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3 Comments

How To Extract & Bottle Honey – Bramblestone Farm

Every beekeeper may use a bit different process for “How To Extract & Bottle Honey”, but this is the process How To Extract & Bottle Honeywe use at Bramblestone Farm, and it’s produced award winning honey (see Bramblestone Blue Ribbon Honey) at the Medina County Fair every year:

1st Step – Clean Up

The first step is to get everything cleaned and set-up for extracting the honey from the comb. The process isn’t hard, but it does take a bit of time.

We extract the honey in the garage with all the doors and windows closed, because otherwise the bees would join us and try to take back all the honey we removed from their hives. Since all the doors and windows are closed, it can get pretty warm in the garage – so it’s not an easy job.

1st 2013 Honey Harvest Set-up

Extracting Equipment Set-up & Ready

2nd Step – Uncapping Honey Cells

Below are the tools we use for uncapping the honey cells – an electric knife and scratcher.

1st 2013 Honey Harvest Uncapping Tools

Electric Knife & Scratcher

This is the centrifuge that spins the honey out of the comb cells.

1st 2013 Honey Centrifuge

Honey Centrifuge

Here’s what the centrifuge looks like, on the inside. It has slots to hold the frames while spinning.

Honey Centrifuge Inside

Inside Honey Centrifuge

This is what the capped comb looks like coming out of the hive in a “super” (the box holding the frames).

Honey Harvest Comb

Frames Filled With Capped Honey

Here’s an individual frame ready for uncapping the honey cells.

Honey Harvest Ready for Uncapping

Honey Frame Ready for Uncapping

This is how the electric knife is used to remove the caps from the honey cells.

Honey Harvest Uncapping

Electric Knife Removing Honey Caps

This is how the scratching tool is used to open up any cells that the electric knife missed.

Honey Harvest Scratching Open Cells

Scratching Tool Removing Honey Caps

3rd Step – Spinning Honey

Once the cells have been uncapped, the honey frames are loaded into a stainless steel centrifuge designed specifically for spinning honey. Our centrifuge holds 18 frames of honey. As the centrifuge spins, the honey is forced out of the frames by gravity and collects in the bottom of the centrifuge tank.

Honey Harvest Frames in Centrifuge

Honey Frames Loaded in Centrifuge Ready for Spinning

4th Step – Straining

After spinning, the honey is drained into buckets fitted with a coarse filter to begin straining. The honey is strained to remove bits of wax and other “non-honey” items that remain after centrifuging.

Honey Harvest after Spinning

Honey Emptying Into Straining Bucket

After straining, the honey is poured into a bucket for bottling. The bottling bucket has a heating band around it that provides a small amount of heat so that the honey flows well for bottling but that stays below 90° F so that none of the beneficial properties of the honey are destroyed.

1st Honey Harvest 11

Pouring Honey into the Bottling Bucket

Final Step – Bottling!

And, finally the honey is bottled.

Honey Harvest Bottling

Bottling the Honey

Bottled Honey

Pure, Raw, Local Wildflower Honey

And there it is! Pure, local wildflower honey. It’s $9.00 per pound container, and won a blue ribbon at the Medina County Fair again!


Related posts:

Substituting Honey for Sugar in Baking
Reasons To Buy Raw, Local Honey
Oven Rendering Honey Beeswax
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Filed Under: Honey

About Lesa

Lesa Wilke is a homesteader and freelance writer who loves to inspire others on their journey to more sustainable lifestyles. She accomplishes this by sharing the skills she’s learned (plus support, advice & tips) while farming goats, chickens, honeybees, and produce.

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Comments

  1. Cody Gibbons says

    July 4, 2021 at 1:44 pm

    Hi, what kind of bottling bucket are you using? I have never seen one like that.

    Reply
    • Lesa says

      July 14, 2021 at 8:41 pm

      Hi Cody, This is just a standard 5-gallon food grade bucket that has a honey pour spout installed in it. We purchased the honey pour spout from Brushy Mountain Bee (which I think is no longer in business). I think that Mann Lake might also have carried them. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  2. Carol Rosenberg says

    December 13, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    How much space is advisable between neighbors to allow bees to go about their business without bothering neighbors?

    Reply

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