# When do I harvest the Honey



## 2BorNot2B (May 13, 2005)

First year here. Bees seem to be doing great.

When do I harvest the honey. When will I know it's time.

I only have about a half of a honey super with honey. It doesn't seem worth it to rent/borrow an extracter. Do I scrape an crush to get my little harvest this year?

Help!


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

It depends. You can take the frames of capped honey and cut out the comb and eat it or you can crush it. Maybe you can pair up with someone who is extracting and help them and also extract yours at the same time. This process will teach you how to extract as it is an art in itself. 

Is there a flow going on now in your area? Talk with some other beekeepers and ask them. If there is not, take the super off and extract. If there is going to be a late flow, keep it own. 

You said that there is going to be a freeze coming soon... take off the honey super and get ready for winter!


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## ChellesBees (Apr 1, 2003)

Have your bees filled two deeps? Is what you have in the honey super capped? What do you have for foundation in the honey super? Where in MN are you? 
Depending on how strong your hive is, I would probably just let them rob this honey back to fill the deeps-Otherwise pull the super, put it in the freezer, and give it back to them in the spring. Depending on what you used for foundation, you lose a lot of ground if you scrape and crush. Duraguilt won't hold up, you'll need new for next year. Plastic might hold up better, but I don't know how the bees will rebuild it next year.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>When do I harvest the honey. When will I know it's time.

Do you have honey?

>I only have about a half of a honey super with honey.

And two deeps for the bees?

>It doesn't seem worth it to rent/borrow an extracter.

I wouldn't.

>Do I scrape an crush to get my little harvest this year?

I would. Build a double bucket strainer and use that. If it's wax you can just crush and strain. If it's plastic you can just scrape and strain.


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## Hillside (Jul 12, 2004)

It's time in our area. The goldenrod is all but over and there probably aren't a lot of asters around. My bees have decided the best they can do now is wander around on the celosia and cosmos that I planted by my house -- they aren't finding much else anymore.

If you only have a few frames, either crush the whole comb or scrape comb off the plastic foundation if that's what you have. If you're not going to sell it, wash your hands well and just squish the honey out by hand. Even if you only get a few pounds, it will be the best tasting honey that you have ever had.

I put the wet supers back on the hives for the bees to clean up. They may as well have any remaining honey for the winter.


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## jim b (Oct 3, 2004)

Being from So.Cal., i dont know about this; but dont the bees need some left on for winter? or is it too early for that? Just wondering.-j


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

Jim, I can't speak for Socal but in Colo. Harvest was two weekends ago and only took the supers. I still have two deeps left for the bees. Full or not, plus whatever they can gather between then and frost. IMHO Socal doesn't really have a winter. I doubt if you even have a season without drones.

Hawk


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## 2BorNot2B (May 13, 2005)

My Plan:

Smoke 'em

Remove the honey super frames one at a time

Blow 'em off with an electric blower

Place them one at a time in a big rubbermaid container witha lid

Repeat above until all honet remover from honey super

Take rubbermaid full of beeless frames into the house 

Scrape the foundation

Crush by hand into wire strainer over bowl

Replace wet, sticky frames back into honey super for them to clean

Thanks for all the advice

Bill


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

<Replace wet, sticky frames back into honey super for them to clean>

If you mean to put them back on the hive for them to clean the honey out and move it down into the brood boxes for winter feed, make sure you put the wet box above the inner cover. This SOMETIMES gives them the idea of what to do with it. If you just put it back where it was, they may just do what they did before. fill it with more honey. You're not in Socal and don't have time to mess with that.

Hawk


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## 2BorNot2B (May 13, 2005)

Worked like a charm.

See photos here 

Thanks everyone for all of the great input.

Bill


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## jim b (Oct 3, 2004)

Robert-Just this last week i saw the results of the "casting out of the drones" for the first time. I have six hives where i can keep an eye on them most every day, and one of them had a pile of drones in front. I'll be checking on the rest to see if they follow suit. Other than that, the bees fly almost every day of the year, bringing in pollen and necter. -j


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

So you can make honey all year long you just can't mate a queen in the winter. Good stuff. Any empty farms in that valley these days?

Hawk


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## SilverFox (Apr 25, 2003)

Welcome to beekeeping. If I crush honey I steal a old pair of panty hose (clean) from my wife-cut the legs off and pack them full of comb and twist like heck (builds up your fore arm muscules).  Seems to work until my wife gets home, and I find out they were her favorate pair.


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## jim b (Oct 3, 2004)

The keepimg of bees is unlawful where i live.


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## SilverFox (Apr 25, 2003)

Gotta be California. And Burbank at that.
 
Not all places there ( in Calif) allow bee sorry for you living in one of the areas.
And they wounder why their plants die.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>The keepimg of bees is unlawful where i live. 

Nature abhors a vacuum, so those kind of places will be the first places the AHB go.


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

> > The keepimg of bees is unlawful where i live.
> 
> Nature abhors a vacuum, so those kind of places will be the first places the AHB go.


Quite right. So right, that Jerry Hayes
(Florida state apiarist) has a very nice slide
presentation about AHB, part of which directly
addresses the issue of "Why Beekeepers Are Part
Of The Solution". Perhaps a voice of official
authority like his could change the city of
Burbank's mind.

I saw his slide show at the TN state beekeeper
meeting. (Its really hard to follow an act
that is "doom and gloom". On Friday, I had to
give my presentation after his doom and gloom
on AHB, and on Saturday, I had to follow his doom
and gloom about SHB.)


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Interesting how humans often bring about the very thing they wish to avoid.







They don't want angry stinging insects in their town so the remove the gentle nice ones and leave the gap for the angry ones to fill.







Then they will react with more laws against bees...


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## jim b (Oct 3, 2004)

I dont know the history of the "no bees" regulation in Burbank, but when i was a kid(mid-50's) there were hives up the street. My next-door neighbor had bees before we moved here(mid-80's), but had to move them due to a nrighbor's complaint. I think i will try to research this just out of curiosity. I'm not sure, but i think the early 80's might have been pre-AHB and therefore this annoying little rule must be based on some other factor. Burbank, some time before the 50's was prime orchard and vinyard land. Lockheed moved in and people followed(me included). Maybe when orchards were plowed under to make way for two bedroom-one bath little houses, the bees "had" to go? For those who dont know, the San Fernando Valley is about 23 miles by 6 miles of concrete,asphalt and buildings. The Los Angeles River runs through it in a concrete trough. I'm sorry-this really should be moved to Tailgaters- it's now got nothing to do with honey harvest.-j


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