LESSON 114: 6 Ways You Can Help Save Honey Bees www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678

Hello from David & Sheri Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to 2012. Already the new bee year is in FULL SWING!

In today’s lesson, I’ll be sharing 6 ways you can help save the honey bees. We MUST increase the number of people keeping hives so that we can maintain adequate pollination of our crops, vegetables and orchards.

Before today’s lesson, let me share with you some important beekeeping events, products  and services we are offering here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms.

First, one of our specialties is education. We have many beekeeping educational opportunities throughout the year. In fact, in 2012 we will be offering 12 beekeeping classes. Our first class was held on Saturday and was completely full. We always have lots of students from the Chicago area, and even though Chicago had 7 inches of snow, we only had a few students that could not make it due to the weather.

Our classes fill up fast. Here’s why others tell us they prefer our classes over others. They are one day classes. Our classes are taught by a certified master beekeeper. Our students become our friends and we are committed to their future success. Our classes are very educational but fun too! There are plenty of nice hotels and restaurants in the area so plan to join us for a class this year.

Our next class is our Advance Beekeeping Class coming up February 11th. Sign up now!

You can click on the links for more information:

FEBRUARY 11, 2012 ADVANCE BEEKEEPING SKILLS

MARCH 24, 2012 BASIC BEEKEEPING

MAY 12, 2012 HOW TO RAISE YOUR OWN QUEENS

JUNE 15th-16th, 2012 TWO DAY QUEEN REARING COURSE

FREE SHIPPING on our Freedom, Liberty and Independence beekeeping kits. Take advantage of huge savings on free shipping until January 25th. All of our hives are painted and assembled, ready to go. Order now to avoid the busy season.

We have WINTER-BEE-KIND candy boards on our hives and once again they are doing great. Here in Illinois our winter was mild until about two weeks ago. Then, the bottom dropped out and we fell into the single digits. Early January was so record setting warm that the bees were flying daily. While some new beekeepers might feel this is good, it is not. Many warm days in a row means the bees eat through lots of winter stores of honey. When it’s colder, the bees cluster, remain calm and eat very little. So now many beekeepers will find that there bees will be lacking sufficient food to make it through the winter. I used to worry about this but now our Winter-Bee-Kind boards give me confidence to know that my bees have food should they run out. 

We’ve been monitoring our Winter-Bee-Kind boards and it is amazing how much they have eaten. A strong hive needs good nutrition. We now mix in an ample supply of pollen powder into our Winter-Bee-Kinds and it is giving the bees the protein and nutrition they need to survive the winter.  You can put them on even on cold days by removing the top and inner cover, place it on with the candy facing down, and place your top back on and leave off the inner cover. Give your bees a treat by making sure they have enough food. Click here for more information on our very popular Winter-Bee-Kind candy boards.

Look at this video taken in early January showing how well the Winter-Bee-Kind works and it has an upper entrance/vent as well as an insulation panel all built in as one unit.

WARNING: Our packages of bees are selling out fast. We estimate that we will be sold out in 2 weeks, so please consider placing your orders soon!  Each year thousands of potential beekeepers wait too long and cannot find packages. We have packages that are shipped or available for pickup here in Illinois. Order online at: www.honeybeesonline.com or call us at 217-427-2678

Now, for today’s lesson. I want to share 6 ways you can help save the honey bee.

1. Start Keeping Bees

There is a tremendous interest in beekeeping. So many people are getting back to nature, planting their own gardens, buying small farms, eating local food and striving to be more self sufficient. As a result, more and more people are putting bees on their farms for pollination and to provide a natural sweetener.

Remember as a kid how you had to be careful when you went barefooted across the backyard not to step on a honey bee. Not too  long ago, it was common to have a jar of honey on the table as a natural sweetener and often it had a big chunk of comb in the jar. Remember seeing your grandpa or dad out there having so  much fun working the bees. We need to rally folks to help restore beekeeping back to the way it was, when there were plenty of bees to pollinate our crops.

