Honey Harvest

Another bucket list, tick off!

Honey harvest on the perfect Autumnal day.  Blue skies, bright sunshine, mountain and coastal views and bees, thousands of happy bees. A dear friend bought me a very unique gift for my birthday in September, a day harvesting honey in the mountains of Comares. We are truly blessed in our area to be surrounded by flora and fauna that is the perfect habitat for bees, in fact, our local town Colmenar means ‘Beehive’.  I’m an advocate of local honey, for the medicinal and health-giving properties along with their delicious tastes, that compliment sweet and savoury dishes alike. I now had the chance to get up close and personal to the bees, and learn all about their unique lives and amazing capabilities.

After dressing in our safety suits, we went to inspect the hives and learn about the bees habits and lifestyles.  We then selected the hives that would be harvested, so armed with smoker and boxes to collect the full frames of honey we set to work. Although warned to stay calm (bees can sense stress) and trust our safety suits, I wasn’t expecting so many bees to be swarming us.  After a few deep breaths and closing of the eyes, I got used to the situation and feeling. I was surprised how heavy each frame was, ladened with golden nectar and wax.  Each full frame we extracted we then replaced with an empty frame so therefore the bees could start their process one more.  

Wax – Honeycomb-Pollen

The collected frames were taken to the production room, where we rolled each one to break the wax seals on the honeycomb.  They then were placed in a spinning drum and the centrifugal force span the liquid honey out. The honey is then filtered and ready for jarring. Our day was enjoyed at : Comares Mountain Honey natural beekeepers offering raw natural unprocessed honey, using only the best holistic practices to create a health benefiting product.