Honey Harvest, Stripping Honey Supers Off the Hives

In this video I have a couple fellow beekeepers coming over to help me strip off all of the honey super form the hives. There are quite a few to remove although they are not completely full. But the bottom line is, whatever flow we had is over. The bees won't cap a whole lot more due to the cells being half full anyhow. So let's get out in the bee yard and get busy.
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Thanks for joining me in my bee yard here in Louisiana as I share how I maintain my beehives. My videos are not meant to be 'How To' videos, but simply me sharing my experiences in beekeeping as I learned it from my mentors, teachers, and studies.
#bees #beekeeping #beehive #honeybees #hiveinspection #savethebees #honey #honeycomb #beeswax #swarming #swarmtrap #backyardbeekeeping #honeyharvesting #honeyharvest

[@framcesmoore]

Ha Mike very glad for u. The video was great. Hope u have a very Blessed day .

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks so much!! You have a blessed day as well!! And week too!!

[@redfish440]

Thanks Mike, God Bless

[@MikeBarryBees]

You’re welcome and Thanks for the support!!! God Bless you and yours!!

[@SortOfaBeekeeper]

Thanks for showing how you take honey off the hives. ❤❤

[@MikeBarryBees]

You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@GEEZBEEZ]

I like the fume boards. Moves pretty fast. Glad your pulling honey. Good to have good help. Thanks for the information. Looking forward to the extraction. Take care Mike.

[@MikeBarryBees]

I too really like the fume boards. Just plain easy in my opinion. Thanks for watching Garry!!

[@josephrawls]

Man it's great to have help in the bee yard. That goes a long ways.

[@MikeBarryBees]

It sure does Joey!! I’ll send them your way if you want😁😁

[@ThatBeeMan]

24c and "It's a cool morning" LOL...sorry, Mike, that caught my attention.

[@MikeBarryBees]

It’s that time of year Brad where it’s hot in the shade and all outside work ceases around noon and only resumes around 5PM.

[@ThatBeeMan]

@@MikeBarryBees That heat would ruin me.

[@brettellis1837]

Well better than zero. Most of us here storage save every drop for a rainy day. Bite the bullet do a reset . If people need honey well it will be expensive.honey it will keep for ever. Cheers for video hope ya have a ripper season next year.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Brett!! I actually got a better harvest than expected once the extracting began. I’m only down 40 to 50 percent at most which is great considering the circumstances. I am very pleased with that. Thanks for the support!!

[@brettellis1837]

@@MikeBarryBees AT least we have the real honey it is not cut down. Heaps of people got ripped off over the years. Cheers. Thankyou for your video and time.

[@honeybeekeepers]

Mike. Great Job!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks!!

[@emilandrusko8597]

Hey Mike. Congratulations on the harvest. Hope you get a lot.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks so much Emil!

[@JeffHorchoff]

We started at 5:30 am to pull our supers, and were back finished for the day at 9:00 and it still was miserable. Your 75% figure was spot on for me, last year we pulled 4,000 pounds, and this year it was 1,000 pounds. You have to figure beekeepers are crazy, why would anyone work so hard with so little reward? My answer to that is I just love being around bees....and next year it's going to be better. God's peace brother.

[@MikeBarryBees]

I actually came out way better than I thought here on my end. Very grateful.

[@maryjanebeatty6030]

Glad to see this season wasn’t a total loss. It’s a lot of work and I’m glad to see you had some help this year. Thanks for sharing and teaching us a few things.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks and I am so very happy with what we got. Much better than I anticipated. Thanks as always for your support and for the kind comment!!

[@TheRainHarvester]

In where area are you located?

[@windyridgeapiaries]

Yikes! 75 near sunrise? Do I dare mention that the high today here along the shores of Kitchi-Gami was 68.4. Wow! That's more honey than I expected to see! So glad to see it! Excellent situational management. And yes, helpers are good. Diane was out helping me today, moved a couple hives out of Windy Ridge to a new location, "Carlton". Moved another hive a couple days ago to just north of Two Harbors, "Trillium". Thank you Mike! God's Blessings! -Jeff and Diane

[@MikeBarryBees]

It was a hot one for sure Jeff and no need to update temps. I’ve been watching you all’s weather for a week now. 67 in Ely the other day. Helping hands really are a blessing and makes things way more pleasant. Once extracting started, the harvest was way more than I expected, even with partial frames. Amazing for sure!!

