How We Harvest Honey (Hive to Bucket) | Beekeeping with Bruce

this honey Harvest Time uh it's gonna be a busy day and we're trying to beat the rain so we're probably not going to do a really long video or a lot of video taping today while we're pulling the honey but this is Tim some of the crew here is Tim right here we got Ray over there and of course there's Lisa grab me a midwives home Suburban Homestead right anyway go check out her Channel and we got the smoker but we're going to start here at the farm and pull a few boxes here and we're just gonna pull the honey and then extract it tomorrow uh really quick what we're doing here we're using the fume bores on a lot of them but on these pollination bees out here they're really not putting any honey in the in the mediums where we had the cleaning scooters they just got this didn't work too well so we're doing is we're trying to create space in here by pulling frames of at least one or two deeps out of there just to make sure that the bees will have space and there won't be too much honey but that's kind of what we're doing one to two frames I think I actually pulled four out of this one because it was a just a lot of honey that we're kind of getting honey bounds so we'll harvest the honey we'll bring the frames back out here and put it in here and then that Queen will have a place to lay we're trying it this year to see what happens y'all having fun oh yeah so far as long as it doesn't rain on us I'll rub your nose are there's Andrew decided to come over before he got his suit and that was a bad mistake Birmingham Andrew came from Auburn of course we still got Lisa it's got Ray and we got Tim and the bees up here in Ozark this one Hive over here that is covered with bees is still much meaner than I like and they have been chasing this round but now that we're done with this it may not be quite as bad so what we're doing we're going through a thin boards all this right here we're putting them in boards on the medium sleepers of honey and see how that super is basically empty of bees some nice captain in there we're just kind of taking them as crazy as these things are we're not spending a lot of time assessing everything we're trying to get the honey off and get out of here it's pretty good little stack of honey here there's mediums we got some beets back here and uh see what we can do we got some good crate now I think we're going to really be able to pick it up and go fast um we got nine theme boards so we ought to be able to play rock and roll for this thing pretty fast I hope so too because cloudy you probably got some more than women pulled Ozark and the farm and the pollination bees and got a decent little pool now we're down here in Slocum we got rained on this morning the bees were off the chain crazy it was just rainy just nasty we had a mild thunderstorm come through and man it was crazy but we're done with that the sky seems to be clearing up a little bit and maybe we're done with the rain for today um but we're getting a nice little Harvest not what I'd hoped but it's doing okay oh look at these bees they're way nicer than they were in Ozark I didn't get a lot of footage in Ozark because it was too crazy but there's Brian over there you having fun Brian having a blast all right we got some sunshine look at the sunshine coming out that's nice we got Tim and Ray over there Lisa she took off at Ozark the bees were lighting her up pretty good and then Andrew had to take off and he's got to go to work up in Auburn this afternoon but we're just gonna pull these honey supers out here and man I just this is so much fun isn't it Ryan's seeing these bees being calm because I haven't been like this today this is what we're going well would be like just like this look at him no question I think we're gonna take that box you see we got honey in there look at that cap tiny so I think it's gonna go I'm glad I stacked it up it was good Bruce let's get after it right here we have a classic example of a pie that is basically honey bound uh the bees had basically abandoned a lot of the honey on the love there was a cleaner and a couple super super we took this took this for honey off and started going through it I found we got honey got a little pollen in the bottom but I think for three or four frames in that's what we found this one right here is near the center look at this it's nothing but pollen and honey and then this Frame actually right here has a little bit of space right here where she's laying some eggs but even here you got honey pollen so she has a little bit of room to lay but just not enough so we're gonna take a couple frames of Honey out of here and put some empty frames in here so it's got a little room to lay right there but see still pollen and honey everywhere little patch of an area to lay right there a lot of pollen so it's just a situation where these bees need some room for that Queen delay got some brood on this Frame I think this is a little better so it's got a little room delay but man just getting kind of clogged up in here so I'm gonna remove at least one frame of honey from each side maybe we'll see what this side looks like right here I don't think this is bad yeah that's honey right there it's like a frame of honey from each side two frames of empty comb in here we got some comb here in the big yard and then we'll go Harvest this honey here I'll shake the beer I should have shaken that was a mistake I should have shaken them off in the hive hoping Queen wasn't on there but it's mostly honey so probably not we'll look around and make sure she's not roaming around down there then we're going to put two frames again can you put that right there actually let me put it in the middle I'm gonna put the frames in the middle so she can just kind of start laying in the middle and