What Is The Secret To Extracting Rape Honey?

[Bee-Key-Pur]

I first tried warming the frames in the honey warmer, then tried to extract the honey in the extractor and straight away it all blew apart and that was at a show speed.
I allowed the next ones to cool down a bit, but just a little warm and again they all blew apart.

Can anyone offer any advice!!!

Brian.

 

[Finman]

.
Rape honey extracting has no secrets. When honey is settled and pure, it is time to make fine crystal seed honey, that the big dose of honey starts to make fine structure. It you let the honey stay in peace, it makes coarse crystals.

Rape honey starts to crytallisez in combs after weeks and first it makes sieving difficult. Second stage is that you do not get it off from combs.'

It helps nothing that you exctract uncaopped honey. It makes only difficulties. If you have not time to extract rape hiney. let it bee in the hive. Out of hive it crystallizes in combs in a week.

My opinion is that rape honey is not much more better than cane sugar, but in honey mixture it gives a fat, pleasant flavour. That is why I mix the summer yield and I do not sell "uni flower" -honeys. Their aroma is pale alone.

The most rapid crystallization has happened to me with rape honey when 400 kg barrel went to solid in 3 days after exctraction. It depends much on temperature. It is hard job to get that amount again liquid.

If you store combs as "wet" = old honey in cells, it makes crystalls in winter and on rape field it fastens crystallization.
If you let bees lick combs clean for next summer, you manage better with rape honey next summer.

.

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[Mike a]

Are you using a motorised extractor and the combs are ripping out of the frames?

 

[hedgerow pete]

little and often was the way i used to extract it, check your supers every third day or once a week max and when you have enough to fill your extractor in one go take them home and extract them, even if you have to use some frames from one hive and some from another to make the load up.

if it starts to crystalise forget extracting and cut the whole frame out and put the lot into a warming cabinate / airing cupboard untill the whole lot is melted wax an all and then wait a while until it seperates and drain the honey off from below

 

[Finman]

if it starts to crystalise forget extracting and cut the whole frame out and put the lot into a warming cabinate / airing cupboard untill the whole lot is melted wax an all and then wait a while until it seperates and drain the honey off from below

melted wax + honey is not for human consumption.

Don't let things go so far. But if they do, DON'T MELT COMBS WITH HONEY!!!!

1) You may uncapp the combs and spray water on them. Bees lick honey one days and again spray a good water on crystallized honey. Then bees clean the combs inside a week.

You save 20 kg honey in two days with this method.

2) Put 2-3 crystallised combs between brood frames. Bees take the honey away and make brood in stead. It it is flow going, they recap the honey next day.

3) If you have swarm or false swarm, give 3-4 crystallised comb in the middle of the box and others foundations. Put one brood frame inside cr. combs. In a week bees clean the crystal honey and draw foundations.


1 kg wax need 6 kg honey. If you melt combs you loose a huge amount of honey. Aroma of melted wax in the honey does not add your good reputation in honey selling.

 

[Finman]

.
What I know about rape honey?
It has been my main yield 35 years.

Biggest problem is that on proper weather the 5 box hive will be full and it makes the hives to swarm in the middle of best flow. = lost og honey and bees.

That is why I use very big hives on rape that hive will not be stuck in few days.

On average I get 60 kg rape honey per hive during 3 weeks blooming.
it is spring rape which bloom in July.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

Thanks for all your advice....

Brian