10-18-2021 Planning Commission Packet

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HARVESTING, EXTRACTING, AND BOTTLING HONEY HARVESTING THE HONEY Harvest any SURPLUS of honey from the honey supers, never from brood chambers (see summer management section). Wintering colonies must have about 75-100 lb (10-13 full frames) of honey or equivalent sugar syrup stored to get through the cold months (see the section called "WINTERING HONEY BEE COLONIES IN NORTHERN CLIMATES"). First, you need to remove all the bees from the supers. There are several methods to do this. Whichever method you use, the frames and supers should be immediately covered to prevent the bees from getting back into the supers and to prevent other colonies from robbing the honey.A drip tray on the bottom of the supers with a solid cover on top is a good way to keep unwanted bees out. Methods of removing the bees from the honey supers: • Shake the bees from each frame after removing it from the super. With a sharp shake, the bees will fall in front of the hive entrance. Placing the shaken frames into an empty box makes this process more effective at removing and keeping the bees off the frames. 111110 • Brush the bees off each frame after removing it from the super. Using a bee brush, gently flick the bees in front of the hive entrance. This is more effective than shaking the frames and can get all of the bees off the frames. Detail work! • Apply a chemical repellent (e.g., products such as Bee Go (benzaldehyde), Honey Robber (butyric anhydride), Natural Honey Harvester, or Fischer's Bee Quick Repellant) to a fume board on top of the super to drive the bees out of the honey supers. Move the fume board to the next super after the top one is pulled off. This method works best on warmer days and in the sun. Products made with benzaldehyde or butyric anhydride are highly effective, but smell terrible (the smell does not stay in the super or honey). Other products are slightly less effective, but smell much, much better than vomit. • Install a bee escape.A bee escape can be installed in the inner cover hole and placed between the brood chamber and the supers. This is a one-way door that allows the bees to enter the brood chamber from the super, but prevents them from returning up into the super. In about 24 hours, most of the bees will be out of the supers. Be sure you do not have any holes above the bee escape that will allow other bees to get in and rob the honey. This method works best when nights are cooler and the bees move down into the brood boxes. • Use a bee blower to blow the bees from the supers. The blower is a high-volume, low pressure blower with a hose and nozzle to force air between the frames. A leaf blower or heavy-duty shop vacuum set to "blow" will work for this method. • Beekeeping in Northern Climates 64