If your garden and orchards are not producing like they should, it may be that they are not being adequately pollinated. Please consider placing a couple of hives in your area. Bees can fly up to three miles, so you’ll be helping out others in your area too. Maybe you’ve always wanted to keep bees. Perhaps you’ve thought about it each year but waited too long. Read our special article for those interested in starting this year.

2. Encourage Others To Keep Bees

If you are a beekeeper you are in a perfect position to encourage someone else to keep bees. Ask them to assist you as you work your hives and give them a jar of raw honey. They’ll noticed the difference from store bought honey. Help set up their new hive and help install their new package. A couple of buddies that live near each other might want to keep bees. So many great friendships have been started through beekeeping.

Also, consider encouraging young men and women to keep bees. We need more young people to enter into beekeeping. Young beekeepers ensure a solid future in beekeeping. Beekeeping is a beautiful way to teach many categories of science to young children. It is also a great way to teach responsibility and work ethics.

3. Be An Ambassador For The Honey Bees

Even though public awareness of honey bees is really good, honey bees are sometimes viewed in the wrong way. Some people immediately are scared of honey bees and pass along wrong information such as all bees are killer bees. That’s not true at all. We now have queens that are so gentle that there is no reason to have a defensive hive. It is very easy to requeen an overly defensive hive and in 45 days the new queen will have produced bees that reflect her gentleness.

Speak positively about beekeeping and honey bees. Share with others that 1 out of 3 bites of food is a result of honey bee pollination. Tell others that raw honey never spoils and has many proven health benefits.

If you are a beekeeper, do not pass up opportunities to speak at schools, clubs and civic organizations. Talk with your local newspaper or TV stations and see if they are interested in doing a story on honeybees.

If you remove honeybees from homes, always call the news stations and ask them to do a story on the removal of honeybees from a home. When they interview you, speak positively about the need for honeybees. Be a good ambassador of the honey bee.

4. Buy USA Raw Honey

With so many beekeepers bottling US raw honey directly from their hives, there is no reason to purchase honey from unknown sources. Support your local beekeepers by buying local honey. It has even been suggested that raw honey from your local area can help relieve some allergies. By buying honey from a local beekeeper you are helping them continue their hobby or business.

5. Let Roadways, Ditches and Fields Grow Wild

For bees to have sufficient nutrition a variety of pollen and nectar is needed. Bees that have only one type of floral source are not able to receive the balance of nutrition needed. One way you can help is to allow wild flowers to grow freely along roadways, ditches, yards and fields. Every spring dandelions fill yards. These dandelions are needed by the bees for their first real strong source of nectar following a long winter. Yet, so many people use chemicals to destroy dandelions. Do your part and allow these and other flowers to grow freely, giving the bees the variety of nectar and pollen they need for a good start in the new year.

If you have fields available for cover crops consider planting clover, alfalfa or buckwheat.

6. Reduce Harmful Spraying Around Yards, Gardens & Orchards

Finally, be careful when spraying your yard, garden and trees with insecticides.  When you use an insecticide powder dusting, bees can pick up this toxic chemical and carry it back into their hive which will kill the hive. Avoid using chemicals which are harmful to bees.  If you live near agricultural fields start an open dialog with the farmer. Have your farmer notify you when chemicals will be used. This will give you time to either temporarily move your hives during the spraying or to seal the entrances to your hives to protect them from spraying.

Please forward this on to others so they too can help save the honey bee!

Thanks for joining us for another lesson from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. Here is our contact information:

Check out our website: www.honeybeesonline.com
Phone: 217-427-2678

LESSON 113: The Sticky Subject Of Propolis (www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678)

I’ve never written a lesson on propolis, that sticky stuff that ruins your nice, new, white bee suit, that stuff that won’t come off your fingers unless you use alcohol. But, propolis plays an important role in the colony’s health. This lesson will be very important for understanding how propolis can improve the health of your bees and be a fun lesson examining where propolis comes from, how the bees use it in the hive, the health benefits to humans and much more. But before we get started let me say...
Hello friends, we are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois. Folks tell us we have the best website, most complete information on beekeeping and the best price on beekeeping equipment. Whether you are just thinking about getting into beekeeping or have kept bees for many years, we are here to help you. When you buy from us, we do not consider you a customer, but a friend!

