So far this year, my little home factory has processed several gallons of fresh honey.

The honey was a little darker early this year, but still couldn’t really be considered dark by any stretch of the imagination. It contains hints of poplar, locust and wildflowers, if I were in the guessing business. As I’ve said before, it’s full of whatever the bees decide to carry home. However, going by taste, which is all we really have, that’s my subjection of the spring crop.

Since I took it off, I have now noticed the bees putting up a much lighter honey, which I’m assuming is mostly clover honey. There is a big field of clover over behind my house that the hives face into and I feel sure they have been working it hard and heavy.

I haven’t harvested much of the lighter clover honey yet, instead focusing on trying to get all of the spring honey processed. But I did slip out a comb and try it, just because I could. There are benefits to being a beekeeper.

I had a fellow ask me one time if you just stick your hands in the box and dip the honey out. I may have mentioned that before.

Just to give a very brief run down, those ‘boxes’ are full of frames, like picture frames, full of honeycomb (provided that the bees are doing their job). That comb can be used for rearing young bees, or brood, or for storing food for winter. The brood comb, usually in the bottom of the hive, is not good for eating. However, the honey the bees cap over for their own storage is what we beekeepers take for our own use. I always leave about one big box full for the bees to eat over the winter. Dead bees don’t make honey.

After taking off the honey, it is then extracted using one of two methods. You can spin it out with an extractor or you can smash or drain it out by hand. The spring honey I had this year was taken out using an extractor, for the most part.

Comb honey, or jars with comb inside, still have to be handled individually and cut into pieces, placed in the jar and then covered with honey. As the comb is cut, honey runs out into the pan underneath and then can be used to fill the jars.

As you can imagine, it’s a messy business. By the time I am finished, I usually have honey everywhere but in my ears. I have noticed that nothing will make your face itch more than working with honeycomb. Once my hands are coated with honey, there is no doubt that I will be hit by the sudden urge to wipe my face. I hear honey is good for the complexion, but I’m not up for trying that after seeing how hard it is to clean up from the kitchen.

As I was saying, you start off with frames of honey, which then turns into buckets of honey. Then you have more frames of honey that turn into comb-filled jars. Putting the honey in the jar is no picnic, either. Since I don’t own a bucket with a honey gate, we usually dip out the honey one ladle at a time until the jar is filled. Then the jar is cleaned, the lid attached and the label affixed. If that isn’t enough trouble, you still have to sell it to someone to try and pay for all the bee equipment you purchased that year. Luckily, there are some good old timey places around that can appreciate local honey. As I look in some stores, I see the honey all comes from somewhere far away.

You’d think there weren’t any beekeepers here if you saw that. I know of two local teachers who do more than I do and I bet there are others. I also traded some for a haircut and some more for some fresh shiitake mushrooms. I’d just about rather trade than sell.

Anyway, the bees don’t particularly appreciate the necessity of removing their winter stores and usually end up in a fairly foul mood over the whole thing.

I personally can understand how they might feel — likely similar to the way I felt when I had to raid my bank account to pay some bills. But life goes on and I try to build up my own little savings for winter, just like the bees.

I’ve seen and heard people speak wide-eyed about the old beekeepers who worked their hives with no protective gear at all. That’s not me. I have the big long gloves and screen hat (called a veil), along with a smoker in hand whenever I even get close to a hive. Some call it fear; I prefer to call it respect.

Bees hardly ever sting me when I am working in the hives, instead they usually get me when I am doing something else too close to the bee yard or just being careless.

For instance, I have been stung after working bees when I took off my gear, while trying to mow the bank near the bees and while looking over the hives and accidentally getting in the path of a bee having a bad day.

Just in case you don’t know, loud noises make bees unhappy. Standing in front of their entrance makes bees unhappy. Wearing dark, fuzzy clothing and getting near a hive will also get you some unwanted attention. I suppose it reminds the bees of their old adversaries, the bear and the skunk. With bear numbers increasing, at least according to studies, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more activity around hives. I especially worry about those that are remotely located for brief periods to make the most of the sourwood crop. It is open all around us, so I hope to have at least a little taste of it this year. It seems to be everyone’s favorite honey, and I can see why. The perfect blend of sweet and tangy, the rich flavor stays with you for quite a while after you taste it. The desire to taste it again never seems to leave.

Contrary to popular belief, sourwood honey is not light colored. It is lighter than some other honeys, but darker than clover honey. A lot of people get tricked into believing that every jar that comes along is sourwood. Once you’ve tried it, you know it from then on. As for me, I try to eat at least a couple tablespoons per day for my health. Someone asked me the other day if it helped. “So far, so good,” I said.

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