Honey Bees?

[Gerald]

My dad got us boys into bee keeping back when I was a teenager.

We started with one hive and about each year we divided the hives to keep the bees from swarming. So after a few years we had 4 or 5 hives in the back yard. Some of the hives would be 4 or 5 "boxes" high. About twice a year we would "rob" the hive of honey. Every few weeks during the spring and summer we would check the hives by taking them apart to look at how much honey the bees were making to know when the "rob" the honey.

The hives were setup in the flower beds and cutting the grass in front where the bees flew in and out...... that was not always fun.

Getting the honey was a big process that would take most of the day to complete. We had a hand crank type centrifuge extractor that would hold 2 large size frames. We would get 15 to 20 gallons of honey each time.

I think Mom would leave the house .......when we took over the kitchen.