Beekeeping is thriving in New York and for good reasons. It’s a good way to encourage biodiversity and increase local production of honey. For that reason, honey collection is exciting for many beekeepers as it’s the time to finally get the reward of a job well done.
The most challenging part of the adventure is the honey collection. You need to be well knowledge to keep a bee yard. It may be overwhelming to figure out the right tool and equipment you need to collect honey.
Moreover, honey collection should be done by professionals with knowledge and experience because bee stings can be fatal. This article looks into the honey harvesting process and everything you need to know before you start honey collection on your bee farm.
How Do You Know if Honey is Ready for Harvest?
If you are harvesting honey for the first time, you may be wondering when to know if it’s time to open the hives and collect the liquid gold you’ve been laboring for. The truth is that it takes time to get experience to know when honey is ready for harvest.
One of the ways to know if honey is ready for harvest is to use a scale to determine how heavy the hive is. Another way to know is when there is a good flow of bees in and out of the hive every day, which shows that nectar is abundant. You may not collect much the first year, but with time the quantity will increase.
2 Common Methods of Honey Collection
There are different methods for collecting honey. For all of them, you need time to be able to determine which combs are mature, have plenty of honey and know the number of combs you’ll extract honey from. Let’s look at what they consist of.
1. Extracting honey method
Using a honey extractor is easier than the manual method. The extractors come in different types and sizes and may be manual or electric. Choose a honey extractor according to the size and number of hives that you have.
Harvesting from honeycombs with less honey means that the honey may not be ready for harvest because the full enzymatic process may not have taken place. Therefore the honey may not have optimal flavor and have a high moisture content.
With this method, you obtain honey from mature honeycombs that are ready to be harvested. The honeycombs must be sealed to know if they are full of honey.
You need to remove all the bees by smoking them out first to prevent stinging. Then remove the wax from the frames and use the honey extractor to access the honey inside the combs.
2. Honey Comb method
With the honeycomb method, you extract honey from the comb directly. The method may be technical for a beginner and needs experience to handle it. Also, it is only suitable for harvesting small amounts of honey since it is tedious.
It involves cutting off the honeycomb and crushing it repeatedly to allow the honey to drain into a bucket. It is a low cost honey collection method but takes more time since you need to let the honey drain overnight.
The downside is that the crushing may damage the combs which are still needed by the bees to make more honey. It takes bees a lot of time to make one comb so damaging it will slow down honey production in the future.
7 Basic Equipment Needed for Honey Collection
Before you start the honey collection there is a set of equipment and essential things to have before you get started.
Let’s look at some of the basic tools you need for honey collection.
1. Smoker
A smoker is a valuable tool for honey collection. The smoke makes the bees domicile to reduce the risk of attacks and give you time to collect honey.
2. Honey extractor
A honey extractor makes it easy to extract honey from the honeycombs without damaging them. You can choose to buy a manual or electric honey extractor or rent it from the local beekeeping community in New York.
3. Protective gear
You need a full bee suit from head to toe with a veil to protect yourself from aggressive bees. You also need gloves and high boots.
4. Knife
You need an uncapping knife to scrap wax from the cells of the honeycombs to make it easy to extract honey.
5. Strainer
You will use the strainer or sieve to remove dirt or debris such as bee parts, leftover wax or propolis the collected honey
6. 2 buckets with lids
You need food-grade buckets to store honey after collection.
7. Jars
Once the honey is clear from debris it is ready to be packed. Package your honey in jars after collection of store them in a clean bucket. The jars should be clean, dry and airtight to prevent the growth of bacteria.
FAQs
- How long does it take before harvesting honey?
There are many factors such as the strength of the colony that determine when it is time to harvest honey. Some colonies may produce honey in three months while others may produce slowly in six months.
- Why honey harvesting should be discouraged at night?
Is advisable to avoid honey harvesting at night because you won’t see properly and may lead to bushfires. Furthermore, you’re more likely to damage brood comps and crush bees.
- Do bees sting when harvesting honey?
Yes, you need to make the bees domicile using a smoker because they may feel threatened during honey collection and harm you.
- What precautions should be taken during honey collection?
One of the most important precautions to take during honey collection is to wear protective gear and use clan equipment during honey collection.
Final Thoughts
You finally get to enjoy the honey after months of waiting! Depending on the quantity you have collected you use it for personal use, sell or share with your family, neighbors or friends. Honey has many medicinal uses while wax is useful to make products such as candles. You can choose to share the surplus with your friends and neighbors.
Alternatively, you can also sell honey at the local markets in New York City or advertise on social media. Always remember that honey for sale should be correctly labelled and not altered. Ensure to take the necessary steps to ensure that the honey is fit for consumption and protect yourself from any legal implications.
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