❸ First harvest of 2023! From pulling the frames to extracting the honey! More than I expected!

S03E27 First Harvest of the year and we got more than I expected. Pulling honey a frame at a time and extracting. Everyone does it differently this is just how I do it.
15 gallons and 180lbs of honey! We typically pull honey 3 times throughout the year. Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.
Below are some of the things that I've purchased from Amazon that's helped me on my beekeeping journey.
Dehumidifier for drying any honey with high moisture content - amzn.to/3OIjt6T
Tote for carrying beekeeping supplies - amzn.to/3rrvrK8
27 Gallon Totes for pulling honey - amzn.to/3XMwDni
91% Rubbing alcohol for mite washes - amzn.to/3PVXOtZ
Measuring Cups for bee collection and mite washes - amzn.to/3Oa2WcA
Nuc Transportation bags - amzn.to/3NMiYYL
Hive entrance discs - amzn.to/3DaWM5Q
Certan Organic Wax Moth control for storing frames - amzn.to/3D77NFc
Nitrile Gloves - amzn.to/44x15nI
Rubberbands for cut outs - amzn.to/44qLZAr
Fischer's Bee-Quick Honey Bee Repellent (The good smelling one) - amzn.to/3rohRaf
Pollen Trap - amzn.to/3OaLp46
90MIL Food Grade 5 Gallon buckets - amzn.to/43kBmhd
Wood Filler - amzn.to/46HY0D7
Mosquito Net hats/ Veil - amzn.to/3Db1sc4
Tite Bond III Ultimate Wood Glue - amzn.to/3pKkym4
Formic Pro for Organic Mite Treatments - amzn.to/3O9vMKh
Boardman Entrance feeders - amzn.to/3OaLEfw
Rapid Round top Feeders that fit 10 frame down to 5 frame nucs - amzn.to/3OaTkyv
Honey Lake Deep Frames - amzn.to/3XJVzvP
BeeCastle Deep Frames - amzn.to/3O9N7Tr
Ultra Bee Pollen Substitute - amzn.to/3rqyDFR
BT Caterpillar Organic way to kill caterpillars - amzn.to/3QScIlH
Lip Balm Label - amzn.to/46NjJJO
Thumb Tacks for marking frames with queen cells - amzn.to/44DRVWl
#2 Wicks for small beeswax candles - amzn.to/3pHVgF6
Kent Williams Hive Tool - amzn.to/3XPd4uB
Cube Dehumidifier for drying honey - amzn.to/3pKkOl2
1/4" Stainless Steel Ball bearing for extractor - amzn.to/3OaLYee
Cappings scratcher - amzn.to/3NQUWMs
Sweat Head Bands - amzn.to/3XNhuSM
Sun Shirt - amzn.to/3O9wrvf
Vingli 4 Frame Electric extractor - amzn.to/3XOOCJJ
Spatulas for cleaning honey out of buckets and the extractor - amzn.to/3XUUGAz
Queen Cages - amzn.to/3DawNLR
Trail camera for observing night time hive visitors - amzn.to/3pIvZdU
Torch for lighting smoker - amzn.to/3NPy2EZ
Propane Torch for lighting smoker - amzn.to/3NPy5k9
Cloroplast blank signs for hive awnings - amzn.to/43iPCqJ
Small Hive Beetle Blasters - amzn.to/44jtkX3
Some of the links may contain affiliate links, which I may earn a small commission on, if purchases are made through that link. This will not add to your price. Thanks for your support.

[@nikolavesovic8168]

Little advice: Always shake the bees into the hive and spray the brush with a water. You will see the difference really fast. Well done by the way!

[@BrianCooper901]

I'll give that a try, thanks!

[@wendygodin2716]

I am a first year beekeeper (one hive) with a mentor. She told me I probably would not get any honey until fall. However, I have harvested 3 times so far this year and will harvest again Sept 3rd. Then I wont touch it again until late October. My girls have been busy. But my mentor (who has been doing this for years) said that this year has been amazing for honey production.

