Tag: cut comb honey

A Respectable Honey Yield?

A Respectable Honey Yield?

The Hot Weather & Honey Production

2018 has given us an extraordinary summer in the UK. Since May there has hardly been any rain and temperatures have regularly been 25C plus.  Rain dilutes nectar and the UK is not as hot as other countries … so I assume this has been a good honey production year for all UK beekeepers.

My Numbers

It’s been my best season – doubled my previous personal best and this time with only two production hives.  I record My Yields here.

My two production colonies produced 13 frames of cut comb honey. Typically a super frame holds 3lb of honey and I would say I had overall 80% completion of the frames – hence I produced 31lb of honey which made 84 cartons of beautiful cut comb.

… 15.5lb per production hive … this is almost getting respectable.

How are you all doing?

In Pictures

Honey Super Frame 2018
Honey Super Frame 2018
Cutting Comb
Cutting Comb
Cutting Comb - 2
Cutting Comb – 2
Comb Cutter Full Of Honey
Comb Cutter Full Of Honey
Cut Comb In Container
Cut Comb In Container
Ikea Box Full Of Honey
Ikea Box Full Of Honey

Video

And Stores For The Bees

The hive bodies are also full of honey … and I doubt I will need to feed the bees this year.

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Cut Comb – Reusing Thin Drawn Foundation?

Cut Comb – Reusing Thin Drawn Foundation?

Last Year’s Thin Foundation

Last year was the first time I made cut comb and though I made less honey in weight than other beekeepers it was a success on my criteria as it was pure, gorgeous honeycomb and quick to harvest.

This weekend I checked last years supers of thin foundation to see if it is OK to reuse this year.  The drawn comb was brittle and at the bottom of most of the frames and comb was a light dusting of mould (or mold, American spelling).  See photos below.

Last Years Thin Drawn Foundation
Last Years Thin Drawn Foundation
Thin Drawn Foundation - With Dusting Of Mould (or Mold)
Thin Drawn Foundation – With Dusting Of Mould (or Mold)

Questions Around Reusing Thin Foundation

This raised a number of questions which I posted on a beekeeping forum with mixed answers.

Q1. Can I use the thin foundation that was drawn last year, this year? I.e. its brittle at present, but will it soften up and be as good as new when the bees get on to it?

Answers:

  • The bees will clean it out and hopefully fill it
  • No, it will serve better use in the melt pot. Use it to secure fresh foundation with

Q2. In some of the frames, some of the drawn foundation has gone mould. I have cut this out, to leave a strip of drawn comb (1cm) at the top. Is this OK? Or should I start afresh?

Answers:

  • The bees will clean it out and hopefully fill it
  • The strip should be ok

Q3. In my super frames, could I have no foundation to start with?

Answers:

  • The bees will clean it out and hopefully fill it
  • You could, I prefer a strip or a sheet of foundation

Plan Of Action

My instinct was to cut out the mouldy comb and leave a clean (if brittle) strip where possible.

Strip Of Thin Drawn Foundation
Strip Of Thin Drawn Foundation

My plan:

  • Use the blow torch on the bottoms of the frames to remove any residue mould
  • Use the frames with no foundation, but space them with frames that have thin foundation already or have a starter strip like the above, to improve chances of straight comb
  • The thin foundation that I used last year but was not drawn has no signs of mould and will be fine to use again this year

Note: mouldy brood comb can be reused and the bees will clean it up.  I am just aiming to make sure I get the best possible cut comb honey whilst reducing time and cost of creating new frames of thin foundation unnecessarily.

Further Reading

Cut Comb Honey Success?

Cut Comb Honey Success?

I decided to stop producing liquid honey a couple of years ago as I was not enjoying the extraction process. It was time-consuming, blooming messy and I had to recruit my parents to help (meaning as well as spending hours scraping honey off the extractor, lifting surprisingly heavy boxes and labelling far too many jars, I also had to be polite and make small talk throughout!).

Last year I was seduced by the idea of sections. Easy, efficient, and no need to exploit the kindness of others in order to harvest the honey.

I tried Ross Rounds but based on my experience and further research (thanks to BBKA forum) discovered that, due to our short beekeeping season in the UK, the bees do not have enough time and are not that keen on sections. Fussy blighters.

Eight Ross Rounds Sections (the 2016 haul)
Eight Ross Rounds Sections (the 2016 haul)

I then decided to pursue cut comb which is meant to be the easiest way to make comb honey in the UK. I was also rather keen on producing that gorgeous honeycomb that I love so much (and retails for so much more than a jar of honey if packaged in a quaint box with string round it).

And so my dreams began…

I was hoping for 200 cartons of cut comb with minimum effort. I caught all my swarms and combined them into stronger colonies. I made some artificial swarms in early May that were largely successful.  The hives all had at least 1 super all with thin foundation … 10 supers in total.

And today was the day of truth.

The Reckoning

Roger Cutting Comb
Roger Cutting Comb
Cut Combs
Cut Combs

27 cartons of cut comb honey (plus 4 dodgy cartons for my porridge).  The taste is the same as previous years: highly scented and aromatic with a floral flavour – thanks to all the flowers which surround the apiary, in the allotment, gardens, hedges, woods and fields.  I am delighted with my haul.

And all this from about 6 frames of honey.  Imagine if all 100 frames had delivered!  I will continue to pursue cut comb next year.

How has everyone else done this year?

Frame Of Honey Partially Cut
Frame Of Honey Partially Cut Comb

Video Of Me Cutting Honey Comb

What Is Success When It Comes To A Honey Crop?

Is it quality and taste? Is it quantity?

For me – a novice – as you can probably tell from the video above, I’m very happy and excited with my 27 cartons.  27 is enough to show it off, enjoy with friends and give away some as a gifts.  But I would have been over the moon if I had made 100 cartons.  100 cartons would mean a surplus.  I could set up a shop at the bottom of the garden for the day.  Perhaps next year …

First Indications

As I peered into the first super I was delighted to see the 4 frames below.

First Look Into A Super
First Look Into A Super

Frame Of Capped Honey – Beautiful

Whoop! Frame Of Honey
Whoop! Frame Of Honey
Roger With Frame Of Honey
Roger With Frame Of Honey

Cutting Comb

Roger Cutting Comb
Roger Cutting Comb
Frame Of Honey Partially Cut
Frame Of Honey Partially Cut
Cut Comb Cutter
Cut Comb Cutter

Cut Comb In Carton

Cut Comb In Carton
Cut Comb In Carton
Cut Combs
Cut Combs
Cut Combs
Cut Combs
Cut Comb Success
Cut Comb Honey – Success For Talking With Bees

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