So, my only bee hive died during the winter. When I discovered them, it bummed me out and I really didn't want to do anything with the hive right away, so I placed the whole thing in the shed and I just left it there for a couple of weeks. A few days ago, it was a warm day and I was out getting some things done around the yard. I decided to take the hive out and really inspect it. I set it on the ground and took out some of the frames. I looked at the couple of frames that had capped honey in them that for whatever reason, my bees didn't eat. There wasn't much and since I had no bees, I would try to harvest the little bit that was there, especially since I hadn't gotten a chance to taste any honey that the bees stored. I took the frames inside and cut the part of the comb out that had the honey. I had read a little about a harvesting process called crush and strain. Normally, you would cut the caps off of the comb, hang the frame in a honey extractor and spin the honey out of the comb. Crush and strain, on the other hand, is a process by which you cut the comb out of a frame and place it in a shallow pan. You then crush the 
comb with blunt object or your hand, then let the honey strain through a very fine filter into a vessel for storage. An extractor is pretty pricey and the crush and strain method seemed like a good alternative. Since there wasn't that much, I really didn't have to crush it. As I cut it off, it basically fell apart. I put the comb and honey in a pan lined with waxed paper. I then needed something to strain the honey with. I had read about people using paint strainers or stockings. I didn't have a paint strainer, so Catherine was nice enough to let me have one of her clean stockings.
That ended up working perfectly. I stretched the stocking over a small jar, then spooned the honey and wax into the stocking. Before long, we had a little jar of yummy honey from our own bees. It was quite an accomplishment. And the honey was indeed yummy!
comb with blunt object or your hand, then let the honey strain through a very fine filter into a vessel for storage. An extractor is pretty pricey and the crush and strain method seemed like a good alternative. Since there wasn't that much, I really didn't have to crush it. As I cut it off, it basically fell apart. I put the comb and honey in a pan lined with waxed paper. I then needed something to strain the honey with. I had read about people using paint strainers or stockings. I didn't have a paint strainer, so Catherine was nice enough to let me have one of her clean stockings. 
That ended up working perfectly. I stretched the stocking over a small jar, then spooned the honey and wax into the stocking. Before long, we had a little jar of yummy honey from our own bees. It was quite an accomplishment. And the honey was indeed yummy!