Did you realise your beehive was a multi product factory?
We all think of harvesting honey and honeycomb* and beeswax BUT there are also other goodies!Did you know?
Propolis is an essential substance in the life of the hive that bees use for many purposes:- control of the flight hole opening according to climatic variation
- weather proofing the hive by blocking holes to insulate against wind and rain
- coating the interior walls of the hive to remove irregularities
- as a disinfectant, spreading a very thin film inside the cells before the queen comes to lay
- mixed with wax and used to "embalm" small animals or insects which have been killed by the bees but are too large for the bees to remove.
To harvest propolis:
Depending on the breed bees can produce more than 300g per year. The beekeeper can use several methods -- Simply scrape queen excluder, undersides of hive mats and feeders, interior walls of hives (excluding bottom trays which are too dirty). Unfortunately the propolis obtained this way is full of impurities and wood debris.
- Use a propolis mats. Sit on top of the super and after a while the bees will have closed up the grid holes with propolis deposits. This is easily collected by freezing the mat then rolling it to loosen the deposits. If you wish to easily produce a powder then put the propolis fragments through a coffee grinder while still very cold. Store in light proof containers away from heat.
Pollen - Did you know?
Pollen is the main source of nutrition for the larvae. It provides the protein necessary for them to mature. Because pollen is rich in protein, it can be harvested, dried and consumed by us. Fix a pollen trap at the entrance of your hive for a couple of weeks in the pollen season to easily collect pollen. However, do not leave on for longer at a time. This ensures bees can collect enough for their own needs.*Honeycomb
Hive World sells two systems for making honeycomb:- A wooden 3/4 depth frame with 8 x 250g capacity plastic box units to place in your ordinary supers or full depth with 12 x 250g units.
- The English section rack with wooden comb cases to place on your super.
Flexible Propolis Mat
$8.10
Hive World’s high quality flexible Propolis Mat won’t crack when harvesting propolis.
This is a great way of adding income to your hive. Simply replace your inner cover (hive mat) with the propolis mat in your hive and raise the lid slightly to allow light in. This encourages the bees to make more propolis to cover the hole. When the mat is full, freeze in a large plastic rubbish bag. When chilled you can easily twist the mat and loosen the propolis.
N.B: Autumn is the typical peak propolis production time.
8 Way bee escape
$3.04 – $26.10
The large size of this 8-way bee escape makes it easy to remove the bees from your supers with minimal re-entry when you are ready to harvest. The easiest way to use this is to attach it to a hive mat to make your own escape board.
Remember that bees will not leave a super that has the queen or brood in it. You need to have the escape board above a super that has a queen excluder on top to ensure the queen is not in the super requiring emptying. Once the escape board is in position, leave the hive for up to 24 hours to allow time for the bees to leave the super. It is best not to leave much longer than this as the bees will find their way back!
Available in a multi-pack of 10 for economy.
Please Note: Make sure you have enough room in the supers below the one(s) you are emptying to accommodate all the bees moving down.
Double Bee Escape Plastic
$1.57 – $13.91
Our plastic Porter Bee Escape is used to empty the honey supers for harvesting. It is advisable to put two escapes on each escape board in case one gets blocked, also this will clear the supers much quicker. Ensure the hive parts are all bee-tight and you should have no problems with robbing.
Bee Escape boards are particularly suitable for urban apiaries as you will need to make two visits to the hive – one to install the escape board and the second to remove the supers once the bees have gone down.
Available in multi-pack of 10 for economy.