put them right here maybe that'll help fix that situation we just happen to have these frames over there in the bay yards and then we're actually going to put a medium on here if we can find a medium that doesn't have yeah we're not going to harvest we'll put it on here give or even some more rain and just let it ride so Harvest and honey we're into that situation we were able to fix it right y'all remember big red we were going through this Colony right here and we noticed there was brood up top and so I thought man we got maybe have another queen maybe a dual Queen colony packed out with bees we kept finding a brood above the excluder sure enough somehow Big Red was above the excluder and boy she is visible isn't she and she is doing so good man she is laying this thing up they've already pulled I think a couple of boxes of Honey off here at least one maybe two and this box has quite a bit of brood in it we're putting all the brood in this box that was down there I'll set it back down on the colony but uh anyway somehow I let her get above the queen excluder and she just kept on working so there's your little update on Big Red definitely makes a difference when the sun's out bees are more calm they are a little feisty because we're taking their honey but it's been a much more pleasant experience here in Slocum even though some of them are a little bit feisty it's turned into a really nice day out here [Music] uh so when we took that excluder off and looked in the d-box there was a young larva milk breed in the bottom box as well brewed up here in the top where big red is it's still in her cage so I took the Deep box to have the milk bread young larv in it and so forth and I'll set it right over here with all the bees and everything if there's a second Queen down there she shouldn't even skip a beat if there is not a second Queen down there they should be able to make one plenty of young larvae and young I breed in there so it shouldn't be a problem we're going to release big red in here with the brood that she has got to put another medium on here it's the only size frames I have right now of empty comb basically a little bit nectar in there but and then hopefully she'll be able to carry on and fill up these two mediums and then we'll have to come back and figure out the The Brew box situation everything in the future [Music] yep she went down in there get back to harvesting honey yippee this thing out we took a bunch of Honey off here lots of bees I'm gonna put another deep on there I think I can find enough reins I definitely need some more space I got the three supers off of here maybe look at that thing man unbelievable look at Tim and Brian over there with all those bees I'm stirring up and take it went all around taking a little bit of Honey out of the deeps to try and give them some space also give us a little more harm there's Ray over there now too boy is so much better with the Sun out it's better with the Sun out isn't the fellas that's what I say sun's out guns out hold it up to him hold up Tim hold up that brain Lisa came back back I got her seat on this time we got some boots on boots on the last time she's ready they still got in my boots we're out here at Upland Farm now we got oh we're probably gonna get about your 10 sleepers out here it's just a new BR for me there on the hill they've sold a lot of Miami over the years and they told me I could put some hives out here I think they'd like to have hives out here just because of automation stuff it's here in my backyard it's really a good spot for them I think I'm kind of excited about it actually so we all think of my little beard out here in that apples pretty nice yeah got Pharma stuff I know I don't have my mic on I know this wind is just tearing this phone up right now so I apologize okay we're getting the rest of this honey oh he's taking so far in the honey house I'm Brian getting it done man yeah it's stacked up over here and over here this is Honey Hill over here tomorrow this place is going to be rocking and rolling appreciate you Ray all right here we are in the honey house we've already harvested a bunch of it it's already a hot and sticky mess in here not anything like what we're used to having this year it's just been a rough year the flowers have not done well but let me kind of show you the process right here introduce you some of these folks that are helping us out today over here we got Ray Ray's right now he's man in the uncapping machine we got the simple Harmony Farms in Capri or what do you think of this Ray what do you think of this looks good it's doing good Ray helped me yesterday and man it was a godsend he helped me out it was great over here we got Justin Justin what you think fun hot you've seen Justin some of my other videos he's real good with the bees and he's a big help his motor never stops and of course right here we have Lisa many of you know Lisa check out her Channel grab me in my life Suburban Homestead yeah it's a mouthful but what do you think Lisa it's hot she helped yesterday sticky and slimy all at the same time yeah honey is the single most sticky and slippery and slimy thing at the same time the mirrors exist right it defies all laws of physics that's right well Lisa helped us pull yesterday and she's also helping us extract the day over here we have Chris does not love to be on the camera but we're gonna hi Chris but everybody knows that you should know Ed Ed what's the name of your channel uh send them uh 263bs 263 B's you change it yeah instead of one two son of one two six three b's and Ed always likes to come help with this and I don't know why but he does and uh anyway check out his channel he's got a YouTube channel as well right now he's working on screen and some of the honey our process basically is right we got two lines going