Heather honey 2022?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

it will have been brooded so will be really hard to uncap

and if it's heather, a PITA to loosen

 

[Curly green finger's]

Oh well same as last year then

 

[pargyle]

Oh well same as last year then

Did you have some difficulty extracting it last year then ? I seem to recall you bought a heather press off someone ?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Did you have some difficulty extracting it last year then ? I seem to recall you bought a heather press off someone ?

No and I have a cider press

 

[elainemary]

No brood in the top boxView attachment 33540

Nice one Mark. I did this too for the first time this year, drew frames and filled them as part of a Demaree. Wanted to try out our new association swing cage extractor which takes brood frames and also get some brood combs drawn. Worked well though found have to spin out slowly when new comb to keep combs intact.

 

[pargyle]

No and I have a cider press

So... are you going to press the heather honey out of frames that have previously had brood in them ? Heather doesn't spin out very well does it ? I don't have to deal with heather personally down here, as the nearest is 30 miles away, but I'm interested how you are going to deal with it in frames that have been brooded ?

 

[Ian123]

So... are you going to press the heather honey out of frames that have previously had brood in them ? Heather doesn't spin out very well does it ? I don't have to deal with heather personally down here, as the nearest is 30 miles away, but I'm interested how you are going to deal with it in frames that have been brooded ?

You can extract if you have an agitator. Also frames that have had brood in even deeps are significantly stronger and can be spun faster.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You can extract if you have an agitator

yes, but it's a lot more work with brooded comb, been there, done that - I now take every step to remove my post Demarree top boxes containing brooded comb and extract before the heather starts.

Also frames that have had brood in even deeps are significantly stronger and can be spun faster

They can, but the question is not spinning out. would you really want to press out honey from brooded comb?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I also want to get any freshly drawn (but not brooded) deep frames off before the heather starts, drawn virgin brood frames are much too valuable to be wrecked with an agitator.

 

[Curly green finger's]

You can extract if you have an agitator. Also frames that have had brood in even deeps are significantly stronger and can

So... are you going to press the heather honey out of frames that have previously had brood in them ? Heather doesn't spin out very well does it ? I don't have to deal with heather personally down here, as the nearest is 30 miles away, but I'm interested how you are going to deal with it in frames that have been brooded ?

Apologies for the short reply had a day out yesterday at Kington vintage show first for a few years .
No they will get spun out I’ve got a swing cage and agitator / loosener .
Loosener is being borrowed
Most of the demaree were extracted from summer honey etc some frames were not finished so a mix of summer and heather allso swapped brood comb for fresh in the top brood box .
I’ve demareed at two different times this season earlyJune and July some straight from a single brood into two and then used another brood box as a super Maybe the modified version on some demareed swarms also double nucs after some time in a single brood .
been a very interesting season brilliant infact but busy

 

[JamezF]

yes, but it's a lot more work with brooded comb, been there, done that - I now take every step to remove my post Demarree top boxes containing brooded comb and extract before the heather starts.

Never having done a Demaree, is this comb full of honey because the bees underneath are treating the upper brood as another super?

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

Never having done a Demaree, is this comb full of honey because the bees underneath are treating the upper brood as another super?

James

Yes if you roll it a few weeks swapping capped brood from the bottom with empty frames from the top but it makes extracting difficult. I tend to dismantle the whole thing before that happens and I’ve usually got supers in the top box anyway.
Although you can just take the whole box away and treat it as a new colony once queen cells are made.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Never having done a Demaree, is this comb full of honey because the bees underneath are treating the upper brood as another super?

yes, the original Demarree was just move all the brood to the top box, leave it all emerge and the bees would then backfill with honey

 

[JamezF]

Although you can just take the whole box away and treat it as a new colony once queen cells are made.

At the moment I think that's what I'd probably do.

James

 

[JamezF]

yes, the original Demarree was just move all the brood to the top box, leave it all emerge and the bees would then backfill with honey

Not sure I have the wherewithall to extract brood frames. I've certainly never tried it.

James

 

[elainemary]

Extracted my first batch of heather supers - started with the ‘easier’ ones , a mix of heather and balsam which produces a delicious honey that many customers prefer to pure heather. Still, won’t spin out without agitation and too many frames to crush them all.

Warmed supers on a super trolley then agitated with an old mountain grey hand held loosener and spun out in a swing cage extractor. Still, have to be careful with any newish frames as wax so fragile. New extractor spun the frames out nicely and particularly pleased with the new plastic supers I’d tried this season, the bees had drawn on the spring flow - could take a lot more spin in the extractor. I’ll do more of these next year. Warmed the honey to around 35c before filtering. Will warm up the pure stuff to about 45c which will then run through the filter really quickly. Will jar up later.

First 100lb and reckon I’ve got at least another 200lb of the purer stuff to come. It’s such a pain in the a**e to extract! Wonderful season though so mustn’t complain

 

[Erichalfbee]

Excellent. That's a lot of work. You must be properly pleased.

 

[elainemary]

Excellent. That's a lot of work. You must be properly pleased.

It is and I am thanks. I’m dreading the main crop extraction!

 

[elainemary]

Had a lovely day out at the Egton show near Whitby this week. With my beekeeping friend, drove across the moors, stunning colour. Went to pick up any more tips on heather extraction, see the exhibits from the heather experts and enjoy a small agricultural show. The beekeepers there were reporting record heather crops and reminiscing on years gone by and how the crop changes in flavour depending on where the stance was
Picked up a few tips but still reinforced it’s a pain to extract and whatever you do, it’s not easy.
A good day out followed by large Whitby haddock n chips in paper eaten on a bench overlooking the abbey. Cracking day

 

[user 20297]

I have one hive which is a captured swarm from late June, tucked away at 600 feet in a beautiful location in The Highlands. Most of the year this seems a fairly sterile location for bees, but it's recently come into its own with rosebay and now heather. I was happy that they had drawn and filled a deep box, but they're now up to their third frame in a second box two new frames drawn this week, pure white, foundation-free wax . This is some special stuff I'll be saving for ourselves and favoured friends.