Meetings

Honey Extraction

There was a very good turn- out for Deryck's meeting on Saturday. The promise of a lovely afternoon sitting in the sunshine and Fran's amazing cakes drew quite a crowd.

Deryck took us through the process of extracting honey, with a lot of discussion about mistakes made whilst learning over the years. We all listened intently, so much better (and cheaper!) to learn from other people making mistakes before you make them!

We talked about various methods of clearing the bees; a leaf blower (sounds a bit harsh and discombobulating), various designs of clearer boards and even a strong-smelling chemical that Deryck had tried just the once. The strong almond smell turned out to be cyanide! Porter escapes didn't seem to be very popular for various reasons, although we usually find they work well even if you do have to clean the propolis off between uses.

Check the moisture content of the honey before you start, best to use a a refractometer. About £20 from e-Bay. Don’t wait until the supers are stacked ready for extraction – we’ve all done it! It must be less than 20% to be legally sold. More than 20%, it will ferment and ooze out of the jar and all over your cupboards apparently.

Deryck recommends getting up super early to start the clearing process. Bees ripen honey overnight so getting them out early stops them putting fresh nectar on top. Take the supers off the same day and don't forget to prepare your kitchen, honey room before you start bringing them in! Cover or move anything you don’t want getting sticky. Pets out of the way, Prosecco/beer in the fridge etc.

Deryck showed us what one of the first honey extractors would have looked like, a galvanized bucket and a big stick. They still used centrifugal force though even in those days.

Deryck’s top tip – “honey is thin and silent” as you will discover if you leave the honey tap open and turn your back for 5 minutes! We’ve all done it!

Fran’s cakes were, as always, a treat and it was so nice to chat to friends old and new over a cup of tea and enjoy the lovely garden at Meadowfields.


Lizzie Beard
06/05/2022

Meetings

Making soft-set honey

The room was packed for our first face to face SWBKA meeting for over 2 years. There were more than 40 people present, a great start to getting back to “normal”. Helen provided cups of tea/coffee and the most delicious Spiced Honey Cake baked by Linda. I’ve missed these meetings!!

Tony began the meeting with a reminder of forthcoming events including the Ted Hooper Lecture coming up in June (book tickets now!). We then had a minute’s silence to allow time for us to think about the two long standing members who recently passed, Dave Clark and Molly James.

Richard Ridler then took the stage and described the processes for producing soft set honey from glucose rich honey (Oil Seed Rape) and clear honey from fructose rich (Borage).

He started his presentation with a look at honey production in the Ukraine, it was surprising how much honey they produce. What was more surprising was that the removable frame hive was not in fact invented by Langstroth, but a Ukrainian beekeeper called Petro Prokopovych! Langstroth patented the design but did not invent it. An interesting dinner party fact.

Richard drew our attention to the 2015 Honey Regulations, essential reading if you are selling honey, please read up on these to ensure that your honey and the labels are compliant!

Our selling price of honey as always sparked a lively debate, the “take away” point was do not undervalue your bees or the wonderful product they produce. You know that your honey is pure, unadulterated and local – that commands a premium price.

The meeting was followed by time to drink tea, eat lovely cake, welcome new members and chat to old friends who we haven’t seen for a long time.

It’s good to be back!

Lizzie Beard

Improve Your Beekeeping

Comb Management, Bailey Comb Change and Shook Swarm Techniques.

Beekeepers enjoying tea and cake and warming up!

There were cakes, bee boxes, powerpoint and people that knew stuff, teaching people that didn’t; all in one splendid afternoon.
For those untouched by the Bailey Comb Change, it’s a cracker…. a moment of superorganism catharsis. Queen leaves the house in bare feet, taking a turn into her new abode. All the kids follow at their own pace, leaving the carpet stains and dirty beds like a ‘70’s rental. Once up, the girls paint the new nursery, stock the larder and with a skep and a jump, with no shock of the Shook; pathogens are past.
Michelle explained it beautifully and Steph demonstrated with a ‘Three Cups’ sleight of hand. Heroic student re-creations followed. We all got to say Eek a lot and finished with a lovely cup of tea. Perfect.

Jerry Hartland