Bee Keeping: The First Harvest

Today, I decided to prepare the hive for the division next week, by putting it in a better box and moving it into a more accessible spot where the division process can be done more easily. In the process of moving the hive, I made my first harvest of honey. To harvest, basically you just have to ply the hive away from the box, as the bees tend to connect their hive to the inside walls. Using a machete, I cut around the inside of the box and lifted up the hive.



The honey from these local stingless black bees is different from normal European or African bee honey. The taste is slightly bitterer; it has more medicinal properties, and is typically darker than usual honey, as well. Also, as opposed to honeycomb storage, these bees store their honey in little sacs mad out of wax and about the diameter of a penny. There is also a ton of bee pollen to harvest, which is an incredible health and magic power food. When harvesting, it is important to leave about half of the sacs for the bees to eat off of, as they make more honey. Sadly, these bees make considerably less honey than European or African species, both of which are more common as they have been selected for commercial apiculture.



A note I want to make is that I think I waited too long to make the harvest. Only about a third of the sacks had honey in them, while the majority appeared as though they once held honey, but it was either eaten or leaked out. As you can see, there are many sacs, but only about a third of them are filled with honey.

Considering the limited quantity of honey provided, as well as the ease of harvesting, and the high frequency at which I suspect it should occur, I have a new strategy for making these bees produce a good amount of honey for daily consumption. I say one should strive to obtain 8 hives through division, taking likely a year or more to get 8 from 1 starter hive. Then, harvest two hives each week, which I suspect could provide about ½ liter of honey. After the first two are harvested they should rest for one month, while you are harvesting from the other 6, 2 per week. Once all 8 have been harvested, the first two should be ready for another harvest. Down with sugar!