As a novice beekeeper I had initially read many books that stated not to expect too much honey the first year. However we had a pretty late honey flow this year due to colder weather in the spring and early summer so when they started pullin it in boy they started pulling it in! Even with the one swarm we had this year I still have frame after frame full of Honey and Honey comb. A few weeks ago I cut out a small bit of comb to bring in and see how it tasted being a first year beekeeper and let me tell you... It was sweet! I went out today to do an inspection on my hive that swarmed earlier in the summer. About a week ago I did an inspection on the other hive. I had so many frames full of Honey in this one I checked today I decided to Borrow one from the bees. (Well we probably won't give it back.) There are a few different ways to go about getting the Honey. The most common way is to use an extractor. An extractor is basically a centrifuge that you place the frames into, and it spins the honey out. Initially you scrape or cut the protective outer coating of beeswax and this will leave open cells for the extractor. There are both hand crank and electric extractors but regardless of the power most are a little out of the price range of novice beekeepers. The second method is crush and strain. And this is the method I used today. For every beekeeper you will read or hear a different method, and or opinion about doing certain things. Some say crush and strain adds hardship to the bees since they are always having to remake new comb to replace what you crushed. Some say its good because the bees naturally make wax anyway and this way they are continually providing clean wax to raise brood and store honey and pollen in. This is said to limit some of the diseases that can spread in old wax. Regardless, for now I am going to stick to the Crush and Strain method. For one I like the idea of clean and new wax. And I don't really plan on extracting all my honey out to sell it. I will probably fill a half dozen to a dozen bottles to use personally and give away to family and friends. The rest of the Honey I will leave for the bees to make it through the winter. I have read and heard that this also will make for healthier Bees. A lot of beekeepers will take the majority of the Honey in the fall and leave the bees sugar water to store to survive on for the winter. While this has been successful, it is said that Honey provides a much better pH to keep the bees healthy through the winter. And I like healthy natural bees. The Picture above is how much Honey I got out of "1" frame. Yes "1" frame! I scraped the honey filled comb into a 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bag (that you can pick up at your local home improvement super store)and squeezed till all the honey came out and I was left with a big ball of soft beeswax. Thats Right Honey for nothing and Wax for free! All I had to do was secure it from the Sultans of Sting. And in that department I am in no Dire Straits!
