Keeping bees part 8: making honey

Alison Benjamin

24 September 2012

Making honey is easy, but first think of your bees.

If you're new to beekeeping and didn't get your bees until late June or even July, they might not have had time to make enough honey for themselves to see them through winter.

Check the brood box. Your beehive will need at least 13 kg of honey - equivalent to 6 brood frames.

If in doubt that there's enough to feed the bees give them a sugar and water solution.

Any surplus honey is yours.

Honey harvesting

The easiest way to harvest is to spin out the super frames (also called the honeycomb) in a honey extractor.

It's great fun for all the family; uncapping the wax seal over the honey, putting the frames in the extractor and turning the handle really fast so the honey flies out of the comb and on to the side of the extractor.

Make sure the lid of the extractor is sealed firmly or it will splatter all over the kitchen.

When you've spun all the frames open the tap at the bottom of the extractor and leave the honey to flow through a sieve into a honey bucket (one with a tap at the bottom).

Cover and leave for 24 hours to let any bubbles rise to the surface. Skim these off the next day.

Now your honey is now ready to put in jars.

Place a jar underneath the bucket and slowly open the tap to release the honey. It really is as simple - and as pure - as that.

Next month: Closing up the hive for winter.

Alison Benjamin is co-founder of Urban Bees with Brian McAllum. Their latest book is "Bees in the City: The Urban Beekeepers' Handbook" (Guardian Books, £12.99). To buy a copy, visit our Shop

Subscribe to this blog by email using Google's subscription service.