Beekeeping Harvesting Honey 101 – Q & A with Expert Beekeeper & Rookie Beekeeper

Happy Spring Equinox my bee and nature loving buds! And if you live in the northern hemisphere it be time to check on your bees to see if they survived the winter and to see if you have any spring honey to harvest. This harvesting honey 101 blog is meant to be your guide on what tools you will need if you are not sure what to do if it is in fact your first time harvesting honey.

So, I have a lot of beekeeping apprentices and right around harvest season or when their hive dies they have honey to harvest, (that is if they decide to be a treatment chemical free beekeeper than they have potential honey to harvest.) I decided to write this blog because I always get the exact same questions by a newbie beekeeper aka a rookie on how to go about harvesting honey. Oh to be a “new-bee” again; there is nothing quite like being a rookie, the beginner’s mind always offers a fresh perspective and I love to teach. So, let’s answer some basic questions and learn about the basic tools I like to use to harvest honey.

Question from a Rookie Beekeeper: Do you have any tools you recommend for harvesting honey?

Answer from the Expert: I like to keep it basic. I like using my hive tool and a kitchen dough scraper (bench scraper) plus a de-capper comb scraper plus a few more items. You will need a big ol’ cutting board too if you are going with the crush and strain method I like to do.

Question from a Rookie Beekeeper: What is an Uncapping tool used for?

Answer from the Expert:You need this tool to uncap your honey frames, so it will drip out of the combs. If you don’t use this the honey will still crush, but removing the capping removes a layer of wax that doesn’t need to be there, you can save this wax. You have to use this tool or the heated knife to effectively crush or spin honey. (FYI: You don’t use this tool if you are harvesting Pure Honey Comb, Honey that has no foundation)

Honbay Bee Keeping Uncapping Fork with 18 Tines Stainless Steel Bee Keeping Tool, Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/f6GdTym

Question from a Rookie: Why do you use a dough scraper?

Answer from the Expert: When you don’t have a spinner you need to crush the honey comb, so you can use your hive too or this too after you use the uncapping fork to remove the wax and honey from the frames on to a big cutting board. From here you chop and fold, chop and fold until you feel like you have a lot of the honey separated from the wax and then you scrape and scoop the honey and wax into the mesh strainer that is clean and ready to go on the honey bucket.

Amazon Basics Multi-Purpose Stainless Steel Scraper/Chopper with Contoured Grip, 6-Inch, Silver, Black.

Amazon link: https://a.co/d/5Mufya2

Question from a Rookie: What is a Honey Bucket?

Answer from Expert: A 5 gallon food Grade Bucket that will catch your honey that has a honey gate installed and a lid to protect the honey.

You will Need a mesh strainer and a 5 gallon bucket, Get food grade, with a lid. amazon link: https://a.co/d/ds04Vx5

SunVara Beekeeping Honey gate Valve for 5 Gallon Bucket Bee Hive Gate for Honey Bucket with Spigot Valves Honey Extractor Bucket Gate Honey Bottling Gates 5 Gallon Bucket Drain Valve Honey

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/3NWIW4u

Question from a Rookie: Why do I need a mesh strainer?

A: Once you crush your honey, it needs to drip and separate from the wax. And a nice warm room is always helpful to get the flow going.

Honey Strainer Double Sieve, Stainless Steel Bee Mesh Strainer for 5 Gallon Bucket, Honey Extractor for Clean Honey with Up to 16.5 inches Extendable Arms, Beekeeping Equipment Honey Debris Filter

Amazon link: https://a.co/d/d8LYN1U

You can also use a cheese mesh cloth instead of metal strainer, which some beekeepers prefer. I find it to be messy and a waste of a lot of honey that gets caught on the mesh cloth. But look up this method if it’s calling your name.

Question from a Rookie: Do I need a Electric Uncapping Knife?

Answer: No, I don’t typically use the heated scraper mentioned below, especially if I don’t need too. I never like to add extra heat to my honey. I find that the uncapping fork is all I need to get to the golden sticky goodness.

However here is the link to one if you want one, also check Facebook marketplace for a cheap used one.

HunterBee Beekeeping Stainless-Steel Electric uncapping Knife for Beekeeper bee Keeper Honey Wax Scraper Honey uncapping Cutter Tool. Amazon Link https://a.co/d/i1ISlDb

Spinning Honey is an option too!

If you want to spin your honey frames you will need to buy or rent an extractor / spinner or local clubs have them for rent; but I have one now, so if you are in the denver area you can rent my two frame honey spinner if you need one, send me a DM. They are fun to use. But I truly love the simplicity of the crush and strain method. I listed an extractor aka spinner below.

VEVOR 3 Frame Honey Extractor, Stainless Steel Manual Beekeeping Extraction, Honeycomb Drum Spinner with Transparent Lid, Apiary Centrifuge Equipment with Height Adjustable Stand

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/gb9MrJv

Q: How do I get the honey into those cute little honey comb squares?

A: You need to have foundation-less frames and the only tools you need for cutting foundation-less honeycomb is this honeycomb cutter and a cutting board. You will need this tool for cutting perfect square combs and you can buy containers that fit the specs of the square cutter too.

Honeycomb Cutter, Comb Honey Cutter Scraper Stainless Steel Comb Honey Cutter with Handle Cookie Cutter Honey Cutter Honey Cutting Tool Square Shaped Cutting Tool for Beekeeping

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/heHBD2Q

Q: Do you have a rule of thumb for how much honey is okay to take from each colony?

A: It varies per hive. If they are a heavy enough hive; I will take fully capped frames if there is a surplus. You want the hive to be weighing like at least 60-100 lbs to survive the winter – you want every frame you leave them to have stores and drawn comb (no empty frames )

Q: Do You offer Honey Harvesting Lessons?

A: Yes, I Charge $100 for private lessons. Let me know if you want to book some time to learn my ways in the hive and around harvest season. But, I highly suggest just watching a couple “honey harvesting” YouTube videos, and let your intuition be your guide. I promise it’s a pretty straight forward process. However, I would love to teach you if you want to book a lesson with me. Click here.

Last bit of advice, there bee a lot of options for all the tools mentioned in this harvesting honey 101 blog, so pick ones that suit your style and needs and have fun, because if you are not having fun beekeeping and harvesting honey you are doing it wrong.