Spectacular Beginner’s Beekeeping Workshop
Mark your calendars and join us on January 21st, 2012 for our Basic Beekeeper’s Workshop at the Farm Bureau in Danville, Illinois from 9am-3pm. This class is filling up fast, but we still have openings. This is for people who do not know anything at all about bees but want to start or for those who have kept bees for a year or two but want to be trained by an EAS certified master beekeeper.Click here for more information.

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FEED YOUR BEES

Don’t “assume” your bees have enough food for winter. Check out our WINTER-BEE-KIND system that we’ve made. It insulates,  ventilates and provides carbohydrates (sugar) and proteins (pollen) for your bees during the winter. It also provides an upper exit incase snow or ice blocks off your lower entrance. Order now.
ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO START KEEPING BEES
Here’s a great offer to help your friends and family get started in beekeeping. Click on the image for more information on this product.
Beekeeping is a hoot! It’s enjoyable, educational and provides natural and healthy products from the hive. Not to mention we need honey bees to pollinate our fruits and vegetables.  One out of three bites of food can be enjoyed due to the pollination of the honey bee. If you are presently keeping bees, encourage your friends and family to keep bees. We would appreciate it if you’d lead your friends and family over to Long Lane Honey Bee Farms where we can provide them with hives and bees and protective gear. Have them check out our HOW TO GET STARTED IN BEEKEEPING or check out our COMPLETE VIDEO PAGE with videos on how to install a package, how to inspect a top bar hive and many more.
TO HELP OUT BEEKEEPERS, WE REFUSE TO RAISE OUR PRICE FOR THE 3rd CONSECUTIVE YEAR!
Let’s talk savings. Our complete hive is awesome for several reasons:
1) Made here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, handmade for you.
2) Don’t be fooled by cheaper prices because our hives are painted, and assembled, and have real wooden frames and includes foundation.
3) While others have raised their prices every year, and again this year, we are holding our hive prices the same now for the third consecutive year. Our complete hive comes with two hive bodies, 20 wooden, deep frames with foundation, a medium super, 10 wooden super frames with foundation, screen bottom board, inner cover, top cover, entrance feeder and entrance reducer for only $199. That’s been our same price for 2010, 2011 and now again in 2012. We’re proud of the quality of our assembled and painted hives. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
In addition to beekeeping woodenware and equipment, we now carry a host of beekeeping specialty items. We’ve added shirts, candles, beekeeping key rings, etc. Most of our candles are made by the Amish in our area. Click here for more product information.
Finally, before our lesson, please sign up for our new beekeeping newsletter
LESSON 113: The Sticky Subject Of Propolis
(I’d like to thank some of our top bee experts in the country who spent time feeding me great information in preparation to this lesson. I’ve added their names at the end of this lesson.)
When we think of products from the hive we are most familiar with honey, wax and maybe pollen. But two more products from the hive are more obscure to us, royal jelly and propolis. Today, we’ll take an in depth look at propolis. Soon we’ll take a look at royal jelly.
If you have ever opened a hive of honey bees you have encountered propolis. You probably still have some on your bee suit. If you have a hive that produces copious amounts of propolis then you know what it’s like to fight gummed up frames and lids. Caucasians bees are known as excessive propolizers.
Propolis is sticky and it makes hive inspections more challenging. If you work your hives bare handed like I do, then you know what it feels like at the end of the day to have your fingers coated with propolis. All the dislikes aside, I love the appearance and smell of propolis. Each year I scrape off propolis and keep a ball of it handy to use in our queen rearing operation, to help set the cell cups and bars tight in position.
What Is Propolis And Where And How Do Bees Gather It?
