The honey harvesting season brings so much joy and a sense of accomplishment among beekeepers. The key drive to most of them is to reap some fresh honey from their hives. Bees will always work hard and provide a bountiful harvest as long as the weather is conducive and blooming flowers are available. The harvesting process can be challenging, especially for beginners. There are many factors to consider, such as the age of the hive, time of the year, time of the day, weather conditions, and presence of capped honey in supers. It is advisable to harvest under the best conditions for the honey bees and you too.  

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What is the best time of day to harvest honey from a beehive?

Most beekeepers prefer to harvest in the middle of the day( between 11 am and 3 pm). At this time, you will have minimal interference from the worker bees since the majority are out foraging. However, this is not a strict rule. A beekeeper will choose the time convenient or work best for them. You should ensure the weather is not too cold or rainy since it makes it challenging to extract honey from the comb. Be sure to choose a warm, cool day. 

Are there benefits of harvesting honey in spring?

Some healthy colonies may come out of winter with some honey reserves. This gives a reason to enjoy a harvest in early or mid-spring. Pulling out their winter leftovers gives the bees a reason to work hard and utilize the bloom in spring. However, you should be cautious not to starve them by taking all the honey. 

Can you harvest honey at night?

Although the bees are less active at night, it can be difficult to harvest at this time, especially if you are a beginner. It can also be hard to distinguish between brood comb and a honeycomb. Harvesting brood combs can lead to the loss of valuable brood. The quality of honey can also be compromised if crushed with brood. Some bees stocks such as the African bee are very aggressive making it hard for beekeepers to harvest in broad daylight. In such cases, harvesting can only be done at night or early in the morning. At night a beekeeper requires good lighting and a helping hand. It can also lead to crushing of bees between the top bars while restoring them to their position. Quality lighting should be used. When hive torches or lanterns are used, bees are attracted to the light and burnt to death. 

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Is there an easier or automatic way of harvesting honey from a beehive?

There is no easy or automatic way to pull out honey from the hive. To harvest, the honey must be capped(about 80%) to ensure it will not spoil after harvesting. You must then brace yourself with a bee smoker to calm the bees, protective gear to avoid bee stings, and proceed to pull out capped frames from the honey supers. You should have a bucket with a lid or an empty supper to place the capped frames. You should also replace the supers with empty ones. From there, you can carry your honeycombs to the extraction room. You can use an extractor or apply the crush and staring method. Extraction should be done 2 to 3 days after removing the frames from the hive. Though tiresome, it is the most rewarding part of beekeeping and the culmination of all the hard work done before.