How to get a Harvest from Ivy ??

[Jed D]

This year is our first year running double brood boxes.. These are staying on for the winter..
Most of these hives have ,capped stores in the top brood boxes with brood still being laid in the middle and downwards.. ( nice winter prep )..
Some hives have been fed 2 gallons of 2/1 mix which is being packed away and capped..
While other hives simply don't seem to need feeding as I haven't harvested much from them ' but simply fed their own supers back again.. ( which was mostly Borage That they seemed they would never cap)..

Our Biggest colony, still has 8 frames of brood with some other hives on 6 or 7....
These are currently on a mustard flow.. This is due to cut down in the next day or two , before it seeds..

I live in an area with prolific amounts of Ivy , which still looks to be a week away from the buds brusting..

I'm just wondering if.......
The weather is good !!
Can I pop a super on top ??
I'm guessing that once stores are capped. They are not gonna move them..

I'm guessing if they have space in the bottom brood box , any Ivy nectar will go there first...

In previous years, I have fed at the same time as the Mustard and Ivy comes in.. The reason for this has been that, both these honey's set very hard and very quickly. And in my way of thinking, to give the girls something to mix with it , may make it easier for them to consume their winter stores.

However this year, I find myself in the postion that, winter feeding is done. And it seems mother nature is going to give us a couple of weeks of o.k. weather...

 

[MartinL]

Harvest implies for yourself?

Don't think I'd bother extracting Ivy Honey????

 

[Pete D]

I harvested nearly 200lb of Ivy'ish honey last year by leaving a couple of supers on hives that had some stores but not enough to cap. That way the had stores and space so that when the Ivy came the filled and capped the supers. I harvested the top one (or both) and put the other underneath. Then I fed as required. All hives had been treated with Maqs previously.
Didn't do this with all hives just half a dozen, the strongest ones in each apiary. I normally consolidate uncapped frames into a few supers and give them to the strongest hives to finish off.
Doing the same this year.

The honey was a blend that contained some Ivy and was quite popular at the Christmas market where I sold light, medium and dark (extreme) honey !

 

[Plenty of honey]

This year is our first year running double brood boxes.. These are staying on for the winter..
Most of these hives have ,capped stores in the top brood boxes with brood still being laid in the middle and downwards.. ( nice winter prep )..
Some hives have been fed 2 gallons of 2/1 mix which is being packed away and capped..
While other hives simply don't seem to need feeding as I haven't harvested much from them ' but simply fed their own supers back again.. ( which was mostly Borage That they seemed they would never cap)..

Our Biggest colony, still has 8 frames of brood with some other hives on 6 or 7....
These are currently on a mustard flow.. This is due to cut down in the next day or two , before it seeds..

I live in an area with prolific amounts of Ivy , which still looks to be a week away from the buds brusting..

I'm just wondering if.......
The weather is good !!
Can I pop a super on top ??
I'm guessing that once stores are capped. They are not gonna move them..

I'm guessing if they have space in the bottom brood box , any Ivy nectar will go there first...

In previous years, I have fed at the same time as the Mustard and Ivy comes in.. The reason for this has been that, both these honey's set very hard and very quickly. And in my way of thinking, to give the girls something to mix with it , may make it easier for them to consume their winter stores.

However this year, I find myself in the postion that, winter feeding is done. And it seems mother nature is going to give us a couple of weeks of o.k. weather...

Bees love to go up and i would say you should wait a few days whilst they fill the bottom of the hive out. That way you can guarantee theres enough stores in the bottom of the hive to support them, once you remove the super, if you are going to remove to!! Don't forget tow frames of nectar make one frame of honey , so they need a little time!

Tomorrow i am adding 3 brood boxes to 3 hives(10 frames addition to each hive). These hives didn't have and brood or bees taken from them after the summer flow, so their already full and i know their full, i went through two frames in each stock last week. Thats my criteria for autumn honey i.e. ivy!! you must ensure you leave enough for the bees! Now our ivy flow has kicked in, their stinking of the stuff today.

Last year was exceptional but this year could be very good too. I am adding foundation, as i want the bees to draw me up some feed frames for next year. I will pull these frames in two weeks or so and put in to storage. I find they don't get wax moth and i also periodically spray frames with Bacillus Thurgiensis this seems to work well.
I am not intending to extract this ivy honey so thats why i want it in brood frames, for putting in to nucs for next year, its free feed, that stores well and seems to get softer at we come in to the spring next year. Its just perfect for feed.
Also i have 5 framed nuc supers. Any nucs that i have full, i will be supering them. But again i can't stress enough the importance of being careful when I am taking anything from my hives this time year. Its free if they have enough you take it, but knowing if they have enough is the tricky one. When i harvest i will check frame 1 and 2 and 9 and 10 to check they have enough. If not i will put i some from the brood super and just take whats left!
It will also store well over the winter, if its not used i will remove frame 1 and 10 in the spring. Its a well discussed issue but i don't think they miss it and i like to gicve my bees room in the spring. But its personal choice, i am not the expert, i am just going on what i have found works for me!
My mate tried to harvest Ivy from supers and as usual it was a disaster. Ivy had crystallised too quickly and most wouldn't come out of the frames.
I heard of one method that you can use. You can put on an empty super body on top of your brood nest, no frames in it at all. you let the bees draw up the lot and if the flow is good, it can be quite a lot of honey and wax comb. When you harvest you just cut the lot out in to a melting pot and you reduce it down. Wax to the top as usual, bingo a harvest! I have never done this but its an interesting possibility with the weather getting warmer in the furture perhaps this is a crop we should be looking at more seriously!!!
Dosent it stink, but its a lovely stink!!!!