Smokey honey

[GBov]

We took a bit of spur comb from a hive a little while ago and got a taste of our very first home grown honey.

OMG! Soooooo good! Sharp and sweet and rich and complex and.........

Smokey!

A strong after taste of the smoke from the smoker.

Our bees are really calm but I dont want to work them without smoke so How does one work the hives and yet not have smokey honey?

 

[dclewis]

There should't be any need to smoke the supers, smoke at entrance, wait a bit then remove the supers quickly after a quick peek to see how they are being filled and cover with crown board then smoke the QX and do your inspection of the BB. No need to blow smoke into the supers!

 

[GBov]

There should't be any need to smoke the supers, smoke at entrance, wait a bit then remove the supers quickly after a quick peek to see how they are being filled and cover with crown board then smoke the QX and do your inspection of the BB. No need to blow smoke into the supers!

But the supers are full of bees!

lol

Being new to this and mostly teaching ourselves we have been checking each frame in teh super hoping they will have capped at least one frame so we can send my Dad-in-law his birthday present.

They have capped lots of the top of each frame but thats about it, the bottoms are still open with honey in them.

So when one reccons the super is ready to harvest, how do you get the bees out without smoke?

 

[ashleybee]

To clear the super try using a clearer board or blowing them out of the super onto the grass infront of the hive(best done early in the morning)
But for just one or a few supers a clearer board would be best and theres plenty of threads on here about them and making them for next to nothing

 

[Cazza]

Our bees are really calm but I dont want to work them without smoke so How does one work the hives and yet not have smokey honey?

Smokey honey should not be an issue.You should rarely have to smoke the supers and then only tiny puffs.
To end up with smokey honey you must have oversmoked or perhaps have used a very smokey material?

Cazza

 

[Hebeegeebee]

It's not necessarily smoke from the smoker you can taste. In fact it probably isn't.

I have some honey that's been collected quite recently - in the last couple of weeks. Dark and very strong tasting. Smokey on the nose and not too pleasant. Almost minty too. I've never seen it before. I've spun out some honey this weekend and some of the dark stuff is mixed in there so I've got 40 kg - I hope it mellows with age!

 

[xgeordie]

I put on a clearer board yesterday with 2 porter bee escapes. Worked a treat - not a single bee left.

I tend not to smoke the supers at all - just brush the bees off the edges if needed.

 

[GBov]

It's not necessarily smoke from the smoker you can taste. In fact it probably isn't.

I have some honey that's been collected quite recently - in the last couple of weeks. Dark and very strong tasting. Smokey on the nose and not too pleasant. Almost minty too. I've never seen it before. I've spun out some honey this weekend and some of the dark stuff is mixed in there so I've got 40 kg - I hope it mellows with age!

No, it was smoke, not smokey tasting honey. We both tend to go a bit postal with the smoke.

I argued adn won this weekend with me hubby - he has so far said wait till its all full - so I took a mostly capped frame of honey from the super.

OMG its GOOOOOOD!

It is light and sweet and fruity with a tangy kick to it.............

Did I mention its good?

So I now have two of the plastic boxes of comb honey to send to my father in law and a jar with chunks of comb with the rest just finger squeezed into the jar so its half full of liquid honey with the chunky comb bits. And the squeezed out bits of comb are in a bowl for the kids to chew.

I cant leave it alone, just keep going back and getting "Just one more spoonfull!"