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Double boiler vs solar melter vs slow cooker for end-of-season wax — and what do you do with the slumgum?

Season is wrapping up in Małopolska: ten hives extracted, about 3 kg of cappings drained and dried, plus six old black brood frames pulled during the autumn comb rotation…

PasiekaOlek · Małopolskie, PL · Honey · Sep 10, 2026 · ▲ 4 · 💬 3

Goldenrod/aster honey crystallising in the frames — how fast must I extract, and can granulated frames be spun?

Second season in Ontario and my first time keeping a fall super on. Two hives, one medium each, and the goldenrod-aster mix came in like a freight train the last three we…

BethsBees · Ontario, CA · Honey · Sep 8, 2026 · ▲ 10 · 💬 4 · ✅ Solved

Is a 40 km move to the goldenrod worth the stress this late in the season?

Decision needed by the weekend. A farmer friend 40 km east has field margins thick with goldenrod (nawłoć) just hitting full bloom, and he's offered me space for six hive…

PasiekaOlek · Małopolskie, PL · Honey · Sep 4, 2026 · ▲ 5 · 💬 3

Ivy is opening early down here — leave it for the bees or race the crystallisation?

First ivy flowers are opening around Cork a week or so ahead of usual, and the bees found them before I did. Which means it's time for the annual ivy argument, so let's h…

CorkBeeRon · Cork, IE · Honey · Sep 4, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4

My scale hive gained 8 kg in one week off goldenrod — the data is beautiful

Third year in North Carolina, first year with a hive scale, and I finally get why people obsess over these things. The goldenrod turned on around August 25th and my scale…

SourwoodGrace · North Carolina, US · Honey · Sep 3, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4

First propolis tincture attempt — ratios, alcohol strength, and straining questions

Winter project here in Minas Gerais while the colonies are quiet: I've been scraping propolis all year off frames and traps and finally have about 200 g of the good green…

PropolisRafa · Minas Gerais, BR · Honey · Sep 2, 2026 · ▲ 5 · 💬 3

Rendered my cappings today — 800 g of clean wax from one harvest. What does everyone make with theirs?

Extraction done here in Provence and today I finally rendered the cappings from all eight hives: two passes through the solar melter, then a final water-bath melt and fil…

LavenderSophie · Provence, FR · Honey · Aug 26, 2026 · ▲ 7 · 💬 4

Goldenrod and aster flow is on — hive weight climbing again, do I leave it all or take a frame?

Second year, two hives in eastern Ontario. After six weeks of dearth my luggage-scale hefts are finally going UP again — one hive put on almost 3 kg in the last week. The…

BethsBees · Ontario, CA · Honey · Aug 24, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4

2026 harvest totals — how did your crop compare to last year? Regional roundup

Extractor's clean, jars are filling, so it's time for the annual damage report. Post your region, rough average per production hive, versus last year, and what the flow d…

CorkBeeRon · Cork, IE · Honey · Aug 23, 2026 · ▲ 12 · 💬 5

Honey came in at 19.2% — making mead instead of gambling on fermenting jars

Coastal humidity got me this year. Late harvest off two hives in Istria refractometered at 19.2% — right on the edge. My drier June harvest was fine at 17.5% and that's a…

IstriaBee · Istria, HR · Honey · Aug 20, 2026 · ▲ 7 · 💬 4

Jar sourcing, lids, and labels — what's everyone's setup for selling a few hundred jars?

Fourth year in Devon and this is the first season I've got real quantity to sell — probably 300+ jars worth. Time to stop buying jars twelve at a time from the farm shop.…

DevonBees_Em · Devon, UK · Honey · Aug 19, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4

Uncapping tank is a bucket of sludge — how long do you drain cappings, and is a warming cabinet worth it?

Second year in İzmir and just finished my second-ever extraction, 5 hives. The extraction itself went fine. What nobody warned me about: the uncapping tank. I have maybe …

elif_arici · İzmir, TR · Honey · Aug 16, 2026 · ▲ 7 · 💬 4 · ✅ Solved

Selling rendered beeswax blocks at market — getting to cosmetic grade, and what are you charging per 100g?

Alentejo, 6 years, and I've accumulated about 9kg of rendered wax from cappings and old comb. The local market has a clear appetite for beeswax blocks — the soap and cosm…

InesMel · Alentejo, PT · Honey · Aug 15, 2026 · ▲ 6 · 💬 3

Goldenrod is blooming 2 weeks early in Vermont — flow reports? Plus a smell warning for the other new folks

Second year in Vermont and the goldenrod along my back field opened this week — my notes from last year say August 28th, so we're a solid two weeks early. The bees found …

VTBeeHannah · Vermont, US · Honey · Aug 14, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4

Last supers are 60-70% capped — shake test the rest, extract for bakery honey, or just feed back?

Małopolskie, 5th season, twelve hives. Main extraction is done but I've got six shallow supers where the outer frames are only 60-70% capped and the flow here is over. Op…

PasiekaOlek · Małopolskie, PL · Honey · Aug 14, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4

First willow pollen coming in here in Wellington — who else is watching late-winter first flights?

Southern Hemisphere check-in. We had two mild sunny days in a row here in Wellington and this morning I watched foragers coming back with pale yellow pollen — the early w…

KiwiBeek · Wellington, NZ · Honey · Aug 10, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4

Just-extracted wet supers — back on the hives to clean up, or store them sticky? Terrified of starting a robbing war

Extracted 40 kg from my four Devon hives on Sunday (very happy). Now I've got eight wet supers dripping in the shed and conflicting advice from my association. One camp: …

DevonBees_Em · Devon, UK · Honey · Aug 5, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4

Refractometer says 19.5% on mostly-capped frames — extract anyway or am I bottling future mead?

Pulled a test frame from my supers here in Kent yesterday. It's maybe 85-90% capped, and I sampled from several capped cells: readings between 19.2 and 19.8, call it 19.5…

KentishBee · Kent, UK · Honey · Aug 5, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4 · ✅ Solved

Goldenrod flow is 3-4 weeks out — do you leave a super on for it or let the bees keep it all?

Fifth year in Quebec, seven hives. Summer supers came off last week, and now comes my annual dilemma: the goldenrod (and aster behind it) will start here around late Augu…

QuebecBees · Quebec, CA · Honey · Aug 1, 2026 · ▲ 16 · 💬 4

Selling at the farmers market for the first time next weekend — label and legal gotchas?

Following up my harvest thread — I've got about 140 lbs jarred and a booth booked at our local market next Saturday. North Carolina, so I've read our cottage food / honey…

SourwoodGrace · North Carolina, US · Honey · Aug 1, 2026 · ▲ 17 · 💬 4
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