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Author Topic: honey harvesting  (Read 5309 times)

Offline michael l burnett

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honey harvesting
« on: July 11, 2004, 09:31:59 am »
my dad always told me there was no such thing as a stupid question...so o.k. dad here i go ..hope you were right...
   we have one hive that has drawn out two large supers and is working on a shallow super. all of our broood queen activity is in the lower large super.
  two questions  1) i was told in our area of n. new england that we need two large supers full of honey for the bees to overwinter. is this correct?  bottom boxes are very heavy....and 2)is it o.k to harvest some frames of honey from the upper of the two large boxes..or should we leave that alone and wait for our honey supers. my partners think this would bee o.k...that the bees will re-draw the frames we steal from before fall. i tend to think this is robbing peter to pay paul especially if the answer to the first question is true..........................told you we didnt know much,but our bees are rocking in spite of ourselves.
        thanks everyone...brookie

Offline Finman

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Re: honey harvesting
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2004, 06:29:59 am »
Quote from: michael l burnett
 two questions  1) i was told in our area of n. new england that we need two large supers full of honey for the bees to overwinter.


In Finland we need 20 kg dry sugar ( diluted in water) for overwintering and one langstroth box. I suppose that your summer is at least 2 months longer than we have.  Two box honey is too much, I think.

Now it is mid of summer. You must take your capped honey away from nest and do not think winter.

 
Quote
- bottom boxes are very heavy....
-  to harvest some frames of honey from the upper of the two large boxes..or should we leave that alone and wait for our honey supers.


The lowest supers are heavy? - It means that they have they honey there or a lot of pollen.  I think that you keep your bees too tighly. They store honey in brood boxes. Take honey frames from lower super and put them to the upper one.  Give space to queen to lay eggs an give enough space to new honey and pollen.

It is unnecessary to keep full honey frames in the hive. Is is not usefull for bees heat the vain space.

Keep allways free space between brood and honey and space for pollen under brood.

Order from bottom to top for 5-6 box hive.

Free space for pollen and nectar one super
2 supers for brood
2 Half empty supers for honey
capped honey ready to take away.

FOR 3-BOX HIVE:
1 Langstroth box for brood
1  half empty honey super
1  super which is half capped

If your hive is little, do not keep there capped honey. Put new empty box between brood and honey.
.  



Offline leominsterbeeman

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Stupid Answer
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2004, 01:28:49 pm »
Brookie --

I don't think your  question is stupid.  

I think that you should keep the 2 large supers (Most people call them deeps)  for over wintering.  I live in the same climate and that is what I plan to do.    In New England,  the bees need about 70 lbs of honey for the winter.

The reason I do it is so that they have enough food for the winter and early brood rearing.   Last winter I had the same condition,  the bottom brood box was full of brood and the top brood box was full of honey.  by the time spring came around there were about 4 full frames of honey in the top brood box.  I also fed them sugar syrup, but they never used it.

The honey does not go bad, so anything that they don't use this winter will be stored for next year's season.    The only thing you need to be concerned with is being honey-bound.  So check the frames in the spring and if they too full, you can repalce them then and maybe use in another hive.
Michael Keane
leominsterbeeman@comcast.net
http://www.leominsterbeeman.com

Offline michael l burnett

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thanks
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2004, 11:54:52 pm »
thanks mpk
  we might harvest a couple frames from the one hive thays doing really well .  thanks for helping.
  is it true fall flowers dont produce as much nectar as youd think especialy goldenrod ?should we not rely on late summer and fall to replace honey in upper deep we harvested? we'll stay in touch.
                     brookie

Anonymous

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honey harvesting
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2004, 01:30:08 am »
Michael,

You should not take honey from the brood boxes. What is there now the bees may need for their use in the winter. Be patient. If you take the honey from them now, there may not be any for them to gather in the fall. Remember that beekeeping is a form of agriculture and everything is dependent on the weather. If there isn't any nectar for them to gather in the fall then you may not leave them enough to make it through the winter and they will starve. You should only take SURPLUS honey from the hive.

If you let them build up enough to take care of themselves, then they will eventually take care of you. If not this year, then next year after they have made it through winter in great condition because you left them enough food to take off like gang busters in the spring.

Offline Finman

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honey harvesting
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2004, 02:55:51 am »
Quote from: carbide
Michael,

You should not take honey from the brood boxes. What is there now the bees may need for their use in the winter.
'


Where you live if you are waiting for winter?

In Finland, which is at same level like Alaska, summer has just started. Our main blooming is at the begining.  In England autumn comes  1 months later than us.

It is wise to take away honey from brood area, because if it is tight, it develops swarming.  It depends also on the taste, what kind of honeyt it is.  My early yield is dandillion and it is good. I take it for me.

In our country sugar is  1,0 $ per kilo. Honey is now 8 $/kilo.  We give sugar for winter.

If in the fall bees do not get honey, there is no reason why dont you give sugar liguid one box full capped.  

By the way. I wonder why you give sugar all the time to hives ???? ---In pictures there is a bottle?

Offline michael l burnett

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feeders
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2004, 07:48:51 pm »
the picture you see is a month old..we didnt get our nucs(we have 2 hives) til may 22,,fed sugar syrup for  20 days...added honey supers after upper deep was 3/4 filled with honey. bees are currently working in shallow supers . we decided not to use queen excluders  that came with our hives after watching tired bees struggling to get through them.when the shallow supers get close to drawing out should harvest the honey in them and put them right back, or just add a anouther shallow super on top(or should it go under other shallow)?? is it cool to harvest a frame (or two) in upper deep to allow easier access to shallow(s) and provide more  ventilation?
       i was kinda wondering how (dont mind that you did) you saw the pictures as i only sent one to some guy in mass........those are the girls...beautifull hu..?
    really cool forum... thanks for all advice and happy beekeeping....brookie

 

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