uh raised worker in this one and we got them over there we're using simple Harmony Farms on Capper and capping the honey putting in the holding tank here uh honey is actually dripping down in here into a bucket underneath then of course we have our Maxin extractor over here it's my 20 frame extractor and uh it comes in here and now we don't do it this way you're supposed to have the protective coverings on here but we're just being real careful is Tim Tim hey what do you think of this town hey it's an experience yeah I don't know why these guys come to help me like this but Tim and Tim and Ray both help foolishly they really were life slavers for them yesterday but over here we have it running into a uh a strainer into the five gallon bucket with a paint strainer and by the time we get it through both the those levels it's perfect for uh raw honey it goes in the buckets and it's ready to go we bring it over here and then what happens is I'll kind of show you the process here so we bring the buckets over here and then all I do and I'm not gonna do the whole thing right now but all I do is I grab this right here like this now lift up and the Honey strengthen the filter and then I move it over to another bucket so now I can't get it back on there hold on I'll do that in a minute oh we can't we can't forget Rusty Rusty is the owner of this place and his roast has been a great friend for several years and we just put our stuff together both of our extraction lines and it goes a lot faster words of wisdom Russia what do you think uh avoid beekeeping it's the wisest thing I have to say this year's been rough though it's been rough there's not a lot of honey I mean it's agriculture so the weather here has messed us up this year with super dry super cold earlier in the year so a lot of the stuff we typically have to do snecker did not do it this year so My bees actually look pretty good but they just haven't brought a lot of honey and it's kind of weird well I think they've barely been bringing in enough to sustain to sustain themselves there's not been Superfluous money flow this year so anyway I'm feeling super well I appreciate you man thanks for letting us do this I love doing this we're glad when it's over and here we have a little uh we just kind of put the cappings in here as we go along this is a broken frame it drains down through some hardware cloth into the bottom so it's kind of like a hobbyist type uncapping tank but it works well and the Honey strings in there and over here is what we have so far as far as the honey goes I think we got 25 buckets so far we're probably gonna end up with about twice that this year so and nine of these are actually for honey nine of these are actually for Honey Hill Farms so we're just going to have what we have and then when it's gone it's gone I just you can't help but doing the best we can so that's kind of our little quick tour of the beekeeping operation today is similar last year I'll post a link to our video from last year uh where we had the largest honey Harvest ever and you can see the process in action as well we're doing the same thing basically this year just not going to get quite as much yeah ah what's this Rusty last train there we go here we go it's been long and a busy day along and a winding road right I'm out there's Lincoln my little grandbaby say how do you think no he doesn't like those bees daughter Savannah about here these bees here in the honey house let's keep going up to the top and that ball back down it's kind of funny actually roast has been using the b-back and vacuuming them up and uh so he's got a nice box full of bees over there well everyone's gone it's 7 25 it's been a busy day we got there's Rusty over there how many how many you say we have Rusty we got 48. 8 and 11 over here 50. 58 59 something like that and then nine of these yeah it feels like a lot none of these are Honey Hill Farm so uh got everything cleaned up it was we had a good crew a lot of work and I feel like I've been right over by a truck man crazy it was fun we had a good time and out fun I mean I don't know it was fun for a while your cleanup is done you look back and it was all fun all along but there are points during it but you're not quite secure so now we're gonna load up a few boxes I take over to Davis and uh the Honey Hill Farm honey on the trailer a call today I've had enough [Music] thanks Rusty if you've watched my honey hearts videos the last few years you know that we usually bring the honey boxes and put them out here on this trailer and this year we decided to stack them vertically and you know if it rains that way the the rain will be more likely to stay out of the supers and so I think it worked out good it was just about the exact right size on this trailer and so we are done I'm glad we're done a little disappointing on the size of the crop this year but you just got to take what you what you get and roll with it and and now we're going to work towards getting the bees ready for next year and there's always something but I'm glad to have this honey crop done and uh in the books so appreciate y'all watching y'all take care and we'll catch you on the next one foreign [Music] foreign

Channel: brucesbees

Views: 7,344

Keywords: brucesbees, splitting a beehive, apis mellifera, beekeeping tools, sideliner beekeeping, hive management, bee brood, sideliner beekeeper, hive inspections, the sideline beekeeper, beehive inspection, bee management, bee keeping vlog, alabama bees, beekeeping techniques, queen cell, southern bees, queen cells, honeybee splits, honey, honey crop, strong bees, honey harvest, honey extractor, honey extraction, fume board, honey b gone, angry bees, how to harvest honey

Id: rDHmDUVy4l4

Length: 18min 29sec (1109 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 29 2023