> I guess a couple of strong young men could count as a mechanical
> lifting device! What a way to spend a day...
 
Some people pay for exercise like this.
 
> Allen - if you don't wait til the supers are all full, do you have
> difficulty with high moisture content?
 
Seldom, and if it is a little high, then the packers don't mind if
they know in advance.  It saves on their water bill ;)
 
> Or does it average out OK, given the nectar sources and weather? I
> wonder,too if you are up in the Peace River area,
 
No, we average around 100 pounds here. I'm halfway between Lethbridge
and Edmonton.
 
> where the crops are still on the large side.
 
Not this year.  They had another disaster.  It's feast or famine
there.
 
> Do they grow lots of legumes/alfalfa up in your neck of the woods,
> or do you rely on things like Canola?
 
Both.
 
> Any fireweed?
 
No.
 
> I know with the Canola you can't leave the crop on til things are
> all filled and finished, as it granulates solid in no time.  Perhaps
> this is part of the reason for harvesting early.
 
Well, yes -- and the fact that some hives get plugged.  Since were
going there anyhow, we might as well take the honey.
 
Also our flow only lasts a week or three most years, so we get only
two, maybe three pulls.  Sometimes only one.
 
Then it's over.
 
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                         VE6CFK
RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada T0M 1Y0
Internet:[log in to unmask] & [log in to unmask]
Honey. Bees, & Art <http://www.internode.net/~allend/>