The Honey Crop

This is the beekeepers reward for a year of hard work.  The question about honey removal comes up often.  The honey in this super is ready to come off.  Notice how the bees have fattened up the comb.  Eight frames were used in this super.  Almost 100% of the cells are capped.  Usually the frames to the outside are the ones you will need to watch for uncapped cells.

Many areas of the United States have periods of certain nectar/honey crops being produced.  A beekeeper who tends his hives often will see the beginning of a honey flow and the end of a honey flow.  When a honey flow is in progress the bees are easy to work and are not aggressive.   As soon as a honey flow comes to an end and the bees are unable to find  a new source, they become testy.   In addition, they seem to look for weak hives to rob.   Maybe you have noticed that bees will fly right by and over a super with honey or a container with sugar water during a good honey flow.  But if that flows stops, they will descend  on that honey super with a little bit of honey in it or that container  of sugar water like banshees.  You will have clouds of bees in the area.

Different plants produce different honeys.   The variety is so great that I can not begin to list them.  Some are very light and others are very dark in color.  They will vary by taste and aroma.   Some granulate very quickly while other do not.   

Light honey generally sells at a higher price than dark honey.  

First, lets take a look at what honey is!    The conversion of nectar to honey involves a chemical change and a physical change.  As the honey bee gathers nectar, she will regurgitate this small droplet many times while on her mission to gather nectar (Approximately 20 minutes for each trip).   The actual chemical change involves sucrose being converted to glucose and fructose by the enzyme invertase from the hypopharyngeal glands of the honey bee.  This process is continued when the drop is deposited with one of the house bees.  The house bee then will find a cell to place this droplet in for evaporation purposes.  Later this same droplet is moved again by house bees after its water (moisture content) has been reduced to another cell to further dry out--  ripened--moisture removed from it.  

The physical change that occurs is the process of evaporation.  Depending on the moisture content of the nectar, the bees will reduce the amount to under 20%.  House bees place droplets in cells around the hive.  Currents of air are distributed around the hive by the bees fanning.  You will see bees at the entrance of a hive fanning in dry air and fanning out moist air.  It is popular in some areas to recommend a ventilation hive cover to aid the bees in their effort to remove moisture from the hive.  You can even buy hive covers with built in fans.   Bees really didn't need them until someone decided that a beekeeper might be willing to pay 100 dollars plus for one if they believed that the cover might increase honey production by a third.   Not many beekeepers use them and we don't recommend them.   You might want to drill a 1/2" hole in the upper corner of your hive bodies.  That works.

Honey is composed of:

• 18% water
• 35% glucose (dextrose)
• 40% fructose (levulose)
• with the balance being made up of other substances.  You can look at honey under a microscope and identify the various pollens from plants that are mixed with honey.  It helps identify the source of the honey.   3% of the other substances probably make up the characteristics of what gives a certain honey a particular flavor, smell, and color.

When is honey ready to be removed from a hive of bees?

        Unless 75%  or more of the cells in a frame are capped, the frame should not be removed.   The photograph at the beginning of this lesson shows a super of honey ready to be removed.  Uncapped honey has a high moisture content and will ferment.  That is a nasty word -- ferment.  Fermentation is caused by sugar being converted by yeasts to alcohol and Carbon dioxide.   The honey is ruined -- it can be fed back to the bees but it has an obnoxious odor and sour taste.   If fermenting honey is placed in a  closed containers, the gas produced  from CO² will cause the container to expand and bubble out or burst.  Don't get the idea that you can add a little water to honey to get more honey.  You will ruin the whole lot.  You might consider making mead -- honey wine.

When two honey crops are expected one following the other, the beekeeper might want to separate the two varieties.    Some varieties bring much high prices than those honeys of a  mix  with other honey.  For example, the bees are bringing in a very light water color honey.  To avoid the bees putting a darker honey in the cells with the lighter honey, the beekeeper needs to removed the light capped honey taking some frames that may be only 50% capped.   The beekeeper then supers up with new supers for the darker crop.  Honey can be artificially dried.  The honey supers with the light uncapped honey can be placed in a warm dry room with a humidifier.  The humidifier removes moisture from the air and also from the honey.    Honey should never be stored in a moist area.  Honey is hydroscopic (means it absorbs moisture).  Even if honey has a moisture content of 18.6% or less when harvested, it can absorb enough moisture from damp air to ferment.  It can even ferment in the comb.  If you are uncapping honey and you notice what looks like little bubbles in the honey, you might take some time to check the moisture content of that honey.  It can be done with a refractometer.  If you don't have one (most of you will not) take a sample of honey to your apiary department with the Department  of Agriculture to get it tested. Most state Land Grant Universities will also have equipment which can test the moisture content as well.  It doesn't take long.

