Honey extraction is the process where beekeepers remove surplus honey from the colony. Timing the harvest requires careful judgment, as it directly impacts the final product’s quality and storage safety. The right moment is determined by the honey’s physical state, the calendar season, and the colony’s nutritional needs. Understanding these indicators prevents spoilage and ensures the bees have adequate reserves.
Determining Honey Readiness
The primary physical indicator that honey is ready for harvest is curing. Bees reduce the moisture content of collected nectar by rapidly fanning their wings, evaporating excess water. This transforms high-moisture nectar into stable honey, typically achieving 17% to 18% moisture content.
Once cured, bees seal the cell with a layer of beeswax, known as capping. Capping acts as a protective barrier, keeping the honey safe from humidity and preventing fermentation. Extracting honey before it is properly capped means collecting a product with a moisture content above 20%, increasing the risk of spoilage.
Beekeepers use the “80% Capped Rule” as a reliable guideline for frame removal. This means that at least four-fifths of the surface area on a frame should be covered with a wax cap before removal. If a frame has substantial uncapped areas, a refractometer can precisely measure the moisture level of the uncured portion.
The “shake test” is another simple field test, where a beekeeper quickly shakes a horizontal frame. If liquid honey drips easily from the uncapped cells, the moisture content is likely too high. Proper curing ensures the honey has a long shelf life and maintains its thick consistency.
Seasonal Timing and Nectar Flows
The seasonal calendar dictates major harvest opportunities. Extraction timing is directly linked to regional “nectar flows,” which are periods when local flowering plants provide abundant nectar sources for the colony. These flows vary widely based on geography, climate, and local flora.
In many temperate regions, the main honey harvest occurs after the primary summer nectar flow has ended, often around late July or throughout August. Waiting until this major flow is complete ensures the beekeeper collects the maximum possible yield and allows for the collection of a uniform batch of honey.
Some beekeepers perform smaller, earlier extractions following a strong spring nectar flow, yielding specialty honeys like clover or black locust. These smaller harvests require careful monitoring to ensure the colony retains enough stores until the main summer flow begins.
Ensuring Adequate Bee Stores
The beekeeper’s decision to extract is constrained by the colony’s survival needs, as only the “excess” honey should be removed. A healthy colony requires a substantial reserve of stored honey to survive the colder, resource-scarcity winter months. Depending on the climate, a colony needs to retain approximately 60 to 100 pounds of honey as fuel to maintain cluster temperature and feed themselves until spring foraging resumes.
This necessity is why beekeepers typically only extract honey from the upper boxes, known as “supers,” leaving the lower brood boxes untouched. The honey in the brood boxes is reserved for the queen and the developing young. Extracting too deeply into these reserves jeopardizes the colony’s health and increases the likelihood of starvation during winter.
Extracting honey too late in the season, such as in late September or October, also presents a significant risk. If the bees’ natural stores are removed at this time, there may be insufficient time for them to replenish the reserves before cold weather sets in. In such cases, the beekeeper must provide supplementary feeding, like sugar syrup, to compensate for the removed natural stores and prevent the colony from perishing.