found to one of them, and he agreed to remove 2 frames of honey. I did so, and got 5 pints of honey, even using my archaic method of extracting (it wasn't pretty).

I am excited to get anything at all this year, but to get 5 pints, I was overwhelmed. And the taste was awesome. I am assuming, due to the dates and the charts and what I see around the house, that it is from white clover. My intention now is to add another super and leave them alone. It will be difficult to keep from taking any more, but I will do my best.

Thanks to the instructors of the class, and contributors on this site for all the help. It has been a real joy to this point.

If you are starting with a 3lb package of bees in brand new, undrawn frames, you should not expect to take honey your first year. You should be feeding the bees so that they will draw comb and put up stores. If you are buying a nuc or an active hive with a number of drawn combs, these hives have a considerable head start, and you can get honey your first year. This is especially true this year where the nectar flow seemed to last longer than normal.

You can add a super if the bees need the space, but I would be surprised if the bees draw out comb in the absence of heavy sugar water feeding. At my house, it was like nature turned down the nectar spigot on July 4th. The bees have been much more interested in shards of wax that have honey on them and are more anxious to gain access to my back porch where I have some frames that had been extracted and are going back onto other hives. Without a strong nectar flow or strong feeding, the bees are not going to make new comb.

Your experience with clover may be different from mine. My bees mostly ignored clover while it was at its peak because they were going to other nectar sources that they preferred. Around mid-June they began paying attention to the white clover. They are working the remnants of what is left now that there are fewer nectar sources available.

First honey is like first love. . . . .