Removing Honey Crop

The hobbiest has a number of options available. One is rather easy.  Remove the frames one at a time and brush the bees from the frame.  The frames are then set in a separate box and are taken immediately into a garage, house, or down in the basement.  A few bees may tag along.  It is difficult to remove all the bees.   Bees do not react peacefully to this action.   

A better method is to use a fume board.   A fume board is also called an acid board.  Don't get confused by the two terms (they mean the same thing).   At one time beekeepers used Carbolic acid (no longer legal) to drive bees out of supers.   A fume board is a box that fits atop a hive exactly.  It looks somewhat like a telescope cover but is build in the same dimensions as the supers (16 1/4 x 19 3/4 inches.)  It usually has a metal cover but I have seen some with 1/4" plywood painted black.  Metal works better.  A cloth fits below the metal cover and it is sprinkled with a little bit of ("Bee Go" or "Honey Robber"}.  The lip of the fume board is high enough for the burr comb over the frames to be below the cloth to prevent the comb from coming into contact with the chemical.

This works best on warm sunny days.  The fumes from the chemical drive the bees out of the hive if you leave it on too long.   The literature says three to five minutes and that is about all the time you have on a sunny day.  If you have several hives, you can remove the top cover, the inner cover and place the fume board with the chemical applied to the top most super.  You might want to put the fume board on in such a way that some air space is allowed at the corners of the super.  After only a few minutes you can remove the fume board to check if the bees have been driven down.  You will hear their roar as they do not like this stuff and they move down and away from it.  If you leave it on too long, all your bees will be rushing head first out the entrance to get away from it. When bees have exited the super, you may remove it (most if not all the bees will be gone).  Replace the fume board on the next super and work down to the brood chamber.  You will not have a lot of bees in the air like you would have if you brushed the bees off the comb.

One other hint:  Don't get this stuff on you.  You will notice that people that are near you will begin to move away.  It does stink!  

Escape boards ---  Several types of escape boards exist.  The most common use has something called a Porter Bee Escape.  It is used in the inner cover to allow bees to get of the honey super but does not allow them to return.  This works better when the bees are subjected to cooler temperatures and they leave the super to join the cluster in the brood chamber below, thus removing them from the honey super.  You need to make sure no openings exist for bees to get back into the super.   This is not fast and may take several days for most of the bees to get out.

Another escape board is called "Triangle Escape board".  This board has a triangle maize which allows the bees to escape but the bees are then unable to find their way back in.   In both of the above methods, the beekeeper places the escape board below the supers he/she wants cleared of bees.  Once the bees leave they can not get back in.  It takes time.

Bee Blowers ---  One can buy a commercial bee blower or make one from a leaf blower.  In principal, you are blowing bees out of the honey super.  The super is elevated on a bench or some kind of stand, and the nozzle of the blower is run across the frames of the super to remove the bees.  This is used by many commercial beekeepers.  It is fast and does a good job in both hot or cool temperatures.  Although the bees fill the air and form clusters on the ground, they don't seem to become overly aggressive.  They are disoriented and by the time they collect themselves, they try to find their way back to the hive.

Comb Honey

I have always maintained that a good beekeeper is one who can produce a good comb honey crop.   Producing comb honey is more labor intensive than producing extracted honey.  In fact, many honey buyers today are not aware of how you eat comb honey.  It is available but not produced as it once was.

First, we must define what we mean by comb honey.  Honey bees store honey in comb and at one time, by purchasing honey in comb was the only sure way to know that you were buying the real stuff.  One often finds cut comb in bottles with honey.  Cut comb is produced in normal super frames and then cut to size to fit the package it will be placed into.  This might be a plastic box without honey or a jar with honey.  There is no special management techniques required to produce cut comb honey except the use of new thin foundation in the honey supers.

