BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Honey Advice... looking for help in advance...

  • Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
 #4248  by Adam Bee
 24 Jul 2019, 23:32
I have been cautioned that on my first year I would not have to worry about honey extraction.

I took that to heart.

Last week, at the association apiary, I was told that I need to clear at least one box asap. The fear was that the honey would set in the frames and be unextractable.

I am not prepared for this.

For those not following my few exploits, I'm running a national footprint with all medium sized boxes (190mm), no queen excluder and foundationless frames.

I received my Nuc on the 14th of May. My hive now stands 5 boxes tall and every seam is full. The top box has a 35mm eke, as 6 of the 11 frames are the DN4's from the nuc that my colony arrived on.

My hive looks like this:

Quaint Gabled Roof
Box 5 Honey on 11 frames, some drone brood that I've been told "should emerge this week by the look of it".
Box 4 New box as of last Saturday, bees already bearding on the starter strips before I put the top box on and I was warned "with the good weather, they'll fill this box in a week"
Box 3 Half brood, Half honey - oddly just that: the "left" half of each frame is all honey and the "right" half is all brood
Box 2 Almost all brood, newly drawn frames, a little honey on the outside
Box 1 Half brood, Half honey - oddly just that: the "left" half of each frame is all honey and the "right" half is all brood

I guess the first questions are:
- Do I really need to extract NOW! or can I leave the honey in the hive? If it hadn't been for the few strips of brood, the mentors felt that these frames should have gone home with me last Saturday.
- Will the honey set in the frames if I leave them in the hive?
- If it does set, is that the end of the world?

The next questions I have are all related to: If I do take home 11 or 22 frames of honey, WTF am I going to do with them!?
- I was planning on turning the foundationless frames into cut comb, and then crush and strain on the remains (man that sounds messy). Has anyone done cut comb in quantity? And do they have any tips? The 6 lbs of honey I took a few weeks ago was purely a rescue job, so I have no experience with making cut comb intentionally. Should I buy one of those comb cutters? Or improvise with some square tin that I find around the kitchen? Or just cut it with a knife?
- What do I do with the 6 wired DN4's with old comb? Do I try and rent an extractor for just 6 frames? Is there a better suggestion on what to do with just a few frames?
- How do I contain the mess of handling cut comb on my kitchen worktop? Do I try and work in a large flat tub that I can use to recover any lost honey?

The current state of preparations:
- I'm going to take my original nuc box to the apiary on Saturday, so in the very least I can swap out the 6 DN4's for appropriate sized medium frames and I'll use the nuc box to carry the capped frames back to the house in.
- I'll have to bring a container to harvest all the low hanging honey on the bottom of the medium frames, as the bees have filled that 35mm space with honey stores, and that space will go away when I remove the eke.
- I have ordered another box, so I can add one flat out (and go for 6 boxes), or replace one that I take, if I need to.
- I have ordered 20 frames; more than enough to fill the replacement box (11) and swap out the 6 DN4's for medium 190mm frames.
- I will make a new dummy board for the new box.
- I ordered a bee brush, as I didn't have one, and it would be useful for clearing frames if I need to.
- I ordered a new crown board with the typical 2 porter bee escapes to act as a clearing board, but as I'm using no QE, I may want to stick to shaking and brushing the frames rather than waiting for them to clear.

-

Help?

I'll know more when I get to the apiary on Saturday, and who knows what surprises the little ladies will spring on me then, but I did want to be prepared...

Any suggestions?
 #4253  by AdamD
 25 Jul 2019, 12:05
From my experience, honey gathered at this time of they is unlikely to set in the frames too quickly. The main culprits are OSR and then Ivy later in the year.

Clearing capped honey is quite quick - 24 hours should be OK with porter bee escapes.
I have a brush but I don't use it and I am not sure where it is!

I am not allowed in the kitchen with honeycomb! :lol:
 #4255  by NigelP
 25 Jul 2019, 13:33
Get it off and then get the frames back on for them to refill. Beg borrow or steal a cheap extractor.. You can get a 4 frame one from ebay delivered for less than a hundred quid...that's the equivalent of you selling 25 jars of 12oz honey at £5/jar....
Yes get a cut comb cutter, works a treat. I cut on alrge chopping board with plenty of clean water around for getting honey off hands. Yes it's messy but with a little care you can end up with all the chunks in a bucket ready to crush and strain and all your cut comb in containers. I store mine in those plastic tubs that are designed for them (not the thrones new crystal ones which are far too large for the comb cut with a cutter. Store them in the freezer, prevent s any wax moth developing and stops the honey setting.

The method you are using is a maximum honey production system. In fact you want to be moving any capped honey frames upwards and try to give the queen plenty of room to lay.

I clear and extract several times a year as honeys from different months and different apiaries have different tastes. No June honey this year due to inclement weather.
Just finished a 3 day marathon extracting session with the supers destined to go back on for them to continue filling.
Hopefully with heather honey and the last of the late summer blossom.
 #4256  by Japey Edge
 25 Jul 2019, 15:32
NigelP wrote:
25 Jul 2019, 13:33
I clear and extract several times a year as honeys from different months and different apiaries have different tastes.
I can vouch for this as we've bought honey from Nigel the last few months and the same "types" tasted different. This month's is our fave Nigel ;-)