Bees gather propolis from plants and trees such as the poplar, alders, birch, willows, and conifers. Trees and plants produce a sticky resin to protect their buds against bacteria and fungus. The makeup of propolis varies depending on the plant source, and therefore varies from region to region and colony to colony.Particular foragers are assigned the task of gathering propolis. Since propolis can only be gathered when it is pliable (between 77 and 113 degrees F), foragers gather it on warm, dry days. They fly out to the plant source, then use their mandibles to scrape off pieces of plant resins.
They pass the propolis from their mandibles to their forelegs, then to the inner surface of the middle leg or basitarsus. Here the propolis is packed into their pollen basket or corbicula on the back leg. When the foragers returns to the hive loaded with propolis, they go to the area of the hive where it is most needed.
Since they are unable to remove the sticky substance themselves, nearby house bees remove the propolis. The propolis foragers may even perform a dance to communicate to other foragers where the propolis is located, including robbing it from old abandoned equipment if it is sticky enough.
How Is It Used In The Hive
Propolis is undeniably the bee’s glue, sealing cracks, smoothing over rough wood and used to encase foreign objects too large to carry out of the hive. Bees have been known to kill mice inside their hive and since they cannot remove the mouse due to its size, they encase it in propolis so that the decaying mouse cannot spread disease. Notice in this photo how the bees have used propolis, here a bright reddish brown color, to smooth out the wood grain on a frame.
Bees coat much of the inside area of their brood nest, especially in more natural habitats such as trees and Warre hives that have rougher surfaces in the hive. When I remove colonies from homes, I always find that the bees have coated all the wood in their colony with a layer of propolis mixed with their own wax. We often find this even in traditional Langstroth’s hives over time, especially frames and lids. Here’s a picture I took showing how the bees have varnished the surroundings of their hive in a house.
Tests are being conducted to see if coating the insides of hive boxes improves the overall health of the colony. Many people are now recommending that we score or scratch the smooth service of the insides of our hives, forcing the bees to add propolis as they would in a natural hive in a tree. Bees also add wax to comb to give it strength. It is believed by some that house bees use propolis to polish brood cells between brood cycles.
We now sell Warre Hives made of cedar which is smooth on the outside but rough on the inside. This entices the bees to varnish the inside of their hive with propolis possibly launching a stronger defensive against various pathogens now on the rise. Click here for more information on our Warre hives.
It has also recently been discovered that bees will imprison small hive beetles in propolis jails by trapping SHB with walls of propolis. Unfortunately, every time we open a hive we release small hive beetles from their propolis jails, and even if we didn’t, the beetles have learned to rub their antennas with the bee and trick the bees to feed them while in jail.
More than a substance to seal openings and cracks bees need propolis in the hive for the overall well being of the colony. With over 180 different compounds, it is the colony’s chemical warfare against various pathogens. It is antiseptic, antifungal, antibiotic, antibacterial, antiviral, and antimicrobial.  Beyond being used as a medicated sealant there is still much more to learn about propolis and how the bees use it in the hive.
Propolis is from the Greek words pro (before) and polis (city). Ancient beekeepers observed the wall of propolis the bees built at their entrance to protect the “city”, their hive.Last year I noticed how some of my mating nucs were sealing down their openings so small that only one bee at a time could pass through.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, comb honey production was at its peak, and beekeepers did not want comb honey darkened with excessive travel stains from propolis. Queen producers responded by raising queens whose colonies gathered very little propolis. Larger beekeeping operations found propolis to be a bother, slowing down hive inspections and honey harvesting. Yet, recent research reveals this was not a good idea because it has recently been found that bees benefit from propolis in the hive. We may have accidently removed an important part of the colony’s defensive mechanism.
