Credit:Biovision-Infonet
A honey bee nest consists of a series of parallel beeswax combs. Each comb consists of hexagonal cells, which function as containers for honey, pollen or developing bee larvae (brood). If enough nectar is available young worker bees will produce the needed wax with 8 glands situated on the abdomen (belly). The combs are evenly spaced and are attached to the ceiling and the walls of the nest. The space between the faces of the combs is known as ‘bee space’. In natural nests it is usually 6-8 mm. This is critical and gives the bees enough space to walk and work on the surfaces of the combs. Depending on the type of the honey bee, the bee space, the dimensions of the individual cells as well as the size of the nest will vary. The bee space is a crucial factor in the use of bee equipment and honey bees cannot be managed efficiently using equipment of inappropriate size.
Harvesting Combs
Harvesting of the honey should be carried out in the evenings or early mornings. Gentleness is the key to successful colony manipulation, so learn to carry out this process swiftly but calmly to avoid upsetting your bees.
- Put on your full protective clothing
- Get your smoker, brush or quill, knife or hive tool and a rust-proof container in which to put the honey combs
- Load your smoker, and puff some smoke gently around the hive for a few minutes. Wait a few more minutes, then puff smoke around the entry holes.
- After puffing the smoke open the lid
- Use the knife or hive tool to remove the first bar from the end of the hive
- Puff smoke gently into the gap to drive the bees to the other side of the hive.
- Start removing the bars one by one, until you get the first comb which will be white and new. It may be empty or it may contain some unripened honey. Replace it and leave the comb for the bees to develop.
- Remove only the capped or partly capped combs, which will be quite heavy. Use a brush or feather to sweep any bees back into the hive.
- Cut off the comb, leaving about 2 cm for the bees to start building up again. Put the comb in your container and replace the top bar.
- Carry on harvesting until you come across a brood comb which will be dark in colour and contain pollen too. Leave this honey for the bees.
- Start the process at the other end of the hive.
- Close the hive carefully, replacing the lid
After harvesting
Feed the bees if necessary with sugar syrup of a good quality to:
- build/strengthen new colonies.
- sustain starving colonies during drought.
- stimulate brood rearing before honey flow.
If bees have absconded:
- Harvest all the combs to reclaim the wax.
- Clean dirt and debris out of the hives.
- Re-wax the top bars and replace them inside the clean hive.