Honey Bucket and My First Honey Collection

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Last year I left all the honey in the hives for the bees to use over the winter. This year however, early in the season I found almost a whole box of honey plus some more stored in the box below....so, some for me and some for the bees.

Typically beekeepers use a langstroth type of hive with frames that either have wax or plastic foundation on them. To collect the honey they use a hot knife to slice off the thin cappings on both sides of the frame, then put several frames in a spinning machine to use centrifugal force to spin the honey out of the comb.

In my case however I'm using Warre hives. The bees start with nothing more than a top bar from which to hang their comb, so I use the crush and strain method to separate the honey from the comb, not nearly as pretty but it gets the job done.

Step one is getting the bees out of the box of honey you want to collect. I put a bee escape below the box I wanted to collect. Check out this blog post for more details on that. I left it in place for about 10 days. Most of the bees were gone but there were some die hards that just would not give up the honey. No worries I was able to gently encourage them out as I pulled the frames.

honey comb smashed up

smashed comb

Next I found a big white bowl (color doesn't really matter) and a wooden spatula to do the smashing. I cut the comb off into the bowl (I did this away from the apiary as once the bees get the scent of honey you will be over run.) and began smashing it up. It really looks like a mess.....this is the "Crush" part of crush and strain.

Next I poured this sticky mess of honey and smashed wax into my separating system or you could also call it a Honey Bucket, not the kind you see on a construction site.....a real....honey.....bucket. This is two buckets stacked on one another. The top bucket has a nylon straining bag in it and has holes drilled in the bottom. the bottom bucket has a lid with the center section cut out of it to allow the honey from the top bucket thru. It also has a honey gate....or valve at the bottom. This system is the most natural way to collect honey as there is no filtering of the honey which could filter out pollen or other great nutrients the honey might contain. Here is a link to a couple of similar systems: Mann Lake - Brushy Mountain Bee FarmBeeThinking. I got mine from BeeThinking.

Honey Straining Bucket

Now, time to put the buckets out in the sun. Warm honey flows much better to the bucket below. ***Big note here --- When I do this again I'm going to wrap saran wrap around the seam between the two buckets. There is just enough space for bees to get in and I had to scoop several out who got in and could not get out**** By the next day all of the honey had moved to the bottom bucket leaving all of the crushed wax....and other goodies in the mesh bag above.crush and strain honey collection

Honey Bucket in the sun
Filling jars of honey the best part of beekeeping

Filling the jars

Now the fun part, pouring the honey into the jars. There are lots of choices when it comes to honey containers, jars and bottles which you can buy from most of the beekeeping suppliers. From here just make sure each jar has its cap screwed on tight and wiped down so there is no stickiness on the outside. Design and place a cool looking label on the outside and we are ready to roll.

Couple of notes; I did wash all of the jars before using them. Honey attracts moisture so if you can do much of the work in an air conditioned space the better. Too much moisture in your honey and it will spoil.

All told this first harvest was about 17 pounds of honey. The first of the jars filled with honey from seabeck farmshoney went to our bee friendly neighbors. That sounds like a lot of honey but as you can see not many jars.

I took the wax and melted it down and turned it into candles....I'll share that process in my next blog post.

 

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Importance of Water and Good Neighbors to your Apiary

water feeder, bees, beekeeping

Easy inexpensive water feeder

This is the time of year when it gets hot in our area. Availability of water is critical to the health of your bee hives. I found that an easy inexpensive water system involves a simple poultry water bucket that you can get from your local feed store. I find that this small one works great and I just put small rocks in the base to give the bees a place to perch as they get a drink. Because the top is somewhat clear I can see when it is getting low so that I can fill it up again.

Why do bees need water? When bees leave the hive they are collecting several raw materials; nectar, pollen, water and plant resin. Nectar is the carbohydrate, pollen the protein and the resin is turned into propolis and used to seal off the hive from the weather. The pollen, nectar and water are mixed together with bee saliva to form bee bread. The bee bread is what the bees eat and what is fed to developing bees. Many humans also collect and eat bee bread for its reported medicinal properties. Bee bread is comprised of:

55% Carbohydrates, 35% Protein, 3% Minerals & Vitamins, 2% Fatty Acids, 5% other stuff.

So, back to the water, we went on a short vacation. Before leaving I made sure everything was squared away in my apiary. Each hive was strapped down (in case a wind storm came up while I was away), set up a swarm trap, made sure the water bucket was full.

While I was away either it was really hot and the water evaporated….or a racoon or other wild animal drank the water. In any event when I came back the first thing I noticed was that the bucket was dry.

A few days after having filled up the watering can I noticed that there were no bees drinking from it. Earlier in the year I would always see a dozen or so bees at a time getting a drink….but now nothing…..odd.

A week or so later I was talking with my bee friendly neighbor across the fence. She noted that she loved seeing my bees drinking from a plant saucer that they have near a window at her house. I was at first concerned that my thirsty bees might be intruding, but she reassured me that both she and her husband liked watching them and that they happily kept the saucer full.

bees drinking water

Bee water park

So….two morals to the story; 1) Always keep an ample supply of water close by for your bees. In this case I was lucky, had it been a swimming pool or deck fountain even the best of neighbors might not be happy. 2) Keep your neighbors happy about your bees. Keep them informed when you are going to be getting them and let them know how they are doing…and of course they should always get the first of the honey when you collect it.