Straining the coffee honey.  I cut the honey comb off the frames last week.   That was a messy business.   Today more sticky mess.

Need to extract the honey from the comb.  The comb is not all clean and it was hard getting it off the frames in tact.   Normally, honey is extracted using a centrifuge either electric or hand worked.  No centrifuge working down here.  I don't  have one and my bee buddy says his machine is bust.   

It really won't do to find a bees leg on the honey spoon.   So.........out with the nylon stockings and a straining we go.   Who needs nylon stockings in the tropics anyway.  Perfect use for them.

I crush the comb with my fingers into the stocking, stuff it full and hang over a bowl for a few hours.  After some time of having my hands covered in honey my skin feels great.  It is a very powerful honey.

This honey is very rich in pollen and no sugar solution whatsoever.  We do not need to feed the bees down here.    Lots of people suffer from allergies in this town and I think this honey could really help them.   I am very excited indeed about my first honey harvest.

  

Today, all about honey.  The coffee has flowered and the bees made the honey and need more space in the hives.

The morning started early fumbling to get all the zippers done up on a bee suit in a hurry.  Mind and fingers have to be perfectly working together and if panic sets in the game is lost.  Anyone who is old enough to have done a speed typing test in the days before computers, bomb disposal experts and maybe surgeons  would understand this.  The rest of you will just have to guess how it feels.   

The bees were calmer than I had expected.   We were not chased like the last time I harvested from Africanized bees.  It was pretty easy.  Maybe the clouds and light rain helped a bit.  We took the comb from the hives and took it to the terrace a little away from where people might go.   

Some bees stick to it and others smell the honey and come to investigate.  It has to stay outside until dark.  Then all the investigating bees go home to the hive and I can take the honey without problems.  Well not entirely without problems, as it is now dark and I am trying to lift very heavy comb in the pitch black.

Now the house is full of honey.   I am drowning in honey.  Very good for preventing allergies which are rife here.   I must have over 100lbs of honey. Will know later.  It felt like 300lbs carrying up the bank from the hives.  Delicious, strong lively honey.  

Now, I simply have to stop eating honey sandwiches and get on with the packing.  Tomorrow very early  before it gets too warm and light I need to put the extra boxes and empty frames back on the hives all by myself.  It is not wise to work the smoker, carry the boxes and frames and install solo.  But tomorrow, I will try.   Next task, to find local bee suits without zippers so that our farm workers can help out.

Garage and depositos are jam packed with calcium carbonate for a major soil correction sweep over the next few days.   I am also sorting containers for a honey extraction day tomorrow.  I have help coming from David with big smokers and expertise in harvesting from these feisty Africanized bees.

There are some thorny problems to solve with both these tasks quite apart from the practicalities of not having any garage space or getting stung by bees.  They involve maths and physics and I am sitting down and trying to think it through.

Re. the calcium carbonate, I am not sure how the hell you ensure the right spread and that the whole lot gets equal application.  I do not want to leave it to chance as my workers are used to the standard 25 bags a hectare but my current application is more than that as the farm was not properly corrected for a few years.

Before retreating to 'mi casa' and letting them get on with filling the air with chalk,  I think I will help out with a little calculation about how much should be put on each square meter then do a demo and show them how much it is.

Re. the honey extraction with no centrifuge machine.   We could just use comb but then we take it away from the bees who actually need it to fill with the next lot of honey.  Or we could try to drip the honey out with out a centrifuge.  Not sure that will work.  Probably have to take some comb and be done with it.  Very tricky.

 How embarrassing, that English English always comes out when one is nervous.   Must try harder next time........Otherwise...  

Bees are doing great.  They got treated for mites and have been producing honey even in the rainy season.    Thank you to my fabulous bee mentor for providing guidance and lets not forget the mega large smoker that makes my smoker look like a cigarette lighter.  Below are videos of each hive.

Without Sr. Bolivar, his expertise, generosity and help, I would be no where in the bee world here in Panama.  

Today, he shared a secret:  The secret to keeping African bees successfully- think LOVER: Slow, gentle, attentive................Really, that is so true.  My first North American bee mentor put it a little differently............ they get really mad if you make sudden fast movements and loud noises.

In every other way, head to toe bee suit, humongous smoker belching smoke that makes you cough and choke, trudging through coffee plantations in wellington boots, keeping bees is not so romantic most of the time.    

We found my hives are in great shape.  Next week we will add more supers and frames.  We treated for mites and found lots of honey and activity.   I think we can look forward to a bumper harvest.

A big thank you to Sr Bolivar, who makes bee African beekeeping so enjoyable.