Honey Time! - Honeybee Watch
Honey extraction time! It had not been my intention to extract honey this year as my beehive was new, but these girls have been super busy and ended up with lots and lots of extra honey. A good problem to have!
How do you extract honey?
It’s actually very time-consuming, especially when you are only doing it for the second time ever. And there are so many books and videos and websites telling you different methods, it’s important to pick what works best for you and your bees (of course)
First, the frames have to be removed from the hive which means brushing the bees off their honey frames and placing the frames into a large container with a lid. I learned the hard way that you have to keep the lid fully closed (think lots and lots of bees found their honey in my bin and weren’t pleased). I let the frames sit for a day to let all the bees out of the bin and out of my garage.
Getting things together for extraction
I borrow an extractor from a friend and local beekeeper, so next I get that set up and gather everything I need.
Frame filled with capped honey
Honey on the frame is capped in wax, so the next step is to scrape off the wax. I haven’t determined my prefered method yet, but this year I used a fork to scrape down the capping so the honey can leak out. Again, there are lots of methods and I’m likely to try a different one next time. Any method results in a bucket of beeswax and honey. If you’ve never chewed beeswax with honey, you don’t know what you’re missing!
This is a very sticky job.
Next, the frames are placed into the extractor four at a time. The extractor is basically a low-tech centrifuge that spins the frames to get the uncapped honey to spin out and drip down the inside of the container. The bottom part of the extractor has a filter to keep out beeswax pieces, bee parts and anything else you wouldn’t want in your honey. It’s not easy work cranking the extractor.
Open frames in the extractor waiting for spinning
Each frame of honey is processed through the extractor and then the honey slowly moves through the lower filter. The end result is a tub filled with clean, delicious honey.
The next step is to fill clean bottles with honey using the extractors spigot.
This year’s honey was very dark in color, likely because it’s fall, but I do not know for certain. We ended up with at least 30 pounds of dark and delicious honey this year.
This was hard work, sticky, and very time-consuming which makes me appreciate the cost of local honey even more!
Honey extraction
THE GIRLS ARE BACK IN TOWN - Update
After a two year break the hive is full of bees again!
When my last hive died, I had decided to take a break from active beekeeping. But a friend encouraged me to keep a hive open and ready for bees to move in. This meant keeping it clean, with frames, and occasionally rubbing a mixture of beeswax and Lemongrass essential oils on the hive entrances. I am happy to report that this year it worked!
I saw a number of bees near the hive entrance and kept watch to see if more would come. After a week or so I started to see a larger number of bees flying in and out and knew it was inspection time.
When I opened the hive I was thrilled to see hundreds and hundreds of bees busily making comb and honey in both boxes. I had not filled the boxes with frames so they were industriously building comb between the frames which is not ideal. This required my cutting out the comb and rubber banding it into empty frames to replace in the hive. I have never done this before, but it worked out well and they seem to be adapting to the changes I made in the hive.
The bees that moved into my hive are likely from a local swarm, meaning a nearby hive split because it was too big and went out looking for a new place to live. I am hopeful this means that they are healthy and hearty.
The next inspection is planned for Sunday afternoon.
11/12/2022 Winter prep since days are getting colder. Added sugarboard box so bees have extra food if needed throughout the winter. Day was 64 degrees so bees out flying around and still bringing in pollen. Seem strong going into the winter!
7/3/2022 - Just a quick hive dive to check to make sure my girls were moving up into the top box. They were busy cleaning it up and making comb. It’s been hot out so I did not take the hive apart today due to cranky bees. I will wait until it’s a little cooler for a full inspection. The girls have been getting into my hummingbird feeder so I’m trying to come up with a solution for that-tried watering it down, but they are so tenacious!
6/7/2022 Sunday Hive inspection