How To Harvest Propolis From The Hive
Propolis can simply be scrapped from frames, lids and hive boxes. When I harvest propolis in this manner, I am careful not to also scrape up bee parts, paint or wood into my propolis. It can be filtered out, but it saves me time gathering the purist of propolis.
Another way propolis is harvested from the hive is by placing a propolis trap inside the hive. The propolis trap is plastic and flexible and placed inside the hive near the top. Since bees like to seal out drafts and light, prop open your top slightly above the propolis trap and this will encourage the bees to place propolis in the trap as a way of sealing off the top opening. Then, once filled, you can remove and freeze the trap, flex it and the frozen, hard propolis will fall off the trap. Propolis is soluble in alcohol. Click here for more info.
I placed a piece of cardboard on the bottom of a top cover to add some insulation to an overwintering colony. I left it on in the spring and summer and the bees plastered it with propolis. The bees did not like that it was corrugated and attempted to smooth it out with propolis. Click on the image to enlarge.
Health Benefits Of Propolis
Propolis is being studied extensively for its health benefits to humans, even with the AIDS virus. The health benefits may date back as far as Old Testament times as Jeremiah 2 may be referring to propolis as the balm of Gilead. Many people give strong testimony as to the health benefits of propolis in helping with colds, sore throats, wounds, pimples, ulcers, burns and even cancer. Some people can be allergic to propolis and too much can be toxic, so always consult your doctor before using propolis. Many health stores sell various propolis  supplements and even Colgate makes a tooth paste with propolis that is said to promote healthier gums.
Acknowledgments:
In preparing this lesson on propolis, I learned so much. Most of the information on propolis was easy to research. But, in one area I hit a wall. I’ve always heard that house bees coat or polish brood cells with propolis between brood cycles. But as I read through books and literature I could not find a definite citation proving bees coat or polish brood cells with propolis. I found several websites that support the idea, but just because a website mentions something does not lend enough support. I contacted my friend and bee expert Jon Zawislak, at the University of Arkansas Extension, a fellow EAS certified master beekeeper and he flooded me with propolis papers and research, but he could not find a solid citation for house bees using propolis to coat brood cell linings. I then contacted David Tarpy, at North Carolina State University. He could not find an answer for me off the top of his head and said he would mention it to the world renown authority on propolis, Mike Simone-Finstrom. Mike was kind enough to flood me with many studies and his own thoughts that there is no studies verifying the use of propolis to coat individual cells between brood cycles. Jim Tew also sent me his extensive thoughts on whether bees add propolis to brood cells as did Diana Sammataro, and Keith Delaplane. Clarence Collison, who writes a column in Bee Culture went out of his way to scan and email me many pages on propolis. Jerry Hayes, the American Bee Culture Classroom answer man also gave me his feedback too. Thank you all!
We all know bees polish cells in preparation for the queen to lay an egg, but is it truly propolis that is used in the polishing stage? I think it is safe to say that it is believed that housecleaning bees coat the insides of their brood cells with propolis between brood cycles.
Thanks for joining us for another beekeeping lesson from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We appreciate your business, so please give us a call to let us help you enjoy beekeeping to the fullest.

