Honey Harvesting and Queen Caging

Harvesting Honey
It is tempting to start taking honey now, however, we are right in the middle of the honey flow. I wait until the first week of August at the earliest to start harvesting honey.
I take one frame of capped honey at a time, brush off all the bees and walk to a Rubbermaid tote at least 30 feet away from the hive, brushing off any bees trying to stay on the frame. I quickly lift the lid off the tote and gently place the frame in the tote, replacing the lid as quickly as possible. Some bees will get into the tote and they can be released before extraction. Once all the capped frames are removed from the hive, I replace any empty space with other frames to keep the bees from building burr comb in those spaces. If I can eliminate the entire box I will. After extracting the frames, I give them back to the bees to be cleaned up. Some years I will be able to harvest two to three times.
I do have a two-frame manual extractor for rent $25 per day. It comes with all the uncapping tools, a gated bucket, and stainless steel double sieve. Please call to set up a time to pick up the extraction equipment. 907-460-6050

Caging Queens
For beekeepers who are not wintering over bees, queens must be caged 21-24 days before the end of the season to ensure all brood has hatched prior to the final honey harvest. This ensures the honey has no eggs and larva in it.

This year I plan to cage my queens in the last week of July. I will be doing a demonstration of this on Monday, July 30th starting at 605 Betty Street at 5:30PM, then going to Cold Climate Research,  and Botanical Gardens. Please bring a suit as the bees become more aggressive toward the end of the season and especially after being robbed.
I am gathering up the queen cages now so I have them ready. I use a piece of wine cork for the queen cage lid to ensure my queens cannot escape and start laying eggs again. Caged queens are placed in the top box between two frames in the middle of the hive. I make sure the bees can feed the queen through the queen cage and the queen can breathe. Her pheromones keep the colony happy until the end of the season.

Any questions? Please post and I will respond.