Harvesting Honey From Top Bar Hives

How to harvest honey from top bar hives
The bees should be removed with a brush or by some other method. Then the combs should be broken in such a way that they can then be used to pack the cut comb honey. Many customers prefer to have full bars of honey along with the top bar obtained from the hive directly, although this is more expensive. However, if extracted honey is desired by the customer, then it can be obtained by crushing the honey comb either by hand or by pressing with grooved paddles. It can also be extracted by hanging it in a warm, sunlit window so that the honey drips into a container underneath the bag.

The pressing mechanism can be made by using vertical plates with a scissor-type automobile jack. The small amount of honey clinging to the mesh bag can be used to make mead, honey pop or it can even be fed back to the bees after the bag is washed in a tub of water. Good quality beeswax can be obtained by putting the crushed comb into a solar wax melter.

The honey should then be strained through nylon hosiery and allowed to set overnight. Then the set honey can be put in bottles or kept in bulk containers. Any air bubbles that might be noticed rising out of the honey are probably not a sign of fermentation but a result of air getting into the during the high-pressure pressing process. 2.Some practical ways to "extract" the crop from top bar hives

The method of pressing and squeezing seems to be the best way of extracting honey. A grinding centrifuge can be used to separate honey and wax but, due to aeration of the honey, the flavor might be compromised, something that won’t happen with the honey that is obtained by only pressing.

Another way of extracting natural combs is to hang a strainer cloth across a pail or drum and let it droop about halfway down. The strainer cloth can be a nylon mesh secured well around the container so that it does not droop any further. A square wooden frame with a metal screen (1/2" mesh hardware cloth) tacked on it should be placed over the drooping strainer cloth on top of the container so that it fits well.

The next step is to extract the honey. Place a large piece of honeycomb on the screen and then mash the comb through the screen using an implement such as a wooden paddle. The crushed honey and wax will fall on the strainer cloth and the pure honey will collect in the bottom of the pail. After crushing several combs, the entire apparatus should be covered and placed in a warm place for a few days so that all of the honey will collect in the pail after draining through the wax and cloth. There are several other ways of extracting honey, but these methods are the most efficient and effective.

Killer bees

Killer bees:

"Killer bees, known to experts as Africanized honey bees, have arrived in Indian River County, and residents must be aware of them to avoid potentially being swarmed by the aggressive insects, according to a University of Florida entomologist.

Dr. William H. Kern Jr., assistant professor of entomology and nematology, said Africanized honey bees have completed a trek to Florida that began when they escaped in 1957 from a Brazilian research center, where scientists were breeding honey bees that would adapt to tropical climates.

Since they left Brazil, Africanized honey bees reached Mexico in 1984, Texas in 1990, and California in 1992, said Kern, who is with the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.

'Martin County has them, St. Lucie County definitely has them, and they are increasing abundant in Dade and Broward counties,' Kern said."