Honey Bound and Honey Tips
Honey Bound
You will hear this term “honey bound” mentioned in the Spring and the Fall. We have our monthly meetings in order to increase members' knowledge, and honey bound was demonstrated at our spring meeting at Smith's Nursery. Our member host was Ed Lafferty. He removed a center brood frame from one of his hives. When it was halfway out, Lou Chasse said a “oh oh!”. The frame looked good, a border of pollen on top - and honey below. Looked good, didn't it? Well, not so good. Why? The queen had no room to lay eggs. That's why Lou said “oh oh!”
With winter coming, the queen must have room to deposit eggs and have new young bees for better survival. Your mouse guards should be in place, the honey supers off, and you have treated for Varroa and Nosema.
Check your brood frames and see that your queen is not honey bound. If she is, remove a center frame or two and replace with drawn comb. If no drawn comb, add foundation and feed with sugar water (2:1 ratio). Doing so in the spring could eliminate swarming. The queen needs room.
Honey Tips
One of the most interesting feature of our October 4th field day is the judging of honey. Many of our New Bees may be hesitant about submitting an entry. You have not made the honey - the bees have done the work, but you may be in a great location for them to gather nectar. You could have a great crop of honey! By entering you will also learn and correct any problems. Don't be shy - please enter and learn. For the past few years, my honey as well as several others has been rejected due to excess moisture content. To combat this, I purchased screens to take the place of the inner cover, this allows for better circulation of the air and hopefully reducing moisture content. Last year I did not have this trouble - 18.6 moisture content is the limit.
Getting down to submitting honey for judging:
1. Use a glass 1 pound queenline jar free of blemishes and no labels or identification
2. When filling jar, tip at an angle to reduce air bubbles
3. Fill high enough so that there is no light showing between cap and honey
4. The top must be clean on the inside. Put plastic wrap under cap, and remove when it is on judging table.
You will hear this term “honey bound” mentioned in the Spring and the Fall. We have our monthly meetings in order to increase members' knowledge, and honey bound was demonstrated at our spring meeting at Smith's Nursery. Our member host was Ed Lafferty. He removed a center brood frame from one of his hives. When it was halfway out, Lou Chasse said a “oh oh!”. The frame looked good, a border of pollen on top - and honey below. Looked good, didn't it? Well, not so good. Why? The queen had no room to lay eggs. That's why Lou said “oh oh!”
With winter coming, the queen must have room to deposit eggs and have new young bees for better survival. Your mouse guards should be in place, the honey supers off, and you have treated for Varroa and Nosema.
Check your brood frames and see that your queen is not honey bound. If she is, remove a center frame or two and replace with drawn comb. If no drawn comb, add foundation and feed with sugar water (2:1 ratio). Doing so in the spring could eliminate swarming. The queen needs room.
Honey Tips
One of the most interesting feature of our October 4th field day is the judging of honey. Many of our New Bees may be hesitant about submitting an entry. You have not made the honey - the bees have done the work, but you may be in a great location for them to gather nectar. You could have a great crop of honey! By entering you will also learn and correct any problems. Don't be shy - please enter and learn. For the past few years, my honey as well as several others has been rejected due to excess moisture content. To combat this, I purchased screens to take the place of the inner cover, this allows for better circulation of the air and hopefully reducing moisture content. Last year I did not have this trouble - 18.6 moisture content is the limit.
Getting down to submitting honey for judging:
1. Use a glass 1 pound queenline jar free of blemishes and no labels or identification
2. When filling jar, tip at an angle to reduce air bubbles
3. Fill high enough so that there is no light showing between cap and honey
4. The top must be clean on the inside. Put plastic wrap under cap, and remove when it is on judging table.
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