Observation Hive

Honey
Nectar Plants
Composition
How To Store
How Bees Make Honey
The Harvest
Extracting
CooKing
Medicinal
Beauty

Beekeeping
History
Art Of Beekeeping
Equipment
Apiary
Stings
Predators
Spring Care
Wintering Bees
Feeding Bees
Products Of The Hive
Swarms
Managing Colonies
Bee Mite

Honey Bees
Social Insect
Queen
Worker
Drone
Virgin
Stings
Products of the Hive

Legal Stuff

THE Harvest





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

In the early summer when there in an abundant of honey,
the bees don't fuss too much about you opening the supers up and taking the honey .
A little smoke, a sunny day, and there giving it away.
As in late fall, they seem to know winters coming ,they are on guard , quick to anger.
You dress up especially well. Cover the honey quickly, and hide it from them .
The 're not that clever but very persistent. They will find it.

Spring honey when you can get it is mostly dandelion honey ,dark and caramel flavored, Summer blends into clover and wildflower,a lighter honey , at times clear and fall blending into golden rod a dark honey.

SPRING DANDILION, FALL GOLDEN ROD, SUMMER ROSE

HONEY COMB COVERED WITH WAX

When the honey is capped with wax it is ready to harvest. This is a sign the moister has been taken out of it. It will mot drip out of the frame

To harvest ,having dressed up , lit the smoker and parked the pick up truck we open the supers and start removing the frames .Brushing the house bees off the frames with the bee brush. The frames are taken to the pickup truck covered well and driven to the extracting room.


SMOKER

FRAME OF HONEY


In the extracting room the wax covering the comb is removed with a knife, the frame is placed in the extractor, a large drum holding the frames. The extractor spins the comb, spinning the honey out onto the walls of the drum ,flowing to the bottom, using centrifugal force. The honey is filtered and bottled.

POURING HONEY OUT OF THE EXTRACTOR

The wax used to cap the comb is also harvested and used for balm and candles.

Factors Affecting
the Honey Harvest

The average hive for us may produce 75 lb , less than the country's average,150 lb
But like any farm crop, honey is highly dependent on weather.

Sunshine
Warm sunny days are good for plants and bees.
Rainfall
Enough rainfall makes the flowers produce nectar for the bees .
The bees are unable to fly if caught in the rain.They have to wait until they dry off.
Bees are not nice to work with in the rain. They are cranky.
Wind
We have a lot of wind to deal with as we are by Lake Superior. Some bees won't go out in the wind which may be why our production is at time lower.
Drought
With Drought no plants no honey. Bee drink water from the creek and pond.
Heat
Bees mostly like the heat, they ventilate the hive with their wings or hang out of the hive in a bundle at night. Ventilating cures the honey.