Sunday, October 24, 2010

BEEmused: Honey Extraction 2010!


the extraction begins HERE:
incensing the bees as you remove the frames from the beehives. Our senior beekeeper was stung four times, his youngest apprentice, only three. :(

The above is a photo of a filled frame before uncapping.

these particular frames had been frozen.
He heated the wax a bit to ensure it wasn't frozen.

The first step in the process is to break or remove all of the caps, this may be accomplished with an automated uncapper or with a manually operated knife. The removed bits of wax, called uncappings, are rich in honey which can be slowly drained off with the help of some heating.

The uncapped frames are then placed in a honey extractor, which spins them so that most of the honey is removed by the force of spinning.


The resulting honey will contain bits of wax and must be passed through a screen so that clean liquid honey results.


more honey continues to drain from the wax from the extracted honey.
Unwanted hive debris, bits of wax, and so on may still appear in extracted honey no matter how carefully you perform the extraction process. After being jarred, the honey will naturally filter itself, as any wax and residue will rise to the top. Upon opening, the wax can be neatly scraped from the top before the first consumption.

Not necessarily part of the process, popcorn may be used to catch any stray drippings. (I caught the little guy doing this and thought the combination unusual. Think, caramel corn.)

the result: no-heat, unfiltered 100% raw Oklahoma honey.
We have about 17 quarts+ 30 pint-jars full, a decent yield for our small operation.
And because of the frozen frames taken from earlier in the year, we have TWO VARIETIES, each having a distinct flavor.
Any honey that can't be harvested, which includes any left on the frames after extraction, can be placed outside so that it will be reclaimed by the bees. This must be done early in the morning or late in the evening as the bees will aggressively harvest such a rich source. As I look out the back window this morning, I am watching them devour the remnants.

After extraction last night, we counted and estimated that we extracted twice as much as the past two years. This means that we may be able to sell and share our honey with others who have been asking. Of course, there will be a limited supply, but it is exciting to merely consider the yield.

Our extraction process has gotten much simpler and much less laborious, messy and time-consuming. Also, my appreciation for these thousands of busy bees has increased exponentially over the years. The entire process is amazing. Their God-given design allows us to enjoy and savor the fruits of THEIR hard work. And how fortunate we are to be able to do so!
Posted by

No comments:

Post a Comment

SWEET thoughts from our buyers...

"I just wanted to say I like your new site, the honey site :-) Also, we really LOVE the honey, it's so flavorful!! We can't wait to get more. What a blessing to have fresh honey from a local hive. Thank you!"
________________

"I love mine. It’s so silky and you continue to feel it on your lips for over an hour. As I said before, I kept it all to myself and am letting the kids use up the rest of Burt’s. I use lip balm practically 24-7. I’ve tried them all. And I can positively say I like yours absolute best."
_______________

"Have to tell you, I am loving my lip balm. I have one in my office and one in my purse. I even tried to sell it at my Manager meeting... I think you need to increase the price. It’s better than anything off the shelves."

________________

"Okay, I’m in love. I’ve been a user of Burt’s Bee’s Hand Balm for years and I like yours so much better—it’s less oily so I can wear it all day—not just at night. I also love the citrus scent."

BEE well...

BEE well...
as we share our hobby with you.

THE SKINNY ON BEESWAX

Beeswax is a byproduct of honey production. It makes wonderful lip balms, hand lotions, hand creams, moisturizers, in cosmetics, wood finishes, waxes, leather polishes; waterproofing products, and dental molds.
It is impervious to water and unaffected by mildew. It has a melting point of 143 to 148 degrees F. and should only be heated using a double boiler as it is flammable when subjected to fire and flames. It is pliable at 100 degrees F.

Beeswax is produced by the (female) worker honeybees. The wax is secreted from wax glands on the underside of the bee's abdomen and is molded into six-sided cells which are filled with honey, then capped with more wax. When honey is harvested, the top layer of wax that covers the cells, the cappings, must be removed from each hexagon-shaped cell.

Bees use their wax to "glue" together the wooden frames in their hive, and that must be scraped off so the frames can be separated. The beeswax, which contains some honey, bee parts, and other impurities, must be melted and filtered or strained.
Most beeswax is gold or yellow but can also be in shades of orange, brown, etc. The color of the wax is in most part determined by the type of plants the bees collect nectar from. Beeswax has a delightful, light fragrance of honey, flower nectar and pollen.
Beeswax makes superior, slow burning candles. Beeswax burns more beautifully than any other wax. It exudes a faint, natural fragrance of honey and pollen. When candles are made with the proper size of wicking, they are smokeless, dripless, and burn with a bright flame.

If you wonder why beeswax is so expensive, consider this: It has been estimated that bees must fly 150,000 miles to produce one pound of wax. Bees must eat about six pounds of honey to secrete a pound of wax. For every 100 pounds of honey a beekeeper harvests, only one to two pounds of beeswax are produced.