Removal from the Colony
When removing the honey crop during the summer, be sure that adequate stores are left for the bees in case of a fall crop failure. It is a good rule to leave a super full of honey with the bees at all times. Removal of the fully capped supers before the honey flow has ceased is less likely to initiate the bees' robbing instinct. Intense robbing may occur if you wait to remove all of the supers until after the flow is over. Also, removal of the spring and summer honey crop just before the start of the goldenrod flow will

Figure 42. A fully capped frame of honey ready to be removed from a colony and extracted.

allow you to keep the honeys separated by flavor. Usually summer honeys are lighter and milder in flavor in comparison with the darker, richer flavored fall honeys. Fall honeys often crystallize very rapidly, which could create several problems at extraction time if you wait to remove the entire crop at once. The fall honey crop should not be removed until after a killing frost. Frames should be at least three-fourths capped before they are removed. (See Figure 42.) However, try to keep the number of partially capped frames to a minimum; otherwise you will have problems with high-moisture honey.

Several different techniques can be used to remove the supers from the colonies, depending on the size of your operation. Do not try to smoke the bees out of a super, because this may affect the flavor of the honey. When a beekeeper has only a few combs or supers of honey to remove, shaking and brushing the bees from the combs may be the most practical method. To do this, open the lid and smoke the bees as usual. Remove one frame at a time and give it several quick jars between the fingers and base of the thumb to remove most of the bees. The remaining bees should be brushed off the comb with a brush or a clump of grass and placed in covered supers.

Using bee escapes requires two trips to the apiary, one to put on the escapes and the other to remove the honey. (See Figure 43.) The escapes are usually left on the colonies for two or three days to give the bees enough time to vacate the supers. Cool night temperatures are necessary to draw the bees down. If the supers are not bee tight, the

Figure 43. Porter bee escape is placed in opening of inner cover to remove bees from honey supers.

Figure 44. A fume board is placed over the top of a full honey super and the fumes of either benzaldehyde or butyric anhydride (Bee-Go) drive the bees downward.

honey above the escape boards will be robbed out by other colonies. If the humidity is high when the escapes are on the colonies, the honey may pick up some moisture. When a small amount of brood is present in the supers, many bees remain, on the brood and must be shaken or brushed off.

Bee escapes work very well if used in combination with queen excluders. The excluder prevents the queen from laying in the honey supers, and when it is time to remove the honey, the bee escape is substituted for the excluder. The easiest time to remove supers of honey cleared of bees with a bee escape is in the early morning before the bees are flying.

Two chemical repellents can be used for removing honey: benzaldehyde (oil of almond) and butyric anhydride (Bee-Go™). Sprinkle a few drops of the chemical on a fume board, which is made by stretching a heavy piece of cloth over a frame that is the size of the inner cover. Cover the top with a piece of sheet metal to reinforce it and paint it black so that it absorbs more heat from the sun. Place the fume board over the full supers. The fumes drive the bees downward. (See Figure 44.) Blowing a few puffs of smoke over the top bars before adding the fume board will start the bees downward so they are less likely to become confused. The board should remain on the super only long enough to get the bees out, usually two to three minutes.

Benzaldehyde works best at temperatures of 65° to 80° F and is especially efficient on cool, cloudy days, whereas butyric anhydride works better from 75° to 88° F.

Figure 45. Bee blower being used to remove bees from honey supers.

Supers can be removed in less time and more economically with a high-volume, low-pressure air supply. (See Figure 45.) Several commercial units are available. Bee blowers offer these advantages: combs do not have to be removed from the supers, and bees can be removed from supers on cold, cloudy days when chemical repellents are not effective. The one real disadvantage is the cost of the unit.