Harvesting Honey

This booklet covers all stages of the process of getting honey from the hive and into a jar (suitable for sale) in a manner that inflicts the least damage to what is a delicate product. Careful treatment makes the difference between beekeeper honey and that sold in most supermarkets which has usually been ultra-filtered and pasteurised to prevent fermentation and to increase shelf-life.

The methods are described with the hobby beekeeper in mind and have been developed by the author over a number of years to harvest the honey from up to about 50 hives. Some relatively expensive equipment, such as an extractor, is required but in the long-standing traditions of beekeeping, expenditure has been kept to a minimum. Everyday household equipment can be used for several parts of the process and there are other suggested items can be made by simple DIY, for example a honey warming cabinet made out of a decommissioned refrigerator.