[@BrianCooper901]

I'm glad you had such a great first year! Our girls did really well this year as well. I'm working on editing our second harvest and it was big! Our last harvest will be this weekend. I've found a lot varies between even folks in our bee club so you may be in a really special location that's good for your bees! Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@mandydavidson6694]

I love your videos, the harmony between the beeman and the bees, is a joy to watch. Thank you for posting the honey harvest.

[@BrianCooper901]

Thanks for the kind words and taking the time comment!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Great harvest!! Video was very well narrated and captioned too. Such beautiful frames. You have a great system from the pulling of the frames to honey in the bucket. Thanks for sharing!!

[@BrianCooper901]

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to watch Mike! I really enjoy your videos and have been a subscriber of your channel for a very long time. Thanks for sharing all your bee adventures, and thanks for the compliments on the video.

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

The first harvest is so exhilarating!

[@BrianCooper901]

I agree! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@nohamalife]

Great video. Thank you for sharing your harvest process. I learnt some tips. Your ladies did very well.

[@BrianCooper901]

I'm glad you were able to pick up some tips from our process! Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment I appreciate it!

[@realworldagenda6206]

Congratulations! Great job, good result! Thanks for posting your videos.

[@BrianCooper901]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@dcsblessedbees]

Nice honey frames.😁

[@BrianCooper901]

Thanks DC! I probably should have set one aside for our clubs honey show.

[@spider2914]

Wow great looking honey frames!

[@BrianCooper901]

The bees did a great job on getting everything capped! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@caven930]

Using a super inside your tote, thats genius! Why didn't I think of that.

[@BrianCooper901]

It seemed to work out well! Thanks for watching!

[@heavymechanic2]

I use two (2) double screen boards in a gorilla cart and stack 2-3 supers with a ratchet strap. Once you blow out the supers, the bees cannot get back in. I run ten frame equipment and some get heavy; I pull the whole box and give them back any unfinished comb.

[@gallowaylights]

00:13:46 UFO took you away! 😅 they did something to your fingers!!!!

[@BrianCooper901]

Oh wow that was quite a glitch. The original video wasn't like that the upload must have had an issue.

[@gallowaylights]

It's challenging, but you can do some modification in youtube studio. But it's easier to upload a new one!

[@BrianCooper901]

@@gallowaylights I did what I could! Thanks for letting me know it had a glitch.

[@timothyodonnell8591]

Great video and congratulations on the honey harvest! I really like the text you add to your videos. They are short and to the point but add useful additional information / context. Does it help to harvest honey in bare feet? 😉

[@BrianCooper901]

Thanks! I do try to add the text whenever I feel I need to clarify anything or didn't say it in the video. I'm glad to hear it helps. Shiny extractor shows my secrets! It lets me know if I have honey on my feet so I don't track it into the rest of the house. Thanks for watching (so closely!) and commenting!

[@GrandpaKevyn]

Good job I love how organized you have it set up. The way you have your hives and the area to shake them. Then the honey extraction. . I didn't think you would've gotten stung, but then saw your hand... it's all part of the, I call collecting rent process. We provide them a good home and they pay rent with honey. Where did you get that yellow frame holder for the top of the bucket?

[@BrianCooper901]

My wrist sting was from the roof top bees not my bees actually. One of my girls did get me though I think I may have pinched her. The yellow thing that goes on the 5 gallon bucket I purchased from Amazon if you search for uncapper bucket it'll point you to one just like mine. They are usually just under $20. I did recently purchase a Pierco uncapping tank and it works for my setup, but I think the hive butler one may be even better since it has even more space for cappings before your frames get in the way. I'm pulling more honey today and I'll work on getting a video out with it. Thanks for watching!

[@TheBguenth]

Hi Brian, great video! I plan to harvest tomorrow and have a few questions. What are you shaking the bees in to? How do you keep your extractor from wobbling? Our extractor is electric but my husband has to hold it down and go slower. Thx!

[@BrianCooper901]

I hope I'm responding in time! I shake the bees back into the top of the hive if possible. The extractor needs to be balanced with equal weight frames for them to not wobble or you just may want to run it slower at first then flip it, run it slow and then when there is less honey you can put it on a higher setting. Good luck!

