I've been getting a bit more practiced at hive inspections, and this time I was able to put my new inspection stand to use, something I cobbled together from scraps in the garage. It allows me to put a bar up for inspection and photos, which is handy when working alone. My new smoker works like a champ, though I try to not overuse it since the girls seem not to like it much.
They had been busy over the last several weeks, constructing several new bars of honey storage, which they are slowly filling up. After checking out their work, I decided to harvest two bars from near the entrance which had been capped for some time. This is probably the last harvest I will make this year, focusing instead on arranging the colony to survive this winter so that they will have a strong start in the spring.
Meanwhile, Evie and I have started gathering materials for a solar wax melter. Our plan is to melt the wax, and then use the pure beeswax as a primary ingredient in a line of lip balms that Evie is jazzed about creating. We went to the Habitat for Humanity Re-store today and picked up a glass window, some metal flashing and some hinges. A solar melter is basically a box that uses the heat of the sun to bring the wax gently to melting temperature and then sifting it out from any debris it may contain. The finished result is pure beeswax.....pics of that will follow, should we succeed!
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