Honey Extraction 2025

Honey extraction today!

(Also posted on Facebook.)

I haven't talked about bees very much in the past year. That's because we've been running a year-long experiment. See, last year I had 2 traumatic experiences back-to-back. I got a dozen or more stings twice. Through a glove. Had terrible swelling both times.

I considered giving up bees altogether. The ninja and I talked about it at length. I consulted with bee mentor extraordinaire Jay Gilmer. I grieved. I read. I grieved some more. I looked into allergy shots. I grieved some more.

Brent and I finally arose at an experiment. We wouldn't intervene in our hives at all. No sugar water. No winterizing. No checking the hives in the spring. We would let nature run its course.

The past 2 weeks, the Snow on the Prairie has been in full bloom. If you've followed my bee journey, you know that means it's time to harvest honey. Today we suited up for the first time in 2025 and we went out to pull honey.

We pulled honey-filled frames (like the stock photo above) until we got to a hive that was fighting mad. Then we stopped. We might go back another day. We might not. I'm not sure.

Initial results say our yield is over 1 gallon. Likely not 2 gallons.

I'm OK with that.

Like I've been saying for a couple years, I'm not convinced the bees need as much help as we think they do. To be sure, they need hives and people who care about them. But I think I will just give them a home and leave the more involved intervention to people who don't blow up like a balloon from stings!

Meanwhile, we and our 5 extant hives will coexist except for that 1 day a year when they pay their rent.