In Egypt, jars full of honey have been found, hardened and black with age but still having all the qualities of fresh honey. Honey is eaten in every way that processed sugar is. It can be made into liquor or used as a source of carbohydrates for athletes and warriors. Beeswax, which is collected along with honey from a hive, is has been used for waterproofing and sealing clothes and other items that are left exposed to rain. It is used in die casts for metal working or formed into candles.
The proverbial “busy bee†is called that for a reason. Bees overproduce honey, which means that humans and bees live symbiotically when humans harvest honey. Otherwise, the bees would eventually fill up their hives with comb and have to swarm to find a new home. A beekeeper should be careful not to overharvest the honey and leave the bees nothing to eat for the winter, but it is equally true that the most certain way to lose your bee colony is to neglect to harvest the extra honey.
The Hive Box
The most essential piece of equipment for keeping bees is the hive box. The square hive box used today is called a Langstroth hive, and it was invented in the mid-1800s. Before then, hives were often made of baskets or some other natural material in the traditional “beehive†shape. These hives were easy to make, but the honey often could not be extracted without crushing the whole hive. This meant that the bees had to be evicted or killed, and a new swarm would have to be caught to make the honey harvest for next year. Langstroth hives and all similar modern models, on the other hand, use removable frames so that some or all of the honey can be removed with minimal displacement to the bees.
Frames in a Langstroth hive, are kept in a removable upper box, called a super. They often also have a lower box where the bees can lay their eggs. To collect your honey, you will remove the frames from the upper box and harvest the honey from the frames. Periodically throughout the year, you will also want to remove the frames to look inside at the egg-frames. This will give you an idea of the health of your hive, and whether any new queens are being grown. You can also check for signs of disease or parasites. Some beekeepers leave the bees to their own devices and simply harvest the honey at harvest time, but those beekeepers are not able to see early signs of trouble in their hive, and therefore are likely to lose their bees to swarming or disease.
There are several ways to acquire bees. You can catch a wild swarm (a popular choice among the very crunchy and eco-friendly), buy a colony from another beekeeper, or order them from a bee company. This third option is the best way to ensure a healthy colony that does not have disease or any Africanized influence. Your post office will call you when they arrive. To introduce them to their new hive. you will put the queen into the hive first, and pour the other bees over her. They will be exhausted by their travel, and you will be able to pour them in easily and put on the lid.
Working with Bees
When you work your bees, wear loose-fitting clothing with all loose pieces tucked in. The purpose is to keep there from being any place where a bee can wander inside your clothing. Tuck your pants into your socks and your sleeves into your gloves, or at least use rubber bands to secure all your clothing. A bee bonnet will protect your face, though a brimmed hat covered with netting and tucked in to your shirt is a passable substitute in a pinch.
The most important item you need for working your bees is a smoker. This is a small metal container in which you burn wood scraps, and which has a small bellows or hand pump to cause the smoke to squirt out of a funnel. Experts do not know exactly why smoke settles bees down, but it does -- it makes them hide in their hive, and you will be able to lift the lid and remove the frames without them attacking you. If they begin to move around and become agitated, give them a bit more smoke. Many beekeepers have found that they can work their bees bare-handed and even bare-faced, but if they try to work their bees without smoke, they will be stung many many times. If you do get stung, squirt the sting with smoke as well to neutralize the pheromones, or else the bees will continue to sting you in the same spot.
Once you have removed your honey frames, place them for a while in a dark work room or garage with a small opening through which any tagalong bees can see light. They will follow the light out of the dark space, and will make their way back to their hive. Do not bring the frames into your house until you are sure that all the bees are off them.
There are two methods of extracting the honey from the frames. One method is to uncap the honey comb using a hot knife and to spin the honey out using a centrifuge. The other method is to use the hot knife to cut all the comb off the frame, and to hang it in cheesecloth bags to drip. The centrifuge method extracts the honey more thoroughly and quickly; however, honey centrifuges are expensive, and the frames you use will need to be more sturdy to stand up to that wear. Letting the honey drip from the wax does not remove it as thoroughly, but is an excellent choice if you plan to store your honey with the comb. It is also possible to separate the wax from the remaining honey by melting it, once the honey has dripped as much as it can. The wax can then be used for candles, skincare products, and household products such as homemade wood polish.