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The thin layer of new wax that bees build over the top of cured (or dried) honey is called capping wax. Although bees cap brood cells one at a time, they cap honey cells in groups. Once an area of comb is ready to cap, the bees may cover many square inches at once. [...] Putting a new super on top of existing supers is called “top supering.” Adding it above the brood box but below the other honey supers is called “bottom supering.” Which is best? While honey bees remain indifferent to the entire subject, beekeepers get atwist over the mere thought of doing it wrong. In truth, [...] The purpose of freezing wax combs is to kill the eggs and larvae of wax moths. Wax moths can destroy beeswax combs, especially combs in weak colonies and those in storage. A strong colony of bees does a good job of controlling the moths, but a weak colony can become overrun. Although the moths [...] Recently, my friend Phillip at Mud Songs.org wrote about the pros and cons of using 9 frames in a 10-frame Langstroth. He began by writing about honey supers and then segued into brood boxes as well. Since I’m sort of a renegade on this subject, I thought I would add my two cents to [...] This question is asked frequently, not by beekeepers but by people who just want to buy a chunk of honeycomb. “You don’t even have to do anything to it,” was the complaint I heard recently. A number of factors affect the price of comb honey, some more than others. The following issues (in random [...] A cut-down split is a special technique often used by comb honey producers. The purpose of a cut-down split is to maximize the number of foragers that are bringing in nectar by minimizing the amount of brood a colony has to care for. With little brood to feed, foragers concentrate on bringing home nectar [...] Note: Many types of section honey equipment are currently available. Over the next few posts I will give an overview of some of the most popular designs in the U.S. However, the key to producing section honey is in the management of the bees. In short, you need lots of bees, crowded conditions, and [...] By far the easiest type of comb honey to produce is called “cut comb.” It requires no special hive equipment nor any special bee-handling techniques. It can be obtained from just about any type of hive and the options for packaging are many. Since the requirements are few, it is the most economical comb [...] “Travel stain” is a phrase often heard in conjunction with comb honey. Travel stain is the discoloration of wax cappings covering the honey due to the “dirty feet” of honey bee workers. In the normal course of walking from place to place in the hive, the worker bees track pollen, propolis, and other debris [...] Chunk honey is a combination of extracted honey and comb honey. To package chunk honey, one or several pieces of honeycomb are placed in a jar and then the empty space around the comb is filled with extracted honey. I find this practiced a bit odd. It’s akin to putting a whole orange into [...] |
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