Section Comb honey

There are three comb honey equipment choices the beekeeper must make.  We will describe the equipment and then the management required to produce comb honey.

The most popular is Ross Round® sections.  They make an attractive store or marketing display.  One usually buys a complete super already assembled.  The beekeeper must add thin foundation before putting this super on his/her bees.   Most bee supply catalogs have a complete listing of parts and labels for Ross Rounds.

Another system using a modular comb system is Hogg Half Comb honey supers.  This super is made up of one piece boxes designed to function as comb honey modules -- they interlock to form self supporting columns of individual comb honey sections in the super.  Since the prefabricated boxes have beeswax coated embossed foundation on the bottom you have no need to add any thin foundation.   All one needs to do is purchase either a complete Half Comb honey super or buy a conversion kit to build a cassette comb super.

Traditional comb honey comes in basswood section boxes.  This system requires more labor to assembly the equipment needed to produce comb honey and the two above.  Section boxes must be formed.  They arrive flat and have V grooves in the corners that must be dampened to prevent the box from breaking while putting it together.  If you buy a comb honey super, it will arrive unassembled and you must put everything together before using.  This includes nailing up the section holders, adding flat tins, and separators to each comb honey super you will use.   The section boxes must have thin foundation added and usually you will need a split section device to install the comb.  The labor involved is one reason many beekeepers are choosing the plastic systems.   

If you are new to comb honey production, we would recommend one of the plastic modular systems.

Management for producing comb honey

You must realize that bees are reluctant to work in these unnatural arrangements and in order to be successful with comb honey production you must adjust your management techniques.

• To produce good quality honey in the comb it is necessary to produce it quickly to avoid staining of wax cappings.  This browning of the wax makes the product less appealing.  It is called travel stain.
• The beekeeper must know the honey crop.  If the honey produced granulates in the comb, the comb honey will be less attractive to the consumer.

Bees must be forced up into the comb honey supers.  The queen must be kept out of the comb honey supers and a queen excluder is required.  So in order to manage for comb honey production, you must:

• Have very strong hives.   Swarming strength--This will require you to keep young queens in hives, and will required swarm management techniques.   You might be cutting queen cells every eight days or so.  If you wait for 10 days, it might be too late.
• Comb honey can be produced only when you have a strong honey flow.  Supers must be in place at the start of the honey flow rather than at the end.  
• The beekeeper will always bottom super and check to make sure the bees have capped completed sections before removing from the hive.  Part filled sections are of little value and all comb honey producers face this problem.  The beekeeper must keep maximum colony populations prior to the honey flow to take advantage of the honey storing capacity of the bees.
• If a good flow does not materialize or if the colony swarms, it is often better to give up the idea of section honey and revert back to normal honey production.   The cost of comb honey sections/boxes/rings ruined by partial filling will discourage many who try.  
• A good reference on comb honey production is Dr. Richard Taylor's book Comb Honey Book.

To review comb honey production, keep the following steps in mind.

• You must put equipment together before the honey flow.  You must have your bees ready to gather a crop.  Weak hives will not do the job.
• You must use a queen excluder to keep the queen from laying eggs in the foundation/comb and avoid the storage of pollen in the comb.
• You must manage for swarm prevention.
• You must harvest the crop when section boxes, ring, or cassettes are capped over.   Often this will require the beekeeper to move supers up as new supers are added.  The bees must be crowded to force them to fill the sections.
• Bees can be removed from comb honey supers by using chemicals sparingly.   You are producing a product for human consumption.  It would be best to use no chemicals to remove the honey.  Best would be an escape board - either an inner cover with a porter bee escape or a triangular escape board.  A neat idea for several hives with comb honey supers to be removed is to stack the comb honey supers over an inner cover with a porter bee escape on top of a weak hive.   This will add strength to the weak hive and also empty the comb supers of bees.
• For some reason bees prefer to work a little better in the sections to the back of the hive.  When sections are filled to the back, one can turn the super a full 180 degrees and the unfinished sections will then be filled and the comb honey will be more uniform.
• You can check all sections for pollen in cells by holding the sections up to a strong light.  Pollen filled cells are easy to see -- honey will allow light to pass through --- pollen will not.

