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Harvesting & extraction

From comb to jar — the art and science of extracting honey, pollen, and royal jelly without harming the colony that made them.

Honey extraction — six stages

1

Seasoning

Leave honey in the hive until bees cap it. Bees 'season' honey by absorbing aromatic substances from the hive even after capping. Unripened honey (water content double the standard) sours quickly and lacks the enzymes bees add.

2

Comb honey

Honey served in its natural comb never touches metal extractor parts — aromas un-volatized. Section frames (110×110×40mm) are placed in magazines directly onto the nest during strong flows.

3

Warm the combs

Extract at 25–27°C. Below 20°C honey is too viscous; at nest temperature combs are too soft and smash in the centrifuge. Warm cooled combs for 24 hours at 25–27°C first.

4

Unseal

Remove wax caps with a hot knife (steam cutter or electric knife). Work two knives alternately, heating in boiling water. Cut slightly horizontally for a smooth surface.

5

Centrifuge

Load balanced combs (equal weight per cassette). Start at low speed for 1–2 minutes, flip cassettes, reverse direction, then finish at high speed. Radial extractors (lower plank toward axis) are most productive and rarely destroy combs.

6

Filter & store

Strain through a double sieve to remove wax particles. Store in a dry place below 10°C. Honey absorbs odors — keep away from strong smells. Never store in sunlight.

Storage containers

Honey absorbs odors and moisture. Wood is best — but the species matters. Store below 10°C in a dry place, tightly sealed, away from sunlight.

Linden wood

Best — 10–20 kg jars; cut from a single piece of lime. Neutral aroma.

Cedar / beech / plane

Lagoons hold 40–50 kg. Good for larger quantities.

Coniferous wood

Avoid — gives honey a pine odor.

Oak

Avoid — turns honey black.

Aspen

Avoid — makes honey bitter.

Glass / milk cans

Acceptable for smaller quantities.

Pollen production

A normally developed colony can gather 50–55 kg pollen per season; most is consumed as food, leaving 6–8 kg harvestable surplus without harming the colony's nutritional balance.

✓Pollen traps installed at the hive entrance have a grid with 4.9–5 mm round holes.
✓Bees lose pollen pellets passing through; about 30% still get through to the nest.
✓Pollen is 25–30% moisture — remove daily before it cakes and sours.
✓Never store pollen in iron containers — acids react with metal, forming harmful salts.
✓Dry in chambers at 40–42°C (never higher) within 12–48 hours to reach 10–12% moisture.
✓Preserve by mixing 2 parts honey to 1 part pollen, or 1:1 with sugar powder; store dark and cool.

Royal jelly production

Royal jelly production requires strong colonies in swarming condition with large reserves of young bees. The decisive factor is the colony's swarming physiological state.

1Separate the strongest colonies in spring and stimulate their growth with empty brown combs (not foundation).
2When colonies reach 7–8 frames of brood, remove the queen to a nucleus. Narrow the nest.
3Five–six hours later, install three grafting frames with larvae in cups (60 per frame initially, rising to 80).
4Destroy all emergency queen cells — they hinder acceptance of grafted larvae.
5Rotate frames in sequence: install in hive 1, then hive 2, then hive 3, each day. Remove after three days.
6In the lab, cut queen cells in half with a scalpel, remove larvae with a sterile glass spatula.
7Collect jelly into a dark sterilized glass flask. Seal, weigh, label with date and beekeeper name.
8Never mix with adsorbents. Store at 0 to +1°C and transport under the same conditions.

Key factors

Larvae aged 10–15 hours yield the most jelly. Acceptance rises from 50% (first grafting) to 85–90% by the fourth. Replace rearing colonies every three months to prevent drone-breeding bees from emerging.