A year on the mountain

The work follows the month, not a plan.

Bees do not read calendars. This is the order that repeats every year, give or take a week either way.

Loading the season…

Twelve months

From the first inspection to wintering.

01
January
Nothing is opened. You listen for the cluster humming and clear snow off the entrance.
02
February
First warm day, the bees come out for a cleansing flight. We count who survived.
03
March
The first real inspection. Queen, stores and any sign of disease.
04
April
The brood nest is opened up. At the end of the month the hives go out to Vlasotince for the first acacia.
05
May
Acacia twice: extraction at Vlasotince, then the move to Svođe.
06
June
The move to the slopes of Čemernik. Watching for swarming, second acacia extraction.
07
July
Beech and fir honeydew, if there is any. Forest honey is extracted.
08
August
The Vlasina flow runs out. The last extraction of the year.
09
September
Coming down off the mountain. Fresh Vlasina honey goes on sale.
10
October
Weak colonies united, varroa treatment, winter stores checked.
11
November
Wintering down. Entrances narrowed, mouse guards on.
12
December
Repairing frames and rendering wax. You go to the apiary only to look.

Extraction

One extraction per flow instead of one big one at the end of the season. More work and fewer kilograms, but each jar stays a single flow.

01
Wait for the cap

We extract only once the cells are capped with wax. That is the sign the honey is ripe, not a date.
02
Lifting frames

Frames come off in the morning, while it is cooler. Bees brushed off, smoke used as little as possible.
03
Uncapping

Wax taken off with a knife, by hand, frame by frame. The cappings are rendered separately and go back into frames.
04
Centrifuge

A hand extractor for four frames. Slower than electric, but the comb does not break, so it goes back to the hive.
05
Settling

Through a coarse sieve, then a few days to settle on its own. No pump, no pressure — the pollen stays in.