Honey from the Beehive to the Bottle

 Most people only ever see honey once it is in the bottle ready for you to purchase, but how does it get there? 

Honeybees on a frame of honey

The process starts from the beehive. When the beekeeper is ready to harvest the honey they will start the honey harvesting process. First the beekeeper will get as many of the honeybees off of the frames of honey as they can. Then the beekeeper will transport the frames of honey to the honey house. This is an area that is specifically set up to harvest the honey. 

Opening the honey

After all the frames of honey are moved into the honey house, the beekeeper will remove the cappings. When the honeybees make honey they put a layer of beeswax over the honey to protect the honey. To harvest the honey, that wax layer needs to be removed, this is usually done by a knife that is heated or a tool that looks like a comb that has sharp ends on it. 

Honey extractor from above

Once the honey is opened the frames are placed into a machine that is called an extractor. The extractor will spin very quickly causing the honey to be forced out of the honeycomb and onto the walls of the extractor. The honey will then flow to the bottom of the extractor where there is a valve to get the honey out. 

Bottling the honey

From the bottom of the extractor the honey will be placed into buckets. The buckets are then placed into the bottling bucket. This bucket has a valve at the bottom that can be placed over a bottle to fill it. After the bottle is filled with honey, it then is ready for to be purchased and used in your house!

National Honey Month

Happy National Honey Month! To celebrate, I encourage you to try these two recipes that use honey!

Lemonade Honey Punch from the National Honey Board

Ingredients
For Ginger Honey Syrup:
-  1 cup of honey 
-  5 thin slices of peeled ginger
-  1⁄2 cup of water

For Lemonade:
-  1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
-  24 oz. apple juice
-  5 cups water
-  Lemon slices for serving

Directions: Simmer the Ginger Honey Syrup ingredients in a heavy saucepan for about 30 minutes, set aside to cool. Remove the ginger slices and discard. In a large pitcher combine the lemon juice, apple juice and water. Stir in the cooled Ginger Honey Syrup. Fill each glass with ice and the lemonade, garnish with a lemon slice.

Tip: To make your lemonade punch sparkling, substitute the water in the lemonade for club soda.

Honey-Lime Coleslaw from www.tasteofhome.com 

Ingredients
-  1 1⁄2 teaspoons of grated lime zest
-  1⁄4 cup lime juice
-  2 tablespoons of honey
-  1 minced garlic clove
-  1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
-  1⁄4 teaspoon of pepper
-  1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
-  3 tablespoons canola oil
-  1 small head of red cabbage
-  1 cup of shredded carrots
-  2 thinly sliced green onions
-  1⁄2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Whisk together the first 7 ingredients until smooth. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. Combine cabbage, carrots and green onions; toss with lime mixture to lightly coat. Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours. Sprinkle with cilantro.

National Honeybee Day

Mark your calendars for National Honeybee Day on August 17th! Honeybees do so much for us, so they have their own special day. 

There are some special ways to celebrate the honeybees on this day. One of the ways could be to meet a local beekeeper and learn why they started taking care of honeybees. Some beekeepers start taking care of honeybees because their family has been raising honeybees for many years. Others start beekeeping because they wanted to learn something new. Every beekeeper has a story!

Another way that you could celebrate the honeybees on this day would be to make a recipe that uses honey as an ingredient. One of my favorite recipes that uses honey is Honey Rhubarb Ice Cream. 

You could also check how many of the foods that you eat often come from plants that honeybees help pollinate. The National Honey Board also has a list of ways you can Help the Bees. 

Have a awesome time celebrating all the ways that honeybees help us each and every day!

Beeswax

Beeswax is what honeybees use to store honey, nectar, and pollen, as well as creating a place for the queen to lay her eggs. They have wax glands in their abdomens, so they secrete the wax out all over. Once it dries, they shake it off their abdomens and use their feet to form the hexagon pattern we see in honeycomb!

