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The first honey harvest

NEW BEEKEEPERS can have big expectations of their honey harvest. However, a hive's first year of production is usually small.

It takes a new colony at least one full season to build up a population large enough to gather the honey it will need to feed itself through winter. Take too much now, and your bees will starve.

The size of a harvest will also depend on conditions (such as weather) and circumstances (such as feed availability).

A hive is ready to be harvested when the frames contain at least 80 percent sealed, capped honey. Honey in uncapped cells is not ready to be extracted, as it hasn't cured; the water content is too high for it to be considered honey (it's technically still nectar). Extracting frames with more than 20 percent nectar results in a watery syrup that is likely to ferment and spoil.

If you only have a hive or two, the easiest way to harvest honey is to use the bucket method: • cut the honeycomb from the frame; • crush it up; • place it in a sterile bucket which has holes drilled in the bottom of it; • set this bucket on top of another sterile bucket, so the honey drains out, leaving the comb in the top.

Beekeepers with a lot of frames to harvest, or those who want to leave their wax intact for the bees next season, use a honey extractor. These are food-safe, stainless steel drums with baskets inside that hold the frames. The waxy caps are scraped off with a knife and the frames are loaded into the baskets. When you turn a handle, the baskets spin, using centrifugal force to ‘ throw' the honey out. It slides to the bottom of the drum and you open a tap to pour the honey into sterilised jars.

The quantity of honey you can take from a healthy, well-fed hive in full production is quite high, an average of about 30kg per hive. You'll leave around another 15kg behind for the bees to feed on over winter.

Legally, you can store it for yourself, or to give it away to friends and family.

If you want to sell your honey, it's more complicated. In NZ, you can't jar your honey and set up a stall at the local market. You need to meet food safety regulations, labeling requirements and manage potential contamination.