Knowing when to harvest Honey can be extracted when it has been capped over by the bees on the comb. At this stage, the honey will have been ‘matured’ by the bees, sealed up and is ready to eat. Often, when you want to remove the honey, not all will have been sealed. I always use a rule of thumb here if three quarters of the honey is sealed, I am happy to remove it from the hive. This is an important point. If you extract honey that has not been sealed, the water content will inevitably be too high, and the honey will ferment in storage and explode if sealed in a jar or tank. It will also taste foul if this happens. You…

You should always wear protective equipment when you work your hive. You should light your smoker before getting started. I have often been asked how I keep my smoker going out. Seems some people have smokers go out just about the time they need them. The key is to take time to get the smoker going before rushing off to the bees. There are many types of smoker fuel. I can remember learning how to build a fire as a boy scout. Start small and then add new material slowly to the fire. Don’t dump a lot of smoker fuel onto a newly started fire. You will smoother the fire and it will go out. The goal is to have a good cool flow of…

The Beekeeping is an ancient art that has fascinated its devotees since earliest times. Honey robbed from wild colonies in trees & caves was early people’s main source of sweet food. Dominance of honey  the major sweetener continued until cane and beet sugar became generally available in comparatively recent times. Honey with its unique flavors and aromas and natural origin still has wide appeal. World production was estimated at 1,446 million pounds in 1976 and more than 1,415 million pounds in 1977. In the United States about 200,000 people keep almost 5 million colonies and produce 200 million to 250 million pounds of honey annually. Beekeepers can be classified as full-time, sideline, or hobbyist, with the number of colonies operated by individual owners varying from one…