Humans find the wax useful as well. A beekeeper can take the empty comb, melt it down and filter it, then use in in a variety of ways. Some use it in candles because of its ability to melt and burn. Others use it in beauty products like lip balm or soap, because it has very moisturizing properties. Did you know that you can make a reusable alternative to plastic wrap using beeswax? By using fabric, melted beeswax, and pine rosin, you can make beeswax wraps.

No matter what you use it for, beeswax is a great resource!

Tools of a Beekeeper

Every job has tools that are used in special ways; beekeepers do too. These tools make it easier and safer for the beekeeper to do their work.

Beekeepers in full beekeeping suits.

One of these tools is the veil or helmet. The veil or helmet helps keep the beekeeper safe from possible honeybee stings in the head or neck. Even though honeybees don't want to sting, sometimes they do to protect their beehives. The veil is usually white or light in color because dark colors are more alarming and the same colors as other animals that like to take honey from the beehive. Some beekeepers will also wear a beekeeping suit or jacket and gloves for the same reasons as the veil is worn.

Different types of hive tools.

Another tool a beekeeper uses is the hive tool. It is used to open the beehive and to break some of the seals in the beehive. The hive tool is a piece of metal that has a sharp side and sometimes it also has a hook and the end. The honeybees seal their hive with propolis, a mixture of tree sap and pollen grains. It is really sticky and makes the beehive wind and waterproof. The propolis is the glue that the honeybees put in every crack of the hive. Beekeepers use a hive tool to pry open the hive boxes and remove frames. 

A beekeeper's smoker.

The last tool that most beekeepers use is the smoker. Smoke helps keeps the honeybees calm. When the beekeeper puffs the smoke into the beehive, the honeybees go and eat as much honey as they can. If their beehive was on fire, they would have energy to find a new place to live. The honeybees are distracted by eating the honey, so there are less honeybees flying around as the beekeeper takes care of the beehives.

Cool Facts about the Queen Bee

While we may know what the queen bee looks like or what her job is, there is so much more for us to learn! Here are five fun facts about the queen!

1. She lays her weight in eggs every single day, about 1,000 to 3,000 eggs.

2. She is the longest bee in the hive. She is about 0.75 to 1 inch, or about twice the length of a regular worker bee!

3. The queen bee lives the longest. While worker bees only live 5-6 weeks, the queen lives anywhere from 3 to 6 years.

4. A queen bee is not chosen, she is made. When a hive needs a new queen, they will feed a worker larva a substance called “royal jelly”. This rich substance allows the larva to turn into a queen bee who can lay eggs!

5. The queen can control the hive’s mood with her pheromone scent.

Honeybees Need Help Too

Honeybees do a lot to help us, but they need some help from us too.   

In the winter, honeybees eat food that the beekeepers leave in the beehive. By spring, the hive is usually getting low on food, so honeybees need to go visit flowers to collect pollen and nectar. The first flower that gives the honeybees lots of pollen and nectar is the dandelion. You can help honeybees by letting your grass get a little longer in the spring and letting the dandelions grow to give the honeybees food. Once dandelions are mostly white, honeybees can't get anymore food from the flower; then it is a good time to cut the grass. 

 

Planting flowers for honeybees to visit is another great way to help honeybees. Planting flowers that will boom at different times in the spring, summer, and fall make sure that they honeybees will have food all the time. 

 

One hive of honeybees can go through a gallon of water every day. They have to collect that water to drink and to cool down the beehive. Honeybees cannot swim, so you can help them get the water they need by putting some stones in a bird bath. The stones give the honeybees a place to land and sit while they are collecting water. Other than helping the honeybees get food and water, there is another way you can help them. 

 

Leaving the honeybees that you see on flowers, in the air, and drinking water alone to do their work helps the honeybees. Honeybees do not want to sting you. They are working to make honey and food for the beehive. Don't swat at honeybees when you see them, and give them some space to keep working. These are all very easy ways you can help honeybees do their jobs!