David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
Here’s our contact information:
PHONE AND ORDER LINE: 217-427-2678 WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
STUDIO BEE LIVE PODCASTS: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html

LESSON 112: HOW TO EXTRACT HONEY FROM A HIVE (www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678)

Hello everyone! We’re David & Sheri Burns, husband and wife  duo and beekeeping gurus. Where else will you find a better looking couple to help you become a great beekeeper? If good looks aren’t enough, look at how hard we work to put the best bees and best products in your hands. If that’s not enough what about David being one of only two EAS certified master beekeepers in Illinois. Thanks for letting Long Lane Honey Bee Farms be the place that meets all your beekeeping needs.

We get lots of emails from people that tell us they’d rather order from us, a small, family bee business and we appreciate it so much. Your continued loyalty and business ensures that we’ll be around for a solid future. So whether you need bees, queens or equipment, please think of us first. Call us at: 217-427-2678 or order from us online at: www.honeybeesonline.com

Today’s lesson is all about honey extraction. Just how do you remove the bees from the super before you take it off? How do you know when the frames are ready to be removed? How much honey can a hive produce on average? We had lots of questions this fall regarding honey harvest so we thought we’d write a lesson about it.  We want to help you get the most honey possible and with the most ease as well. But before our lesson today….

Sheri and I love to ride our motorcycles and this fall we squeezed in a few trips. Sheri and I started dating when Sheri was 14 and I was 16. I grew up on motorcycles and so I immediately taught Sheri how to ride a motorcycle in 1978. We have some nice bikes, but we’re still not ready for Harleys just yet. We are two of the most dog-gone-frugal people you’ll meet. So for now, Honda and Suzuki will have to do.

Spectacular Beginner’s Beekeeping Workshop

Mark your calendars and join us on January 21st, 2012 for our Basic Beekeeper’s Workshop at the Farm Bureau in Danville, Illinois from 9am-3pm. This class is filling up fast, but we still have openings. This is for people who do not know anything at all about bees but want to start or for those who have kept bees for a year or two but want to be trained by a certified master beekeeper.Click here for more information.

A NEW MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM LONG LANE

We are now producing a FREE monthly beekeeping newsletter sent directly to your email. This will be in addition to this blog/lessons. Our new newsletter will contain articles, pictures and featured articles from entomologist and bee experts. Sign up now by following the below link. You can safely unsubscribe at anytime.

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Our daughter Karee will be 21 in a few months and she is such a great help in our business. She’s answering the phones now, answering questions and taking orders. Karee is a master queen producer so she knows bees and how to work hives. Feel confident in her advice and answers. If you stump her, she’ll send you over to me. So be sure and give Karee a warm hello when you call in. Her name is pronounced like Marie but with a K…Ka-Ree. Sheri and I, being the free spirited people we are, made up her name out of the blue. It fits her well because she is a very independent and confident young woman. If I didn’t own this place, I would call up Karee and order anything just to have the privilege to talk with her. Karee is dating a young man that our family thinks is great too! Jesse Marsh has helped out a bunch with our business and he started with two hives this past spring and took off tons of honey from his hives this year! Maybe I should move my hives to his place, he’s sitting on a hotspot of honey production.

We are also very proud of our middle son, Seth. He’ll be 18 this Saturday. He’s a very hard worker. He’s our main builder now, building hives and special items like queen mansions, WINTER-BEE-KINDS, slatted racks etc. He helps us with package bees each year, but he has always wanted to be a Marine. So this year, he worked hard, passed his tests and has been accepted. We’ll have him around until he leaves July 23rd 2012. I guess he decided 3 months of Marine boot camp was easier than working around here!

We are now selling 3 lb packages either to be shipped or to be picked up from our farm.

If you’d like to order a 3lb package with queen to be shipped to you via USPS CLICK HERE

If you’d like to drive to our bee farm in central Illinois to pick up your 3lb package with queen, CLICK HERE

Please, drive out and pick your bees up if you can. If you live within 8 hours of us, it will probably be worth the road trip. If you cannot make the trip, we’ll ship them to you.

Our WINTER-BEE-KIND boards have been a smashing hit! Why not give one a try. It’s all one piece and contains insulation, pollen and 5 pounds of prepared sugar and Honey-B-Healthy, plus an exit/entrance slot in the top that helps with ventilation as well. They can be installed any time, even on cold days. Click Here For More Info

With only 30 days until Christmas it’s time to order that special someone a Hive Kit! We have a whole page of special kits with or without bees and hive kits includes free shipping through this month. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON KITS.

Or here’s a great Christmas idea…We now have available special E-Gift Certificates from our website. You can click on our E-Gift Certificate and your special someone can go online and buy whatever they want. Click here for more info

LESSON 112: EXTRACTING HONEY FROM THE HIVE

So many of our first year customers extracted honey from their hives their first year. This is somewhat unusual. We tell most customers not to expect much their first year because the colony is using a large portion of their incoming nectar to produce wax. It takes 8 pounds of nectar to produce 1 pound of wax. However, their second year, after their comb is built more incoming nectar can be stored in honey supers. But, if all conditions are right, a first year hive can produce a large surplus of honey.

Let me take you step by step through the whole process of taking the honey out of the hive all the way through to putting it in the jar.

MAKE SURE IT IS CAPPED (RIPE)
Honey bees ripen nectar by removing the moisture and when the moisture level is to their satisfaction, they seal it off with wax, like putting a lid on a jar. This prevents the honey from drawing any additional moisture.

