Leonard & Mary at my Hives.

2 brood & 2 honey supers on each hive. The black plate is a solar-electric panel supplying power to the hive fan.

The Team.

Mary smokes to confuse them, and drive them into the hive, while Leonard removes honey frames.

Mary Smokes.

Smokers make cool smoke. The bees don't get the chemical signals to sting from the other bees, and they go and eat honey instead.

Hive Tool.

Leonard shows the basic tool used to open the supers and loosen frames. The bees secrete wax to seal everything.

Super.

1 honey frame left in this super box. Each super holds 10 frames, but some use only 9 or even 8 for easier extracting.

Leonard with Honey Super.

A nice wax capped full frame of light clover honey.

Honey Frame.

The honey is dried and sealed by the bees for storage in the combs.

Inner Cover.

The inner cover of the hive gives ventilation. Mine have slots I cut for upper entrances. The blocks hold the cover up to expose and ventilate the upper entrance hole slot.

Loading the Honey Supers.

L & M load the truck. My old Jeep in the background.

Swarm?

They all come out the front when working the hive. But a swarm coming out looks the same.

Bottom Super.

The main brood chamber. The supers are reversed with seasons to keep the queen in the bottom. She moves up.

Smoke Em.

Any cool smoke will do. It is an art to keep a good smoker going. I like self-lighting charcoal, burlap, small sticks and grass. Some propulis from the hives works well.