Honey
The nectar of the gods they say! And understandably so…. honey has been around for thousands of years and mentioned in dozens of cultures and historic accounts of the past. It is the only food on earth that is self preserving for as long as we know time to be. Hundreds of years if it had the chance of survival, perhaps thousands. Just another fascinating fact about honey bees and the bi products they produce.
Honey starts as nectar, that is naturally foraged from all sorts of plants and crops. Bees do not discriminate, but they certainly favor some nectar over others if it’s available in abundance, or closer range. Once the honey sac is full inside the bee, they come back to the hive and exchange nectar to another worker bee, that bee then chews the nectar as it deposits it into cells of the honey comb, when the nectar comes in contact with the bee spit it adds natural enzymes making the properties of honey medicinal. Newly hatched bees come and fan each cell vigorously, this is their first job in the colony, slowly dehydrating the nectar and allowing it to become much thicker, when the cell is full, the bees will cap the honey with a thin layer of wax, to keep it clean and protected.
Uncapping is the first step in the harvesting process, you scrape off that thin later and extract the honey inside. This can be done by hand straining or if you have a spinning extractor that is the fastest method. All honey needs to be slightly filtered to remove any debris from the hive or outdoors as well as wax, pollen, bee parts or possible brood that made its way into the batch. A fine strainer or cheese cloth works just fine, they do make honey mesh as well, but if you’re anything like I am, the less money spent the better.
Depending on region, honey typically sells for around a dollar an ounce, there are special instances where the crop they are feeding on can alter quality and price. With commercial beekeepers on the rise, there will always be competition at market, but always go out of your way to find what’s raw, clean, and local. It makes a world of difference. Honey can be harvested seasonally, spring, summer, and fall, however this can change based on a number of things, and that is usually for a very well established hive, where no comb needs to be drawn out and they can focus more on foraging and brood.
There is no greater feeling as a beekeeper to finally get a harvest of honey, which can be difficult and frustrating when you are trying to do things as natural as possible. It’s hard at times to separate personal intentions from the reality of things. You cannot and will not change the behavior of your hive by the way you treat it, you can hurt or help the hive, but you cannot go in with human expectations when nature takes it’s course with or without you. So it’s best to educate yourself, talk to other beekeepers, and learn exactly and precisely what needs to be done to sustain an apiary. Happy honey harvesting friends!