Small scale extracting

A beekeeper that wants liquid honey must remove the honey from the cells in the comb by some method.   It takes some effort by the bees to build comb and efforts should be made to keep drawn comb for the bees to fill again.   Some beekeepers want wax as a bee product and extracting homey from the comb provides both a surplus of wax cappings and honey.

From simple to more complex ---  I was working with a new beekeeper who did not have an extractor.  It was too much money, he said.   He had purchased plastic foundation and was using it in his honey supers.   I suggested that he take a clean hive tool and chisel the comb and honey into a pan and then let the bees have the frame back to build more comb which they will do.  The mid rib of plastic foundation remains and bees will build new comb on it again.  You can not do this with wax foundation because you will gouge into the mid-rib.

To separate the honey from the comb is a simple matter.  Before removing any honey or comb from the frame, get a good cheese cloth -- a ladies hose will work and place over a five gallon bucket. Then you can  scrape the honey  from the frame so that  it will fall into the cheese cloth.    The honey will drain into the bucket and the wax will be left behind.    You can put the wet wax (has honey on it) out for the bees to clean up which they will.   You will have liquid honey and dry bees wax.

Small scale extracting

You will need some kind of device to throw honey from the comb by centrifugal force.  This is called extracting honey (removing honey from the comb).  We first should describe several terms you will find in bee equipment catalogs.  By the way, we have limited the total cost for an extractor to under $500.00 and all references in this lesson will describe equipment available for that amount.  One handy with tools could build one from a 50 gal. drum or garbage can.

• Non-Reversible  -- This is an extractor usually hand operated in which the frames are placed into the extractor and the outside of the comb is extracted.  After the honey has been removed from the outside of the combs, the frames must be removed from the extractor,  the frames are reversed so the honey filled side is facing outward, and the frames are spun again.
• Reversible  --  A reversible extractor is one which hold frames in swinging baskets.  Once one side of the comb has been extracted, the extractor is stopped, and the operator swings the baskets so the honey filled side is facing outward.  There is no need to remove frames from the extractor to reverse them.  This is usually a hand operated extractor but motors can be attached for power operation.
• Mann Lake offers what is called a 3 Frame Motorized Tangential Extractor --This extractor is illustrated in the picture above.   It is a one step process and can handle 3 deep, 3 medium or 6 shallow frames at a time.
• Radial extractor --  This extractor is the most common among beekeepers having a number of hives.  Mann Lake sells a hand crank radial 9/18 Frame extractor for under $500.00.  Most will have motors and cost much more.  In fact an industrial  extractor may have room for 70 frames at one time.  9/18 refers to the number of frames an extractor will hold.  In this case, 9 deep or 18 medium or shallow frames.

In addition, the beekeeper will need something to remove the cappings from the honey comb.  The hobbiest has the choice between a capping scratcher or a knife ( non-electric or electric).  There is also a device called a honey punch which looks something like a roller with pins/nails that are rolled over the comb surface.  It punches holes in the comb and allows the honey to run out when the comb is extracted.

The beekeeper will also need honey storage buckets.  This can be a five gallon bucket or one could buy a bucket  with a honey gate.   It is also helpful to have something for the cappings to drop into such as a bucket but plastic uncapping tanks are available at reasonable prices.  The final piece of equipment is some kind of strainer or strainer cloth.  This removes the impurities from the honey.  Raw honey almost always includes wax, bee parts, etc.  These must be removed if the honey is to be sold.

Now for the procedure --  The honey must be removed from the hive.   You must determine where you are going to set up your extracting equipment.  Let me warn you that this is going to be a sticky job and many wives dislike this mess in their kitchens.  It should be done in an area secure from stray bees.

A typical set up might include a wash tub with a 2" wide board across the top.  A nail is driven in the middle of the board, and the end of the nail is filed to a point.  This nail will allow the frame placed on it to swivel while you are removing the wax cappings.  It's like having another hand.   The uncapping knife in general use is electrically operated.   It is much easier to remove cappings with a hot knife than with a cold knife.  A honey scratcher could be used as well.  If you use the honey scratcher, you will have less wax.

