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| Glenn removes the wax caps with a serrated knife. |
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| Michael uses a pronged scraper to open the capped cells before they go into the spinner. |
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| Glenn checks the frames, turns them around. |
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| Michael cranks the spinner, while Glenn holds it in place. They took turns at this task. Savannah tried it, too, but her arm wimped out after one frame. The centrifugal force pulls the honey out of the uncapped cells and throws it onto the inside walls of the spinner. It works much like the spin cycle in a washing machine. |
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| The serrated capping knife, wax, and honey... looking every bit like a scene from CSI. |
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| Straining the wax and other detritus out of the honey involves a finely meshed screen. |
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| Glenn dispenses honey into glass pints and quarts. (Savannah has also learned that hard plastic doesn't like the dishwasher--even the friendlier top rack. It makes me wonder what that heat is actually doing to my softer plastic leftover containers. *gulp*) |
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| Our honey is dark, much like molasses. It is darker even than buckwheat honey we've purchased at market. In fact, it is so dark that very little light penetrates the liquid. We know for certain that our bees hit the field thistles and clover especially hard. However, beyond that, we're not sure what nectar might comprise this harvest. |
