Comments on: How to harvest Honey from Natural Comb

By: Janee

Janee — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:38:15 +0000

Hi, what gauge was your sieve? I am about to try extracting honey from my first ever comb.

By: Majikthise

Majikthise — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:37:16 +0000

Behind our house (in the woods) are two half barrels stacked on top of each other (been there before we moved in). Some honey bees have made their home in it for a couple of years. My husband went out and was able to shimmy off the panel on the top barrel where they go in and out without damaging anything, reach in, and grab the nearest bit of cone. We don’t want to harvest and sell or anything just enough for us.

Is this harmful for the bees/hive? (very very large swarm btw and only 2 bees were harmed) Will this make them move their nest? We like having them around for our giant garden

Thank you so much for the post. this honey is the best I have ever tasted

By: milkwoodkirsten

milkwoodkirsten — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:12:42 +0000

Oheloil, all honey candies (goes solid) after a time if it’s not super heat treated – the length of time it stays liquid depends on the different nectar’s that make it (stringybark honey, for example, almost never candies b/c of something in the nectar’s constituents)… the word ‘pure’ is used by many different camps of honey producers to mean different things… to us it means honey from natural comb from a colony that is completely chemical free, when the comb is crushed whole so that the honey has all the goodness of pollen, propolis etc in there with the honey itself. For others, ‘pure’ honey means that there is nothing in the jar except the honey so… take your pick!

One note, royal jelly is the substance bees feed to baby queens, so if there’s that in there, it’s being produced unethically (in our opinion) by tricking the bees into thinking they’re feeding queens so that the royal jelly can be collected (and stressing the colony as a result).

By: oheloii

oheloii — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:04:58 +0000

I know nothing about bees per se, and just started using honey for health reasons. My questions are: 1. is raw honey solid or liquid or can it be both? I bought two jars of honey, one is called Really Raw Honey from Baltimore, Maryland, that says it is raw honey containing the pollen, propolis and the honeycomb. This honey is solid and has a fine grainy, yet smooth texture (if that makes any sense?) it also says that they never transport their bees to pollinate commercial crops. The second one I bought is called Y.S. ECO BEE Farms and states that it is super enriched honey and contains bee pollen, bee propolis and royal jelly and this is from Sheridan Illionois. This too has a super fine grainy, yet smooth texture, a little more smooth than the Really Raw Honey, but somewhat of a powdery feel. I’ve read that ” real honey” will be solid, but as I look at all the pictures on different websites, all the honey is somewhat transparent and liquified, resembling honey as I have always known honey to look like. Several years ago, I went to Hawaii and bought some pure raw honey and it was milky white and smooth and the person I bought it for, said it was the most natural and purist honey any where. Please tell me, what is the truth?

Thank you for your time, your website and your apparent knowledge on the subject of honey.

By: milkwoodkirsten

milkwoodkirsten — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:28:53 +0000

Isis depending on what you exterminated them with (and whether that in turn contaminated the honey), the honey would likely be fine… if you’re wondering, you could harvest and jar it and then get it tested to be sure?

By: Isis

Isis — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:08:38 +0000

We removed our shower while renovating our restroom to find an enormous 5′ tall honeycomp filled with delicious orange tasting honey. I want to harvest and jar the honey and found your photos most informative, thank you. There are no bees since my husband plugged the hole and exterminated the bees about 6 months ago. We did not realize this was such a large colony, i feel bad now. Is there any reason the honey would not be safe to eat? twards the bottom, there is no honey in the comb and it is a blackish color. Twards the top, it is dripping with beautiful and delicious honey. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

By: Charles Ford

Charles Ford — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:24:08 +0000

I have tried to do what I think is the most natural way to raise a hive. I use Langstroth Hives but I use foundationless frames with just a started strip and harvest the honey out of the honey supers by crushing the comb and making them rebuild fresh come every year and the honey seems to be lighter and cleaner looking than extracted honey. In the hive bodies I only change out the frames and make them rebuild them when they get old and dark, maybe every 3 or 4 years and not all at once but on a rotation, some each year. When I start a new hive i use foundation on every other frame to get them to build straight comb as it is easer to inspect and fix any thing that might go haywire. The next year I replace the foundation filled frames with frames with starter strips and the hive is as natural as I think it can be. The Queens love to lay in new comb and this makes for a happier queen and a cleaner hive.

By: rosesramblinss

rosesramblinss — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:39:36 +0000

Wow, whats with all of the anger these posters seem to have? I’m NOT a beekeeper. All I know is 1. Bee stings hurt and 2. I love honey. Thanks for posting how it’s extracted. I’m glad to see your having a good time with it and I’m looking forward to reading/learning more.

By: How To Harvest Honey From Natural Comb | Homestead Style

How To Harvest Honey From Natural Comb | Homestead Style — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:34:41 +0000

[...] via How to harvest Honey from Natural Comb « Milkwood: permaculture farming and living. [...]

By: Bees (Apis mellifera): First harvest « The Forager's Year

Bees (Apis mellifera): First harvest « The Forager's Year — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:37:50 +0000

[...] to the honey, extracted in the ultimate low-tech way (see here for Malfroy’s Gold / Milkwood’s low-tech and mid-tech options; high-tech honey extraction apparently not an option with this foundationless [...]