Honey Harvesttime

The long, hot summer has been tough on wildlife.  That includes honeybees.  Even with so little natural pollen and nectar, there's been some honey production.  Here, Lee Ann pulls out a frame of bees showing some brood as well as honey and pollen cells.  The picture shows a couple of "supers" on top of the hive bodies which are yielding some honey.   We have a very small, hobby, operation but the big operators probably had a tough year of it at least in Southern Kansas.  Keeping honey bees is almost a fulltime job nowadays with so many issues they face--mites, hive moths, foul brood, pesticides, and colony collapse which is not fully understood.  It takes nearly constant monitoring to keep a colony healthy and productive.  But, oh the payoff!  If you can get some home grown honey, its worth it all!