The smokey days of summer

Holy moly, where is the summer going. One minute we are removing the winter wraps, the next we are getting ready to take off the honey.
Its been a whirlwind summer. Things have been crazy around here since the beginning of June.
Last year after having a busy summer at the motel, I didn't get the honey off till the end of August and swore I would never leave it that late again. So Aug 1st came, the rooms were cleaned, laundry was on the go and I said,  that's it, I am going to go pull some frames of honey...well at least start anyways.
So I went out and pulled 6 frames and it looked so nice. I think we will get more than I had thought.

Its been a weird summer. Because of all the forest fires in BC we were smoked in for a long time. When I would go out to the bee yard, it was like the bees were flying in slow motion. They were still going out foraging but were slow. So when I opened up the hive I was surprised.
Today I went out again, I ended up only pulling one frame. There was lots of new honey but some was not capped yet, so would imagine in this heat, it wont be long.
I got to say, our bees are pretty relaxed, even when taking honey...or maybe I am getting used to them giving me heck for opening the hive.  Because I haven't mastered the smoker yet...I don't use it.
I can't wait to get in that hive we combined and get it sorted out. Because we have been so busy, I didn't make the time to organize the hive after they got settled in. So because of my neglect...I have get it in order once the honey comes off. But all the hives seem to be doing good. I have no doubt there will be enough honey for them to eat during the winter and for us to enjoy also.

In my next blog, I will be chatting about the capping tub I am going to build on a budget and talk about our bee club meeting we are having here at the motel.
Take care, I will bee back in a few weeks.