You must be patient and wait for the bees to cap the honey comb before you remove it. If you remove the super of honey prior to it being sealed your moisture level in the honey will be too high and could cause the honey to ferment which will cause your customers to complain and want their money back. So do not remove the honey combs until all frames are completely capped. If you pull out the frames prior to the caps being completely sealed, you can leave the frames in a room with a dehumidifier for a day or two and it will draw out moisture.

REMOVE THE BEES OUT OF THE SUPER

There are several ways this can be accomplished and no single way is better. It’s simply a matter of what fits your style. So here are the most common ways:

a) Brush the bees off each frame.

I did this when I first started with bees. I’d walk out to the hive with 10 frames in a medium super and I’d take two top covers. I would lay the first top cover on the bed of my truck upside down. Then, I would place my empty super into the top cover. Then, I would take out the 10 empty frames and set them aside. I would remove one frame of honey at a time, from the hive and brush the bees off, then place it in the empty super in the truck. I would place my second top cover on the super box to prevent robbing. I would repeat these steps until I had brushed all the bees off all 10 frames. I would then place the new frames where I had removed the frames filled with honey to allow the bees to start drawing out the foundation.

b) Blow the bees out of the super.

As our operation expanded I would load my air compressor into my truck with a generator to run it. I would open up a hive, and set the honey super on top of the hive on it’s front side. Then I would use my air compressor to blow off all the bees. The bees would land out in front of the hive and go back into the hive. This is the method that still works best for me.

You can use a leaf blower if you do not have an air compressor.

c) Use bee escapes which allow the bees to exit but not re-enter. Featured below are the three most common bee escapes, the triangle, conical and Porter escape.

The triangle bee escape board goes under the honey super and bees leave, but find it impossible to go back in through the maze.

 

 

Conical bee escapes work the same way, as this board goes under the super and the bees exit the small, red conical tubes but can re-enter. The side pictured faces down.

This Porter escape was invented by Mr. Porter in 1891 and fits into the inner cover oval hole. Bees exit but cannot re-enter.
Be aware that once these devices remove all the bees from your supers, the small hive beetle now has free reign throughout your honey supers. If you live in areas where SHB is well established, which is about everywhere now, you may be wise to use escape boards sparingly.

FUME BOARDS

Another common method to get the bees out of your super is to use a fume board. a fume is placed on top of the super with a little chemical poured onto the fabric on the fume board. This chemical has many names, but it’s either Butyric Acid  or Benzaldehyde which is a chemical that the bees do not like nor does any human who hates the smell of vomit. The bees run out of the super to get away from the bad smell and the super is empty within 5 minutes. If the beekeepers spills some on their clothes, they can empty out the nearest coffee shop in 5 minutes too!  Many love this easy method. I'm skeptical of the product being absorbed into the wax or honey and having an overall effect on the hive. However, smarter people than me have reassured me that these chemicals quickly evaporate.

HARVEST FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF HONEY

Honey from specific flowers does have a different taste. I would not begin to describe the difference but believe me it is different. Here's how to harvest specific honey. Essentially you must remove your honey supers after that particular flower stops giving nectar, and place new supers on before the bees change to a different source. This way, the honey will not be mixed from different sources. Of course, some mixing may happen, but you'll get more of the type that had the largest nectar flow.

Here’s a picture of a frame that has a combination of light honey, and dark honey in the same frame. Sometimes a honey super may have contained a small amount of brood, but it appears more in the center in a circle starting at the bottom center of the frame.

Although this frames contains honey from two different sources, the dark honey is too small to extract separately so the two are combined. If you were going to enter your light honey in a contest, you should avoid a frame like this because the darker honey will darken the overall appearance ever so slightly.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU FILTER YOUR HONEY?
Here's a picture of Jesse using a hot knife to cut off the cappings. We sell “hot” electric uncapping knives as well as cold uncapping knives. Notice what the sealed area looks like. The capped area is white because the newly made wax is a bright color at first. As it ages through the years it becomes darker.

