Experienced beekeeper knows the value of this honey. To gather a good harvest of fragrant medicinal product, he needs to work diligently throughout the year. Expertise in the field of beekeeping and equipment, careful care of bee colonies – otherwise all efforts of inexperienced amateur will be in vain. However, under favorable conditions, you can collect up to 150 kg of honey from a hive for the season. Here is a piece of beekeeping for dummies.
A sure sign that it’s time to collect honey – bees start sealing processed nectar. It should be closed down about 1/8 cells on the combs. You can allow the insects to completely close the frames only if you are going to leave them honey for the winter as feed.
It is necessarily to start an inspection of bee colonies at the end of the day, when most of the honey plants stop to secrete sweet juice. So you do not break normal activities of hive, not disturb their work. Do not forget to protect yourself from bites with protection suit, mask and gloves.
Selected frames with ripe honey , remove and whisk bees by jerky movements with a soft bristle brush. If it is a strong activity of inmates of hive you make a stream of smoke over the entrance and the frameworks from a bee smoker. Progressive beekeepers recommend to reduce it to a minimum in order to protect themselves and insects from products of combustion.
Put the cell in the box-stretcher and put it to a warm room. If it is cool weather – before pumping honey it is necessary to warm frameworks to 20-25 degrees C (77 F) – the contents should not thicken.
Now you want to open the cell – cut off the capping (operculum cells) by edged acute bee knife warmed in hot water. You can use a modern electric or steam blades – they quickly melt the wax and propolis. Melted removed covers may be used as a honeycombs.
Honey is pumped by a special extractor method – centrifugation. In this device, the opened cells spin continuously, causing viscous fluid emits from the cells and flows into a clean container through the drain valve. It should always be strengthened with metal screen for the primary treatment of honey.
After pumping of the product you should let it stay until pieces of wax float to the surface. You can hold container a little in the sun to quickly clean the honey. After removing impurities you put transparent delicacy in a bowl made of stainless steel, glass or plastic.