[@TheWonderfield]

Thanks for this video! It was really fun to see your process. Where did you get that yellow plastic that held your frames on the bucket as you uncapped?

[@BrianCooper901]

That's an uncapper, I got it from Amazon. If you go to Amazon and search for "bucket uncapper" several options will come up. They are ~$15-20 USD.

[@TheWonderfield]

@@BrianCooper901 Thanks! Just added it to my bee shopping list for next year.

[@rtxhoneybees]

Swarming and honey production appear to be related. Last year at the farm, I caught 2 swarms and collected 35 pounds of honey in the Spring. This year, 18 swarms and 180 lbs so far. I'm going to pull the rest of my supers on Sunday. I'm hoping for another 200 lbs. Looks like you have a lot more to go as well.

[@rtxhoneybees]

Oh and congratulations on reaching 500 subs!!!

[@BrianCooper901]

I'm not sure if I'd rather have the less swarms or less honey. Looks like I'll be doing a cutout tomorrow so may not pull honey until Sunday as well! We will have to compare notes! The scales are showing the weight is dropping slightly but I'll leave anything uncapped on the hive for them to eat if they need it until Labor day.

[@BrianCooper901]

@@rtxhoneybees Thanks! You definitely boosted that growth, I appreciate it. I think the roof top hive video was enjoyed by several folks.

[@bradleysmith1487]

Your extractor looks like a vevor 4/8 if it is you should be able to get 8 medium frames in it and spin radially

[@BrianCooper901]

I actually have a Vingli 4 frame extractor. Maybe next year I can try out one of the new Vevors The 8 frame would be awesome since I use 8 frame equipment. I could do a box at a time. Thanks for commenting.

[@bradleysmith1487]

I started out with a 2 frame hand crank . The radial makes my job easier@@BrianCooper901

[@BrianCooper901]

I could definitely see how the radial would make things go faster!

[@andrewstancil1723]

So I have a few questions for you… How many hives do you have? How many years have you been keeping bees? How many frames did you end up harvesting? Great job on the video and the honey looks awesome! I hope to start keeping bees next year!

[@BrianCooper901]

I aim to have 6 hives but got up to 21 colonies of varying sizes this year. I attempt to manage swarming and split but I had a lot of my hives swarm but was able to catch most of them. I then sell them as nucs to beginners or folks that want them locally. I have 8 hives that are in 8 frame equipment right now and I also still have 3 nucs that are 10 frames or more that I'm hoping to sell this year or overwinter and sell next year. This is my third year beekeeping. I did a lot of research before I actually ended up getting bees too. From this honey pull we harvested about 44 frames and that was 15 gallons of honey. I pulled a second time this past weekend and we got another 140 frames (44 gallons.) That's a little over 700lbs of honey. I think this was a really good year and I don't know if our location is really good or if I can expect to harvest anything close to that again but our bees made a lot of comb so I would expect next years harvest to be more if the weather is right. Good luck when you start next year! It's a very fun adventure.

[@andrewstancil1723]

@@BrianCooper901 thank you for all the information it gives me an idea of what to look forward too. Good luck with the rest of the season!

[@BrianCooper901]

@@andrewstancil1723 Any time! I'm always happy to help.

[@lindalee9946]

Anyone know what size totes he is using?

[@BrianCooper901]

These are 27 Gallon totes 8 Frame equipment fits in them. A deep will fit two. 2 Mediums are about 1" too tall to close the lid but I sometimes do that when I'm loading the wet supers back out to the hives.

[@lindalee9946]

@@BrianCooper901 thank you I watched the video again and paid more attention and saw it when you had it written on the screen thank you for answering me anyways!

[@BrianCooper901]

@@lindalee9946 I learned by accident today that you can put two medium supers in it and put the lid upside down and the lid will rest on top and keep the bees out. I guess they are made to have the lids put on upside down but it won't latch down. There are holes around the rim to zip tie them though so maybe a hinge could be made out of zip ties. Thanks for watching!

[@lindalee187]

Great idea