Observation Hive

Honey
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How Bees Make Honey
The Harvest
Extracting
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Harvest


In her life time, a worker makes less than one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.

Meanwhile, the average North American consumes 15 pounds a year, of which about 5 percent is produced by small hobby operators.
A smart enthusiast can time the harvest to coincide with the blooming periods of certain flowers: Clover honey is collected in late July, while you have to wait to late August for thistle honey. But no matter when the beekeeper chooses to do it, harvest season is a much anticipated event.
The process starts with the removal of the frames from the hive. Laden with honey, they are surprisingly heavy.

The frames are brought indoors to a spevial "bee-tight room-lest the insects- follow-wherethe are placed in a metal drum called a extractor. The beeswax seal on the comb is then broken, which frees the flow of honey. As the extractor spins, centrifugal force keeps the flow going. The liquid honey is then filtered and bottled. With time, it can crystallize, which yields "creamed honey. Meanwhile, the left over beeswax can be gathered for use in bees wax candles or balms.

quote from Harrowsmith Country Life

Factors Affecting
the Honey Harvest


With any luck, the average hobby hive can produce a respectable150 pounds (55kg)of honey a year. For us at Greenvalley it is half this amount or less.But like any farm crop, honey is highly dependent on weather.
Sever winter -Winter kill can decimate a hive. Living off their reserves of honey, the bees spend the colder months keeping warm through the constant buzzing of their wings. Indeed, this keeps the hive at a constant 68 degrees to77 degrees F ((20 to 25 degrees C) that is, unless winter is so brutal that the hive succumbs to cold. Sunshine
Plenty of sunlight is a key factor in the ability of a pant to produce flowers; hence, it has a profound effect t on honey production.
Rainfall
Ditto with rain. However, too much rain impedes the flight of the bees.
Wind
Honey production goes down on a windy day. After all, would you be at your most productive if you had to fly into the wind?
Drought
Bees pick up water from puddles and ponds; they suffer without it.
Heat
During a summer heat wave, the workers spend all their time fanning the comb(to keep temperatures and humidity tolerable) when they would otherwise be making honey.

quote from Harrowsmith Country Life

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