Well, the bee escape did not work, most of the bees stayed trapped inside the super, and were really pissed off when I opened the hive for harvest. I set a table 20 feet away from the hive, brought the full honey super (heavy!) on the table, and tried to figure out how to "invite" those bees to leave the honey (their hard work) and go back to the hive. I set the super on small blocks and smoked it from underneath. Bees rushed to the top of the super, I brushed them off with a handfull of grass. Within a few minutes, all the bees were gone, and I brought the super in the kitchen for harvest. I was not too sure how to do that either.
I started cutting the combs free from the hive walls, removed the first two combs without much trouble, and started cutting the combs in small pieces over a strainer. Here is a the second comb resting on top of a bucket. A section was cut off already.
The cut off section has been shredded with a very sharp bread knife, and is draining above a strainer.
Honey from the first two combs, 7 more to go.
Third comb, nice full straight comb, and it is heavy.
Other side.
The harvest is ongoing. My only regret is that I would have loved to show all this to a smart little boy. He is in my heart.
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