September is National Honey Month! The life and times of the Honeybee in Mableton!

September is National Honey Month.  It is the time that we celebrate the coming of the fall, the leaves and the cooler weather.  Bees are really working to get the last bit of nectar out in the fields.  I went out to the hives today and watched the girls bring in an off white pollen.  ? Ragweed? Don't know. 

The National Honey Board designated September because of the change of weather and beekeepers are ready to give a little more time to the education of our neighbors about bees.  

Bees need to make millions of visits to flowers to make 1 pound of honey.  The bee collects the nectar in their specialized stomach, called the crop.  The bee returns to the hive and passes the nectar to another house bee that takes it to the comb.  She puts the nectar into the comb.  When the comb is full and the bees have ripened the honey by dehdyrating it, they begin to cap the honey for the winter.  This is a simplified explanation of how bees make honey.  

Once the honey is capped and if there is enough honey, the beekeeper, that's me, will brave the hive, get stung a little and steal the frames that have the capped honey. This usually happens in late June or early July in Georgia.  Sometimes, I find that all the cells of the frame are not capped, so I put that frame back into the hive.  I am very conservative and do not take too much honey.  I want my bees to survive winter and not starve as this is there food source.

I take the honey back to the house and open the cells then spin out the honey. If I am going to make cut comb honey, I actually will cut the wax comb out of the frame and put it into the jar.  Wa La, honey.  I did a bit of work compared to the bees.

Honey has many uses and you may find that this month you are reading alot about it.  If you want pure natural raw honey look for a local beekeeper.  You might find one at the farmers market or check out the web.  The Georgia State Beekeepers web site, www.gabeekeepers.com, lists clubs and people who sell their honey. 

Beekeepers like to have honey shows so that we can improve our product.  I have included some pictures of honey products from a couple of shows.  There is all sorts of honey categories at the shows; regular honey, cut comb, basswood boxes, and creamed honey to name a few.  There are many different varieties and flavors of honey.  I read somewhere there are over 300 different flavors of honey.  All I know is that I like it.  Try some when you get a chance.  

Have fun this September, National Honey Month.  You can help the bees by planting those fall flowers and also by buying local honey from a local beekeeper!  Enjoy!