Opened the top box to remove 4 frames of capped honey. Weather cool and drizzly, so predicted grumpy bees. Hive beetle trap inserted and frames taken, shaking and brushing the bees off. Smoker went out at the critical moment, so once the alarm was raised, the troops took to my socks with enthusiasm. Faye and I beat a strategic retreat, carrying of our booty. Uncapped using electrically heated knife which made short work of the cappings. Extracted with Fred LeDeux's venerable 2 frame extractor which worked brilliantly, after tightening an ancient bushing.  There is now a bit more than 5kg of honey settling in an ant-proof location and ready for bottling Sunday. Preliminary taste test indicates a long palate with a nice citrussy after-flavour. Thanks for the loan Fred. |
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