Water spray is a great alternative to smoke for controlling honey bees.
Yesterday, we were extracting over 20 kg of honey from the wax honeycomb frames from three of the sous-chef’s hives. Sticky work: removing the cappings from the honeycomb; spinning the frames so that the centrifugal force empties out the honey. It all goes through various filters to remove the odd bee leg etc. Now the golden harvest is settling for a few days to allow the air bubbles to rise. The hopeful bonus is a demijohn of honey-rich rinsing water destined to be mead.
Several hours later, slumped in the garden for the final sun rays of the day, a single bee found whatever fragrances of honey in my hair fascinating. Endless buzzing around until the gallant sous-chef did the deed with his water spray: Dampening the bee’s enthusiasm and me too. But, at least, we both lived to see another day.
