By Amy Gusefski Durham County Beekeeping School 2017
Honey Beeswax Pollen Propolis Bee venom Royal jelly Mead Nucs, queens
I began keeping bees in the spring of 2014 I have 1 hive in southern Durham. I live in the Parkwood neighborhood. I ve harvested honey twice (~2.5 gallons from one hive); I use beeswax to make lip balm and propolis to make tinctures and oils.
Forager bees collect nectar, then pass the honey to another worker bee when they return to the hive. The second worker finds a cell, adds her nectar deposit, then fans the cell to evaporate the water. When the water content is below 18.6% the bees cap the cell. In a bee s lifetime she makes ½ teaspoon of honey 1 lb of honey = 75,000 loads of nectar, equaling 4-6 trips around the world A hive can produce 40-60 pounds of honey per year In addition to tasting amazing, honey has some amazing properties Wound care Doesn t ever expire
Harvesting During the hive s second year, the bees will be ready for you to harvest honey in the summer after the spring flow June, July, or August Capped honey is ready for harvest. The bees evaporated most of the water out. Moisture content below 18% is very important for preserving the honey (ie, not fermenting) and selling/showing honey. You need: fume board and repellent; smoker, hive tool, protective gear, extra frames; beetight container to put frames in (like a big rubbermaid box); a cart if it s too heavy to carry; extractor; jars or bottles to store it in; uncapper; filter; someone who knows what they re doing Put the fume board in the top of the hive and wait a few minutes Remove frames of honey from the hive Shake or brush the bees back into the hive Put the frames into a box or container with a lid We set up the extractor in the garage
Uncap the honey you can use a scratcher, a unheated serrated edge knife, a heated knife, or a rolling uncapper.
An extractor uses centrifugal force to spin the honey out of the frames, the honey runs down the sides of the extractor, and then out through a faucet
Drain the faucet into a 5 gallon bucket with a filter in the top DCBA has an extractor for club members use. Just be sure to clean it out before returning (with water).
Store the honey in easy access jars canning jars, honey jars, old growlers that have been really really cleaned out.
Pricing honey Honey is priced by the pound 1 pound is about 12 fluid ounces I sell honey for $10/pound (wholesale honey sells about $6/pound) Labeling To sell honey you must have a label stating: Your name or your apiary name Location Type of honey (probably wildflower honey) When it was harvested Contact information
Bees secrete wax from glands in their abdomen They use the wax to build their nursery, their pantry, and for insulation The cleanest wax is best for cosmetics (cappings). As wax is used by the bees it becomes dark. Recycle the wax from your hives every 3 years. How to get it As you harvest honey, save the cappings in a bucket. You ll need to clean the wax before using. Clean the wax by melting it in a double boiler (have one just for wax, this is nearly impossible to clean). Pour the wax through a cheesecloth into a quart carton which you have removed the top. It helps to rubber band the cheesecloth to the carton. Let the wax drip all the way through and cool completely. The honey and wax will separate as they cool. Voila! A block of beeswax. Note: a solar wax melter is the safest way to clean wax Use it to make lip balm, candles, lotion/cream
A simple lip balm recipe: 2.5 tablespoons coconut oil 1.5 tablespoons beeswax Anything you want to add, like vitamin E oil, essential oils for scent, honey, or propolis oil Melt coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add any extras. Pour into tubes or tins You can buy coconut oil and empty chapstick tubes on amazon relatively inexpensively. Makes a great gift.
Bees collect pollen from flowers and carry it back to the hive in their pollen baskets. Pollen is bees protein. Bees collect 40 mg of pollen at a time, corresponding to 50-100 flowers. Each cell in the hive contains about 183 mg of pollen, enough to raise 1.2 bees. One pound of pollen supports 4,000 bees. Beekeepers use pollen traps to collect pollen Use it short term, empty several times a day, and after drying, store pollen in the fridge Humans use pollen as a source of protein and to combat allergies When using to address allergies, it is important to start slowly, use local pollen, and use pollen that corresponds to the season (don t take fall-harvested pollen to combat spring allergies) Another consideration for using pollen to treat allergies is that we are often reacting to wind-borne pollen, while the pollen the bees collect is heavier, so you may not have the right pollen to treat your allergies
What is it Propolis is a sticky substance formed from resin collected by 10% of the foraging bee force. It s antimicrobial, and bees use it to seal up holes, carpet the hive, make tunnels, and coat unwanted things in the hive (like mice). It s an external immune system and a building material How to collect Scrape propolis off the frames and sides of your hive as you work in it Some beekeepers scratch up the insides of their hives to encourage bees to lay down propolis Buy a propolis net! (Note: I tried this unsuccessfully)
How to use Healthy for humans too, use it in oil, tinctures and products made with oil and tincture Use it on cuts and scrapes (in a tincture it ll sting!); propolis has the same antimicrobial products for humans Freeze propolis for a couple of days, break it into small bits and remove bits of wood, pollen and other objects Tincture By weight, 1 part propolis to 9 parts alcohol 75 proof or higher. Store in a jar in a dark place for two weeks and shake 2-3 x daily. Filter and store in a brown jar. Oil Place ½ tablespoon propolis and 2.5 oz olive oil in a double boiler. Heat gently, keeping the temperature around 122 degrees, for 10 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth or coffee filter and store in a dark jar.
Bees use venom in communication and defense Bees have 0.15-0.30 mg venom in a sac; quality of venom depends on the quality of the pollen they re eating Mellitin is in bee venom, has antimicrobial properties People use bee venom to help with arthritis pain; it s known as apitherapy Some people have the bee sting them directly (I ve never tried this on purpose) A beekeeper can collect bee venom using a charged glass plate at the front of the hive. When a bee lands, the plate shocks her, causing her to drop her backside and release venom. After enough venom is on the plate, the beekeeper scrapes off the plate and collects the venom.
What is it? Nurse bees make royal jelly when they are 5-15 days old using 2 glands in their heads Very unstable, needs cold storage and preserving in beeswax or honey Doolittle method of collection Humans use it internally and on their skin
Another possible way to make money from the hive is selling nucs and queens Queen rearing takes special equipment and techniques
Podcast: The Buzz on Honey, Gastropod The Beekeeper s Bible, Stewart, Tabori & Chang Two Million Blossoms, Kirsten S. Traynor www.durhambeekeepers.org www.ncbeekeepers.org The Hive and the Honeybee, Dadant & Sons, www.dadant.com Beeswax Alchemy, Petra Ahnert First Lessons in Beekeeping, Keith S. Delaplane The Backyard Beekeeper, Kim Flottum USDA website