From the founders
For our third live Q&A we finally got to the fun part: harvest. Dr. Jason Graham walked through when honey's actually ready, how to pull it without starting a robbing war, and what to do with it once it's in the kitchen.
The part that stuck with us was how many of you are pulling real honey in your first year!
Watch the full recap below.
— The Primal Bee Team
The harvest that shouldn't have happened
For about twenty years the rule has been simple: a hive you start this year gives you no honey until next year. It has to build comb, raise bees, and store enough to survive winter before there's any surplus to take.
That rule is bending. Dr. Jason Graham (about 20 years with bees, from the University of Delaware to Jamie Ellis's lab at the University of Florida) set up a colony in California last December, ran it a year, and pulled four supers of honey. First-year keepers we're tracking are averaging one or two, some three or four. One operation with 50 hives came in around two supers each, in year one.
The reason is energy: a colony that isn't spending itself clustering in the cold or hauling water to cool the hive in a heat wave has that energy free for foraging. Long frames keep the population large and continuous, so more foragers bring in more, while less of it gets burned on climate control.
Before you pull any of it, one number decides everything: 80%. When at least 80% of a frame is capped with wax, the honey's ready, because the bees only cap it once the moisture is low enough to keep. Take it earlier and the extra water can ferment your honey in the jar.
Jason covered the rest of the day too: leaving enough for winter (less than a Langstroth needs, since these colonies burn less), pulling frames without triggering a robbing war, the settle-then-filter trick that saves you a clogged strainer, and why crystallized honey is a good sign, not a mistake.
One hard-won tip: glue your Primal Bee supers before they fill. Ask Jason how he learned that one.
💰 US honey prices jumped 27% as production fell to a multi-year low. Good year to be selling.
🇦🇺 Australia officially gave up eradicating Varroa and is switching to managing it. A new era for beekeepers down under.
📈 A UK rooftop collective crossed £1 million refusing to sell honey as anonymous commodity. Provenance pays.
🇺🇸 US producers launched the American Honey Promotion Initiative to fight blended imports. If you sell honey, this one's yours.
🧬 Southern California bees evolved their own Varroa defense, no chemicals, possibly written into their genes.
Until next time
If your supers are filling, don't wait too long. A congested hive is a hive thinking about swarming, and honey left past its window is honey you're more likely to lose. Check your capping, leave the bees enough, and pull the rest.
Next month we're back at it, third Wednesday, another hour of your questions answered live. Topic's not locked, so reply to this email or drop it in the Facebook community and we'll build the session around what you send.
Until then, happy beekeeping.
The Primal Bee Team 🐝