I put a clearer board on the hive yesterday to clear the honey super but found there were loads of bees still sitting on the honey – next time I’ll give it 48 hours. As usual they were very good tempered and I just brushed them off before taking the frames into my (very clean!) kitchen to do the extracting.

I borrowed the Vale and Downland Beekeepers’ Association extractor which was probably a bit big for my needs (just six frames). The cat seemed to like it for some reason though!

Mo sleeping under the extractor!

After slicing the cappings off the honey, we put the dripping frames into the extractor:

Frames in the extractor

Then we got spinning! Fortunately I had a some help – my Mum, son Noah and nephew Louis taking it in turns to turn the handle – it was actually surprisingly hard work.

Mum tells Louis to give it some welly

Finally, we opened the valve and out poured my beautiful, golden honey.

Honey pouring out of the extractor

I should perhaps point out that I didn’t expect to have enough honey to sell in my first year; it will all be for personal consumption (plus a bit for friends and neighbours). I do realise I may be breaking a few health and hygiene rules here (eg. jugs on the floor/cats/no hats etc.) but if and when I have enough honey to sell in future I will obviously adhere strictly to all hygiene regulations!!

Well, I got quite a few jars (17 of various sizes) and, even though these won’t be for sale I made a label to finish the job. Again, as these aren’t for sale I haven’t checked that they comply with all the rules and regulations, but think I’ve included most of the info required.

The finished prodct!