posted 31st August 2023
There is nothing more satisfying for the beekeeper than doing the end of summer honey harvest.
That much anticipated moment when you open the hives to remove the frames containing the raw honey and that unmistakable warm, sweet smell of the honey and beeswax hits you as it is carried upwards by the 30 -35 degree heat the bees maintain in the hive. As I lift the frames out one by one to place them in my plastic transit boxes I can feel the weight which is the first clue as to whether it's going to be a good year or not. This is all part of the unpredictability of honey production. You never really know how much honey you will get until the day of harvest.
Getting the honey from frame to jar is a lot of work. I hire a large kitchen in a local community Centre which gives me both the space I need and good hygiene standards. I'm registered with my local authority as a food producer and subject to inspections. Using the community Centre, which is a registered charity, means the fee I pay goes to the benefit of the community.
I remove the wax capping from the frames of honey, saving the wax to render into bars for handicraft uses. Things like candle making and cosmetics. Next the frames are placed in an 'extractor'. This is a stainless-steel cylinder with a handle which spins the frames to a high-speed forcing the honey out and into the bottom of the cylinder. My extractor is turned by hand and as the number of hives I have is increasing each year it's jolly hard work. I hope to invest in an electric one for next year's harvest. I then drain it off through a simple double sieve into a holding vessel. It's then ready to go into the jars.
The jars are first washed in the commercial glass washer and then placed in a very hot oven for 10 minutes to sterilize them. Lids are boiled for 10 minutes and after cooling they are ready for the honey. Once the honey is in the final job is to apply the labels and update my records of batch numbers and dates.
But of course, it doesn't end there - there is the cleanup to be done! Sticky honey and wax everywhere.