Once the comb is uncapped, the honey can be extracted. If you do not have an extractor, a frame can be left upside down to drip out over night. This method requires a warm/hot room, atleast 80 degrees. Let one side drain, then reverse so that the other side of the frame can drain as well. You can squeeze or crush out the honey from the comb, but this destroys precious drawn comb that you could reuse and it mixes in too much wax with the honey.

Once uncapped, place your frames in an extractor and spin the honey out. You can purchase a very simple plastic extractor for just over $100 but a more common extractor is a stainless steel hand crank 2 frame extractor for just over $300. This is our best seller. If you can afford a little more, then a 4 frame extractor does 4 frames at a time.

Once the honey is extracted out of the comb it collects in the bottom of the extractor which has a value on the bottom. At this point, you can bottle it, although you'll have pieces of wax, bee legs and wings and other things that came off your frames. So most beekeepers strain their honey. Straining is different than filtering. We use a 400 micron strainer. These might be referred to as filters, but they are really strainers.We sell a lot of these nylon strainers that fit down over a 5 gallon bucket. These strainers are $8 and can be washed and reused over and over again. The honey flows very fast through these strainers and important elements of the honey are allowed to stay within the honey but foreign particles are strained out. Filtering honey usually involves warming the honey and pushing it through very fine commercial filters. Some larger processors heat their honey and filter every grain of pollen from the honey so that the country of origin cannot be traced. In other words, there are some flora sources unique to particular countries, and pollen is often tested from imported honey so that illegally imported honey can be stopped. As a result, a large amount of honey purchased in larger stores has no traces of pollen. This is very unfortunate, which makes many of us suspect that America is still importing illegal honey. Read the entire story…

We are okay heating honey to 90-95 because often the internal temperature of the hive is maintained at these temperatures. However, flavor and some nutrients are lost at temperatures above 140 (f)  Honey does not need to be heated to be pasteurized. It is a pure and natural product and the only raw food that never spoils.  It does not need refrigerated and can be kept at room temperature forever without spoiling.

We like our honey to be free of air bubbles. So we allow our honey to sit after it has been strained. It sits for at least one week. Then we bottle it. Our settling tank allows all air bubbles to float up to the top. Then we drain from the pure honey at the bottom of the tank. You can do the same in a 5 gallon bucket with a valve on the bottom which we sell too.

Most honey will become hard, known as crystallized. This is normal and does not mean the honey is bad. It means it simply crystallized. This can be remedied simply by leaving a jar in warm water or using a mildly heated double boiler.

A CLEAN HONEY ROOM
Keep a clean honey room. One drop of honey on the floor soon gets tracked all over the place. It is a messy job, but fortunately honey cleans up easily with water. So, after you are finished harvesting your honey, clean up all your equipment.

Since honey is a natural product and all you are doing is bottling it, there are very little guidelines in most states. Check with your state and county for honey preparation. Here in Illinois, we passed legislation in January so that beekeepers can bottle up to 500 gallons of honey without inspections and permits. Since you will be giving away your honey or selling it, here are some common practices you should follow.

Wear a hairnet, clean clothes, keep your hands clean and properly wash all equipment including bottles. Use good judgment.

BOTTLING HONEY
Bottles are expensive. We use a combination of glass and plastic bottles. Many of our customers enjoy the small well liked teddy bear bottles. Bottles must be cleaned well and dry, free of any foreign objects and dust.

A common bottle for us to sell is the quart jar. Most of our customers buy the one quart size and the traditional canning jar with canning lid is very cost effective.

Thanks for joining us for yet another beekeeping lesson. With Thanksgiving just over, you’re probably thinking about Christmas presents. Why not surprise that special someone in your life with getting them started in beekeeping. Or if you want to tell the one buying the gift what to get, have them click on our hive kit link.

Here’s our contact information:

PHONE AND ORDER LINE: 217-427-2678
WEBSITE: www.honeybeesonline.com
STUDIO BEE LIVE PODCASTS: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html