 Cleaned extractors and empty honey supers, ready to be put out to be cleaned by the bees. Photo by Eric Malcolm, August 20, 2026. | Time in the Barn: 7 hours Total Colonies: 65 Temperature (°F): Hi: tba° Low: tba° Avg: tba° Total Precipitation: tba” Note Climate data not yet available for these dates. |
Actions:
In the barn: Extracted and strained 330lbs of honey. Checked water content of each bucket with a refractometer. Cleaned up extraction equipment and tools.
Observations:
It was a warm week and the honey was flowing nicely during extraction. Refractometer readings came up consistently high for water content, despite the honey being capped. We later tested and found the refractometer was in need of recalibration. We still need to wrap up and put away the extraction equipment.
Reflections:
We will recheck the water content in our honey in the following week or two. We suspect it will all be below 18.6% water, after seeing how much the refractometer was off by. In the future, we will recalibrate our refractometers prior to extracting.
Things in bloom:
Dutch Clover, Crepe Myrtle, Queen Anne’s Lace, Chicory, Clustered Mountain Mint, Early Goldenrod, Purple Loosestrife, Winged Sumac, Common Evening Primrose, Ironweed, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus, Trumpet Vine, Flowering Spurge, Honeysuckle
In the barn: Extracted and strained 330lbs of honey. Checked water content of each bucket with a refractometer. Cleaned up extraction equipment and tools.
Observations:
It was a warm week and the honey was flowing nicely during extraction. Refractometer readings came up consistently high for water content, despite the honey being capped. We later tested and found the refractometer was in need of recalibration. We still need to wrap up and put away the extraction equipment.
Reflections:
We will recheck the water content in our honey in the following week or two. We suspect it will all be below 18.6% water, after seeing how much the refractometer was off by. In the future, we will recalibrate our refractometers prior to extracting.
Things in bloom:
Dutch Clover, Crepe Myrtle, Queen Anne’s Lace, Chicory, Clustered Mountain Mint, Early Goldenrod, Purple Loosestrife, Winged Sumac, Common Evening Primrose, Ironweed, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus, Trumpet Vine, Flowering Spurge, Honeysuckle