Honey Extraction

[stovie]

Thought some of you might like to see some pics from yesterdays honey extraction. Not strictly bushcraft, as there is some mechanisation involved (but the extraction can be done by hand...It just takes a little longer).

Smokin'....the principle is that bees feel under threat, gorge themselves and become soporific, making them docile and easier to handle (that's the theory, anyway)

Removing the first frame

You can see a queen cell on this frame. This is a queenless hive at the moment and this one is close to hatching...

This is a queen cell that was removed, as you only want one queen to a colony

Removing wax capping before spinning

Loading frames in the extractor

The extractor in action, with clear honey draining at the bottommmmm!

Filtering debris

The honey sits in buckets for a week to allow the air bubble to come to the surface, and then it will be jarred.

This is a comb loaded with very sweet honey...

250lbs of honey extracted. there'll be another harvest in august.

 

[EdS]

how many hives are you running?

 

[stovie]

There are six in total Ed. Two on one site and four on another. It always amazes me how different the honey tastes from each area.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting the photos - beekeeping is something i've wanted to do since I was a kid. One day...

 

[Geuf]

wow, nice!

question though: how do you extract it by hand instead of using the spinner?

 

[stovie]

Used to do it with a hand spun extractor. It only holds four frames at a time though, and tends to take forever

You can take the comb out as well (some people like the comb in their honey) but that of course makes extra work for the bees. They have to re-build the comb before storing honey, therefore less yeild.

 

[PC2K]

ahh... brings back old memory from my basic school days, we used to have 2 hives at my basic school. We all had a chance to do a little honey extraction job. That extractor looks nice! i remeber the old wood onces with a hand crank we had. Great fun and a bit scary (he, i was young!) and sticky. Used to sell the fresh honey in jars at school.

 

[scruff]

What kind of/ flavour honey is it?

Heather has gotta be my fave but any of the stuff thats been near Oil Seed Rape is awful

How many queen cells are usually produced by a colony? I thought it was only one, hadn't realised you actually had to 'weed' em out so to speak.

Great pics by the way....makes me want some yummy honey right now mmmmmmmmmm!

 

[stovie]

There is some Rape in the area, and although quite strong, I'm not averse to it. But there is no one flavour that predominates...There are several orchards in the area, as well as blackberries in flower, and a fair crop of clover. It varies from season to season.

Colonies will produce more than one queen cell in order to increase their chances of success. How many, varies, but 3 is an average. With successful supercedance, the remaining unhatched cells are destroyed by the colony (or the beekeeper )

 

[Stew]

Very cool.

I've recently discovered some hives near me. I don't interfer with them but it's interesting watching the bees bumble about.

 

[gregorach]

Good stuff stovie! I helped out a beekeeper a little many years ago, but I never had the nerve to do it bare-handed - never mind short sleeves! I take it you've been beekeeping for a while?

They really are fascinating little critters.

 

[scruff]

There is some Rape in the area, and although quite strong, I'm not averse to it. But there is no one flavour that predominates...There are several orchards in the area, as well as blackberries in flower, and a fair crop of clover. It varies from season to season.

Do you ever transport your hives to encourage/empart a particular 'flavour'? I always used to see hives dotted about on the moors in North Yorks whilst the heather was in bloom, and our local priest used to move his as far away as possible from the rape fields as he too disliked the flavour. I know with that bee disease that went round a few years ago people stopped this but is it still an issue?

Colonies will produce more than one queen cell in order to increase their chances of success. How many, varies, but 3 is an average. With successful supercedance, the remaining unhatched cells are destroyed by the colony (or the beekeeper )

Very interesting. So does the first larvae munch on the others once hatched or do the drones and workers just tidy up when they see the new gaffer?

 

[stovie]

Good stuff stovie! I helped out a beekeeper a little many years ago, but I never had the nerve to do it bare-handed - never mind short sleeves! I take it you've been beekeeping for a while?

They really are fascinating little critters.

That's my collaegue in the photos, but yes, i don't wear gloves as i find them cumbersome. Just a face net. You soon learn to run your fingers along before gripping frames.

The photos are for a presentation to the local keepers society.

 

[stovie]

Scruff

Don't tend to transport hives around, but the two sites are about 2 miles apart, one is more of an agricultural area, the other more garden/woodland. The second site has a far more delicate flavour than the other.

There is still an issue around foul brood (european and american) and this has undoubtedly had an impact on the tradition of placing hives on moorlands etc. Though I think it is re-emerging as a practice again, but couldn't swear to it.

It's the workers that do the clearing up of any unhatched cells.

incidently, the wax that is de-capped and collected is covered in honey (obviously) and so all you do is place the whole lot in a feeder tray within the hive, leave it for a week or so, and the workers clean all the honey off, leaving your wax unadulterated. They are marvelous creatures.

 

[scruff]

Cheers for all the info

I hope the produce tastes as good as it looks

 

[beowolf762]

Just a comment, in the U.S. clover honey is considered the best of the commercial honeys. Some beekeepers move the hives to get diffrent flavored honey. I cant tell the diffrence in taste though, never had honey made from rapeseed, I can imagine that would have a very strong taste.

 

[locum76]

nice stuff stovie, ive just started beekeeping at the farm i work on (we need the bees to pollinate our infant orchard).

i've tried some of the rapeseed honey already and to me it tasted fantastic, although i may be biased as it was the first honey ive harvested. i believe it crystalizes really quickly and needs whipped.

where do you work stovie? it looks very similar to where i work...

 

[jdlenton]

we need the bees to pollinate our infant orchard

you grow children never seen a tree like that before

James

 

[locum76]

yeah, you have to grow them on trees on dwarfing rootstock (otherwise they get too big and break the branches) also some varieties can be prone to canker. we prefer to grow dessert varieties too that are best eaten straight off the tree.

 

[stovie]

nice stuff stovie, ive just started beekeeping at the farm i work on (we need the bees to pollinate our infant orchard).

i've tried some of the rapeseed honey already and to me it tasted fantastic, although i may be biased as it was the first honey ive harvested. i believe it crystalizes really quickly and needs whipped.

where do you work stovie? it looks very similar to where i work...

Hi Locum76

you're right, rape honey can crystalise quite quickly due to the high sucrose content. Another thing to watch out for, if you take the honey off too soon (ie if honey spills out the frames when you shake them) it ferments in the jars. makes a bit of a mess Not that I've done that...

I'm in sussex, and assuming you're in Edinburgh, we're not exactly neighbours...