Harvesting Honey at Heifer Ranch

Local beekeeping associations are a community of friends who share a common interest These associations also provide training and experience in the art and science of beekeeping. The Ozark Foothills Beekeepers Association is conducting training in practical beekeeping techniques. Following their beginning beekeeping classes, demonstrations at the bee yard of one of the group’s sponsors, A Bee’s Closet, and presentations at the association’s regular meetings, the association conducted a hands-on training session on harvesting and handling honey at the honey house and bee yard of Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. One of the Ozark Foothills’ experienced beekeepers, demonstrated methods of handling and marketing honey.

Everyone got a chance to actually handle the honey. Starting with frames of honey that had been previously taken from the hives, beekeepers removed the beeswax cappings to expose the honey using cold serrated knives. Next, frames were spun in extractors to remove the honey. The group got to use both tangential and radial extractors. The honey poured from the extractors through strainers to remove solid impurities, such as chips of beeswax from the cappings. Beekeepers used a refractometer to measure the moisture content of the honey. Beeswax cappings were left in the uncapping tanks to drain, recovering additional honey. The group bottled and labeled honey held in the bottling unit at 100 degrees Fahrenheit for easy pouring. The raw, unfiltered honey had been maintained at hive temperatures below 120 degrees.

After passing through strainers, honey is allowed to settle in stainless steel or food-grade plastic containers. Since honey is heavy, bubbles or any remaining hive debris floats to the top of the honey where they may be skimmed off and discarded. After frames are spun in the extractors, some honey remains on the combs, and these “wet” frames may be returned to the hives for the bees to refill with honey. After the last honey harvest of the season, supers of “wet” frames are stacked outside for the bees to lick the combs clean for winter storage.

--Richard

Inspecting a frame of honey from adjacent to the brood nest.

Bottling honey in Heifer Ranch's honey house.

Lizzy Parker of Heifer Ranch and Heath Thomas of Ozark Foothills Beekeepers Association

Jana Miller (left) of Bemis Honey Bee Farm and Lizzy Parker (right) of Heifer Ranch

Mid-Winter Beekeeping

We cannot go deep into our bee hives in the winter, but it is good advice to make a brief inspection of our hives on warm winter days. Breaking hive boxes apart and removing brood frames in cold temperatures risks chilling and killing brood. On warmer days, we can open the hive covers and quickly look inside, simply looking for evidence that the bee colonies are alive and that they have adequate food to survive the remainder of the winter. We may see live bees in a hive as soon as we remove the covers, however the bees may be clustered lower in the hive and not immediately visible. In this case, we can usually determine that we have living bees by removing a frame from the center of the uppermost box to view below. If the colony is dead, we should protect the precious comb-covered frames by stacking them above the frames of a strong hive or placing them in a freezer. We can estimate the amount of stored honey in a hive by lifting the back of our hives an inch with our fingers. Any hives that feel light in weight are likely lacking in stored honey and in need of emergency feeding. As bees are reluctant to consume liquid sugar syrup in cold weather, we may feed bees dry sugar atop the inner covers of the hives. A shim placed between the inner and outer covers allows us to place plenty of sugar on the inner cover.

While existing beekeepers are checking on their overwintering hives, they are also sharing their experience with individuals preparing to start beekeeping. Local beekeeping associations are offering short courses to introduce people to the art and skill of beekeeping. The Ozark Foothills Beekeepers Association held two sessions of its Beekeeping 101 class, and is preparing for a Beekeeping 201 class to be followed in the summer by a class on harvesting and processing honey. An exceptionally large honey bee visited the class.

--Richard

Beekeeping at Heifer Ranch

 

Heifer Ranch at Perryville, Arkansas, part of Little Rock-based Heifer International, is celebrating its eightieth anniversary with a mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. The ranch, a model of regenerative agricultural practices, tends to livestock using methods beneficial to the land. Assistant Rancher Lizzy Parker tends to the ranch’s bee hives and cattle along with their sheep, hogs, turkeys, and chickens. Lizzy keeps thorough records of her honey bee colonies as she does her individual cattle. This year has been busy in the ranch’s bee yard. Lizzy rearranged the hive stands along the edge of one of the ranch’s pastures, facing the morning sun and with afternoon shade to help cool the bees—and the beekeeper! She transitioned the bee hives from traditional Langstroth deep hives into lighter-weight medium-depth hives by cutting down the hive boxes in the ranch wood shop. Lizzy established bee hives, identified feral colonies among the ranch’s bee trees, lured swarms to bait hives, combined weak hives, expanded strong hives, and managed queens.

 

Lizzy, whose background as a science teacher and banker, is expanding her knowledge and experience in beekeeping. She attended four beekeeping classes at Bemis Honey Bee Farm in Little Rock, and she participates with activities of the Ozark Foothills Beekeepers Association. She compares the principles of genetics and breeding of honey bees and cattle. She provides resources of young brood to colonies in need. Working with Heifer Ranch’s bees, she discovered that colonies may experience brood cycle interruptions, often through supersedure of the queen. She learned to observe colonies over time as the bees are often able to correct hive problems themselves. I have been pleased to visit Heifer Ranch occasionally to provide a little assistance in the bee yard. While gaining experience herself, Lizzy is helping share the craft of beekeeping by producing a short video of the twelve rules of apiary etiquette, the steps beekeepers employ to safely and gently handle honey bees.

--Richard

Lizzy Parker