Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[What Now?]

I think it may be time to take some honey from the warre.

I've not done it before. I've read the chapter in David Heaf's book. BUT, does any one have any other hints ..... I've not done it before.

With no fear of sounding really stooooopid .... there is plenty of space in the bottom box. I take honey from the top, don't I?(!!!!). I'm guessing - drum / spray / smoke them down. Lift the top 'un off, lid on the rest, and 'Bob'syeruncle?

Any help / hints from bitter experience will be very helpful.

What NOw? Thanks!

[Barbara]

I don't have experience of Warre hives but if it was me, I would be inclined to make a clearer board. Bee escapes are relatively cheap to buy and a sheet of thin ply or MDF with them fitted to it would be simple to make and do the job. Then it is just a question of lifting the top box and placing the clearer board under it and then coming back the next day and harvesting it, when it should be free of bees.

You do need to be sure there is no brood in the top box, because if there is brood, then the queen may be up there. Tilting it to look from below should establish that. Ideally you want all of the honey to be capped or most of it. If it isn't and you still want to harvest, cut off any large areas of uncapped honey and feed back to the bees or make mead.

Happy harvesting and enjoy

Barbara

[mannanin]

I don't have much else to add as Barbara has covered it all very well. If you want another option, ( the leaf blower!) and would also like to see pictures, Bernhard has posted them in the Warre section of this forum. It's under a sticky, Harvesting from a Warre. This year's I shall be using the Nicot rhombus escape mounted on a simple plywood board. I think it may be a little more gentle than the leaf blower but Berhard says it's actually quick and results in no damage to the bees. Good luck.

[zaunreiter]

Put in a bee escape in the morning. Take the super off around midday. Blow out the remaining bees with a leaf blower, in such a way that the bee either are blown into the air: lots of bees in the air, no damage, but you need to get out quickly or the bee land back on the super again in no time. Or you blow them in front of the entrance, so the bees crawl up into the hive again. You need a long landing board to do this.