Honey Beekeeping II – SS2 Livestock Farming Lesson Note (Second Term)

Honey beekeeping is the keeping of bees in hives to produce honey. This note covers how to attract a swarm into a hive, how to care for the colony through the dry and rainy seasons, how to tell when honey is ripe, how to harvest, extract, process and store it, and how to market it.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Describe how to attract a swarm of bees into a hive.
2. State the care a bee farm needs in the dry season and the rainy season.
3. Identify the signs that honey is ready to harvest and list the steps of harvesting.
4. Describe the squeeze method and the centrifugal extractor method of extracting honey.
5. State the rules for storing honey and give tips for marketing it.

How do you start a bee farm (colonisation)?

Once you have your hive, your suit and your smoker, you need bees to move in. Bees are invited into the hive with bait. They are not caught by hand.

How to attract a swarm

1. Baiting: Rub “sweet-smelling” things inside the hive to make it smell like a home. Bees love the smell of beeswax, lemon grass oil, or even a little honey.
2. Positioning: Place the hive on a stand about 1 metre off the ground. Make sure the entrance faces away from strong winds.
3. Patience: Once a scout bee finds your bait, she goes back to tell the family. Soon, a whole swarm will fly in with their queen.

The “Do Not Disturb” rule

Once the bees move in, leave them alone for at least two weeks. If you keep opening the box to check on them, they will get annoyed and move out.

How do you care for bees through the year?

Bees are mostly independent, but a good farmer must help them during difficult times of the year.

• The dry season (the hungry time): Between December and March, there are fewer flowers. If the bees have no food, they might leave (abscond). Smart farmers provide “sugar syrup” (sugar mixed with water) in a small shallow dish near the hive to keep them fed.
• The rainy season: Make sure the hive roof does not leak. If the inside of the hive gets wet, the bees can get sick or the honey can ferment (spoil).
• Pest control: Check the legs of your hive stands. If the grease or oil has dried up, soldier ants will climb up and kill the bees to eat the honey. Always keep the grass around the hive short so snakes and toads do not hide there.

How do you know when to harvest honey?

Do not guess. Look for these signs of maturity.

• Capped cells: When the bees have finished making the honey, they seal the little holes (cells) with a thin layer of white wax. If at least 80% of the comb is “capped”, the honey is ripe and will not spoil.
• Weight: The hive bars feel very heavy when you lift them.

The harvesting process

1. Smoke them: Use your smoker to calm the bees.
2. Brush them: Gently use a soft bee brush (or a large feather) to push the bees off the comb back into the hive.
3. Cut the comb: Use a clean hive tool or knife to cut the wax comb. Leave about 1 inch of wax on the bar so the bees can start building again easily.

Farmer’s wisdom: “Take only what you need.” Always leave some honey for the bees to eat during the rainy season. If you take everything, the colony will die or leave you.

How is honey extracted and processed?

After harvesting, you have a bucket of wax combs dripping with honey. There are two ways to separate the pure honey from the wax.

Method 1: The squeeze method (traditional)

• Wash your hands thoroughly.
• Break the combs into small pieces and squeeze them through a clean white cloth (muslin bag).
• The honey drips into a bucket, and the wax stays in the cloth.

Method 2: The extractor (modern)

• Put the whole comb into a machine called a centrifugal extractor.
• Spin it fast, and the honey flies out against the walls of the machine.
• Benefit: This method does not destroy the wax combs, so you can give them back to the bees to refill.

Processing

Never boil honey on a fire. High heat destroys the medicinal value of honey. If you must warm it to make it flow better, place the honey jar in a bowl of warm water (a “water bath”).

How do you store and market honey safely?

Honey is one of the few foods that never spoils if kept properly. Archaeologists once found honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that was still edible.

Storage rules

• Use glass or food-grade plastic jars. Avoid metal containers because the honey can react with the metal over time.
• Make sure the lid is tight. Honey is like a sponge and takes moisture from the air. If it gets too much water, it will start to bubble and turn into alcohol (ferment).

Marketing tips

• Pure honey: Many people in the market sell “fake” honey (sugar water). If you can prove yours is 100% pure, you can charge a higher price.
• Small packs: Sell in different sizes: small bottles for medicine and big jars for families.
• Labelling: Put a sticker with your farm name on your bottle. It builds trust.

Evaluation

1. List the three steps for attracting a swarm to a hive.
2. Why should a farmer provide sugar syrup in the dry season?
3. State two signs that honey is ready to harvest.
4. Describe how a centrifugal extractor works and state one benefit of using it.
5. Give two rules for storing honey.

Assignment

Student practical project: the “water test” for purity

Take a glass of clear water. Drop one tablespoon of honey into it.

• If the honey stays together and sinks to the bottom like a rock, it is pure.
• If it starts dissolving and mixing with the water immediately, it has been mixed with sugar or water (fake).

Try this at home and report back to the class on what you observed.