Question about Bees?
August 26th, 2009 | by beekeeper |
suzunyanko asked:
my dad just started getting into beekeeping he’s had them for about a couple of months and i dont know very much about them but i really love honey ! when can you expect to collect the first batch of honey?
beekeeper
my dad just started getting into beekeeping he’s had them for about a couple of months and i dont know very much about them but i really love honey ! when can you expect to collect the first batch of honey?
beekeeper
One Response to “Question about Bees?”
By Advisorpro06 on Aug 27, 2009 | Reply
Hi - I’ve been a beekeeper for 6 years.
The answer to your question is: it depends.
It depends on where you live and what the primary sources of honey are. If you live in a region where crops bloom late spring or early summer, then you can sort of predict when the honey will come in. Where I live, the primary nectar flow comes from blackberries, which bloom mostly in July. I usually grab my honey in AUGUST. You might have more than one flow in your region, so, you need to become familiar with that.
It depends on how fast the build up the honey stores. For the first year, I wouldn’t count on taking much honey away from the hive - maybe one frame at most. The reason for this is that new hives are usually started in the spring (I’m assuming you started yours around April, right?) and are typically much smaller than established hives that have begin to beef up the existing colony much earlier in the year.
It depends on when the bees cap the honey. The very best way to determine when the honey will be available is to keep checking the hive for honey stores in the upper box (I trust you ARE using a second frame box, not just one…right?) about once every other week.
Be sure to wear your moon suit and gloves though.
Don’t remove any honey stores from the primary or main box, because that is food for the current brood. Taking honey away from that box could seriously slow down hive build-up, and that’s not good because it will reduce the ability of the hive to produce honey any honey for YOU.
It’s very important to make sure the bees have all the honey they need before you take any. I’d say that if your upper box gets filled with 9 frames of honey, you’re safe to take 2 for yourself. Leave the rest in the hive for the bees to use over the coming winter. If you take too much honey away from them, they could starve and not make it through to next spring.
Finally, I recommend that you get in touch with your local bee keeper’s association for more info. You’ll find one established in most every county across the country, or at least in a county near where you live.