Procedure
- Approach the hive quietly.
- Using a smoker, puff/blow smoke all-round the sides of the hive. Then introduce smoke inside the hive gradually. The smoke makes honey start eating honey thus becoming heavy and inactive
- Lower the beehive to the ground and remove the hive’s top cover.
- Then systematically remove the top bars each in turn and check for comb formation. If the comb is light in color, it contains honey but if it is dark colored, then it has brood.
- Scrap off the bees from combs with the use of the bee brush.
- Cut the comb from each top bar leaving 3 cm from the surface for attachment of new combs.
- Place the cut comb in a clean container and cover tightly to prevent bees continuing eating honey.
- Place back the bars not to disturb the brood.
- Return the hive to its position.
How to Remove Bees From Honey-Filled Frames
Along with the equipment for extraction, you should have your smoker ready to move your bees off the super, the top boxes that contain honey-filled capped cells, so you can take the honey-filled frames to your extraction site. There are a few ways you can do this safely, so let’s take a look at your options:
1. Smoker and Bee Brush
One of the quickest ways to remove bees from their beloved honey is by giving the hive a light puff of smoke and either shaking the frame or lightly brushing it with the bee brush. If you opt to brush your bees off their frames, be sure to be gentle and use an upward stroke, rather than downward, to prevent injury or death to your bees.
2. Bee Escape
Bee escapes are frame-like devices that are added to the supers you wish to extract from. The escape is designed to allow bees to leave supers, but not re-enter them.
Bee escapes will not necessarily clear all bees from the super, and some may stick around if there are brood cells in the frame. If you already know which supers you will be extracting honey from, you can use queen excluders to keep her from laying eggs in them.
Special note about bee escapes: It takes bees about 48 hours to vacate through the escape, but because of their intelligence, it won’t be long before they begin to figure out how to get back to their precious honey. So don’t let the bee escape sit for too long without removing the frames you will be extracting honey from.
If, after 48 hours, you return to your hive to remove the frames, and there are bees present, gently brush them off with your bee brush.
You can always use your smoker to calm or deter bees during this process as well.
3. Fume Boards
Fume boards are super tops, or lids, that have cloth-like interiors that can be doused with repellents, which prompt bees to move down and away from the top of their hive, and their honey.
Due to the toxic nature of some of the repellents that were being used; fume boards declined in popularity. However, you can now find natural forms of repellents that are not harmful to the bees, or the honey you will be consuming.