The knife is drawn across the face of the comb so that the cappings peel off in a nice sheet of wax.  It breaks up as it falls into the uncapping container (in this case our wash tub).  I might add that a screen made of 8 mesh hardware cloth will allow the honey to drain from the cappings.

Once the honey is exposed in the comb, the frame is then put into the extractor.  If you have a hand crank extractor, you will turn a handle to get the baskets or frame within the extractor spinning.  As the basket or frame with the frames of honey spin, centrifugal force throws the honey against the side walls of the extractor where it will run down and collect at the bottom of the extractor.  Extractors have a honey gate near the bottom that is used to empty the extractor of the honey. 

Straining the honey as it leaves the extractor is the next step.   Nylon strainer cloth is a very good material to use.  Double sieves are  nice but cost much more.  You might check prices in several equipment supply catalogs before ordering. 

You can then bottle the honey for your own use, to give as gifts to friends, or to sell.

Small scale wax recovery --  Quite frankly, you will not get much wax from only a hive or two.  If you collect wax over a period of time, it will add up and you might have enough then for candle making.  Warning -- Be careful when you work with wax.  More an a few beekeepers have burned down their houses.   The melting point for wax is 147 degrees  plus or minus a degree.  Wax is insoluble in water and will float to the surface when placed in water.

What do you do with the wax cappings you have left from the extracting process?  You have several choices.  You could set the cappings out for the bees to clean up or you could wash them in water.  Some people have made mead (honey wine) from the wash water.  If you plan to do this, find a good formula for mead.  It usually requires about four pounds of honey to each gallon of water.

Finally, you can melt the wax in a water bath.  The wax should not be heated to a temperature of over 150 degrees.  Some metals will stain the wax and you should use stainless steel if it is available. Iron will cause severe discoloration of the wax.   Another method for small amounts of wax is the solar wax melter.  It is a box in which a pan is set.  The box is then covered with a pane of glass and  placed in the sun.  Often the interior of the box is painted black to absorb heat.   It placed on a small incline, the wax will melt and flow to the bottom part of the pan.  Wax produced this way is bleached by the sun and will be of very light color.

Other Bee Products --  It is hard to say what each individual wants from bees.  You should be aware that bees produce other things than honey.

• Pollen -  Pollen is the male germ cell of flowering plants.  It is the principal source of protein, fat, and minerals in the honey bee diet.  It is also in demand by individuals who take pollen for health food.   It can be collected as a hive product by something called a pollen trap.  Most beekeeping supply companies will handle this as a stock item.
• Propolis --  Propolis is a resinous gum the bees collect from trees and other plants.  It is also called bee glue.  Honey bees use propolis to fill cracks in the hive, to reduce the entrance, to smooth the interior of the hive, and to cover intruders when they are killed in the hive and too large to carry out.  You may also see propolis used to seal menthol bags when placed on the top of frames.   Propolis is used for health purposes.  It can be gathered by placing special inserts into the hive.  A market for propolis exists.  Check the bee magazines for buyers.
• Bee Venom --  Bee venom is used in the pharmacological industry.  It is collected by electrical stimulation of a population of bees in a colony.  It is not something in great demand and most venom produced is done by only a few individuals.

How do you sell your honey?

Most hobbiest beekeepers end up with more honey than they use.  What to do with it often is asked.  We would suggest that you take advantage of this wonderful product -- It is natures gold.  The honey you sell is not refined and blended with foreign honey.  It has a local flavor and value that no other honey can have.

• Put up a sign (if you are allowed in your front yard).
• Get table space at a local farmers market/flea market.
• Put up signs at Laundry bulletin boards (Any bulletin board that allows you to place notices).
• Sell friends and fellow workers.  (People at work are a good source of customers who will return again and again).
• Some even sell right out of the trunk of their car.  Set up along the highway and have big signs--honey for sale.
• Go door to door in your community.

We do not recommend commission sales or consignment sales.  You should be able to get at least $3.00 or more per pound of honey.   On commission or consignment sales, the dealer will get a cut of the action.  Usually it will amount to 25% or more of the sale price.  Check to see what honey is selling for in grocery stores in your community.  Then create a special label for your honey.  Identify it as local honey.  Ask at least 20% more than the store prices.  After all, your product is better than the other (so called honey).