Harvesting Honey: Creating Harmony with the Bees

By Sharyn Inzunza

 

As the warmth of summer fades into the crisp temperatures of fall, beekeepers get ready to harvest their honey. But there’s more to it than just extracting the honey…

As stewards of the land, these apiculturists raise bees in a healthy and safe environment. In other words, they create a balance between our human desire for honey and the health and longevity of the bee colonies.

 

Building a bee-topia

As the saying goes, Build it and they will come. When it comes to beekeeping, the saying might go more like this: Build a hive and cultivate the surroundings with care and the bees will produce magnificent honey — and stay.

Bees rely on flowers to collect nectar and build their nest. In fact, the surrounding flowers determine the taste of the honey.

In Maine, for example, where there are fields of clover and goldenrod, the bees bounce from flower to flower, collecting nectar to turn into honey back at the hive.

The ideal environment for the bees, of course, is one where the flowers are pure and natural. The beekeeper, who also cares for the land by keeping it free of chemicals and encouraging the natural growth of wild flowers, provides the perfect setting for the busy bees.

The end result: happy, healthy bees that produce lots of honey (while also pollinating the flowers and crops).

 

Harvesting a little. Leaving a lot

When bees create a nest, let’s say in a tree, it’s their home. It’s a place where they can raise their young and put away stores of food (or honey) for the winter.

And if they move into a ready-built hive — a beekeeper’s version of a nest — they can create a safe home. (And they pay a little rent — in the form of honey.)

To better understand the balance between providing bees with a home and harvesting their honey, here’s how the two main sections of the hive work:

Brood chamber: This is the bees private quarters. The chamber is located at the base of the hive, and it’s where the bees take care of their queen and her young. It’s also where they create waxy, honey-filled comb as their food source over the winter months.

Honey super: Located at the top of the hive, this is the section from where the beekeeper harvests the honey. Bees fill the vertical frames of comb with honey over the spring and summer months. And come fall, the beekeeper collects the honey from the frames.

 

Gathering honey in harmony

Humans love honey and have harvested it for thousands of years. And our desire for honey continues. However, in recent years, bees have experienced difficulties with colony collapse.

But if we create the perfect environment for the bees, by providing them with pesticide-free flowers and safe, clean hives, we’ll maintain a natural balance and hopefully strengthen their populations. If we can do that, the bees will reward us with pure, flavorful honey for years — centuries — to come.

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Fall is just around the corner. And for Spring Break Maple and Honey, that means our hives are dripping with this year’s honey! Contact us here to pre-order your Maine-scented golden honey today!

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