We harvested (3 supers) 84 pounds of spring honey! A good amount that will allow us to offer some for sale this year. We have two sizes of glass jars so far but will be adding a few more types soon. We sell it for around .75 cents/ounce.
We purchased a Vivo BEE-V004E – four frame electric stainless steel extractor! No more borrowing one from our bee club! We can schedule the extractions at our leisure now!
There were a lot of extractors to choose from and it was a bit overwhelming trying to decide. We’ve actually been looking to buy one for a few years and finally decided on this one. Its reviews were pretty good and it was in our price range. We usually only keep between 6-10 hives so this extractor will work well for us.
The basket can fit 8 shallow or medium frames (radially), or 4 deep size frames at once (tangentially). Radial extraction empties both sides of the frames at the same time; Tangential only extracts one side at a time so the frame must be turned and spun a second time.
Our oldest hen, Belzar, was from the first batch of Buff Orpington chicks we purchased 7 years ago. She is the sweetest hen and likes to sit on my lap. Her adorable personality has saved her from the frying pan so she will live out her days here on the farm.
Every year when she goes broody, we purchase pullet chicks from the local feed store and let her raise them. It saves us a lot of time and Belzar LOVES them.
We’ve added weed fabric and drip irrigation this year!
We have had five does freshen with one more due to freshen on May 14th. With 7 bucklings and only 2 doelings born so far.