[@melvinyoder1954]

Well Mike. At least you got some. We are so dry in Wisconsin but the flow is insane here.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yes, I am grateful for sure Melvin. Thanks.

[@lawrencewright1666]

Yep around 75% down here in North West La.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Oh yea, you guys know the heat for sure. Just down the road a few hours.

[@keithspillman]

Honey?? Did you say honey?? Woohoo!!!!! SO glad to see supers in your honey house!! Looking forward to seeing you in a sticky mess VERY soon!!!! 😆 Take care Mike!!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Keith and I’m very happy for sure. So far it’s come out way better than I thought.

[@russellkoopman3004]

Cool down to 95 F. LOL Man, you are tough duds there in LA.

[@MikeBarryBees]

I wouldn’t say tough, just hard headed Russell😂😂😁😁🥵🥵

[@TennesseeMountainBees]

Another great video, Mike! Love the box fan drying tip. Awesome!!! Thanks so much for showing everybody how you do bees, because we greatly benefit from your knowledge and experience.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Johnny!! I appreciate your comment and support. Humbled that folks like the channel!

[@brucesbees]

Hey man glad to see you were able to pull some honey. Looks like a good time. Like you we had a lot of boxes that were only partially full.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Bruce!! I was very happy to get those off and when I got the boxes in town I found 10 fully filled boxes. Just got them extracted and things are looking way up. Way more than I could’ve hoped for.

[@brucesbees]

@@MikeBarryBees hey that’s great news Mike. I’m glad to hear it!

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Ya we are in the upper 80’s to low 90’s here an just standing I get soaking wet . Well as usual the Bee family always works together with no questions asked it is so great to have friends like that. It is a blessing to see you all down south are coming away with a flow with a little or a lot it is a blessing . Stay Cooooool . THANKS

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yes indeed, they are a blessing!! And while we’re behind what we normally would be, who I talk to are all grateful for what we have gotten and in some cases, like myself, we’re doing better than we thought. Thanks for the support!!

[@davidlewis4179]

I like your idea of removing honey from the brood deeps to free up space for the queen. I have 6 LLHs so I don't see the build up so I'm feeling like there isn't much of a nectar flow this year. Looking forward to initiating my UltraMax this week

[@MikeBarryBees]

I only do that when I know there is still a flow ahead in fall and even them, I limit it. But it works well and they don’t starve. You’ll love that Ultra Max. I know I really love mine.

[@russellaymond312]

Mike theirs not enough honey to pull.Will leave for bee here in Tylertown,ms.

[@MikeBarryBees]

I am hearing some say they’re still seeing something coming in. Hope that’s the case with you up there. Maybe a good fall flow will allow you a bit of a surplus. Thanks for the update here on the comments!

[@taylorboysoutdoors]

I know the feeling of relief to be done and have it in the bucket, then have dry supers stacked

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yes indeed. I hope to have equipment washed and stuck back against the walls in the next couple of days. Making the second extraction on the boxes from in town and they were almost all full boxes. Harvest was well above expectations, but almost all in the buckets.

[@tommychew6544]

Thanks for the video Mike! I liked seeing the old school frame shake method on uncapped frames. That heat and humidity you have down there is something I couldn't dream of dealing with at this point in my life. I had a heat stroke in 86 while I was in the Corps and almost died. As I've gotten older it affects me more and more every year. I'm glad you have people that want to learn from you and help out with the load, it's a win win for everyone. You get to Mentore, and they get to learn from you. Your videos help me in the same way and I thank you for sharing.

[@MikeBarryBees]

You’re always so supportive and I appreciate it. I have been told that we become more susceptible to heat illnesses once exposed and I try to anticipate the long days with either help, or just knock off early. This time of year, noon is a good cutoff point for me. Thanks so much, as always, for your support Tommy. So very glad you enjoy this channel and take the time to comment!

[@tommychew6544]

@@MikeBarryBees I like the way you do things so much it would be hard for me to not comment. I'm glad you are still putting out videos, you help many people!

[@Dave-qn5lm]

You mentioned the fume boards are not as effective without the sun...I hit the fume boards (metal tops) with a blow torch to heat the top and activate the Honey B Gone...Looking to extract soon here in Michigan. I normally pull in July, but have been too busy...

[@MikeBarryBees]

I have a buddy down the road that did the same thing. He took the Mann lake boards and ripped out that plastic piece on top and then put sheet metal and he blasts it with his torch. I need to try it.

[@timmorris7022]

Great video Mike and glad you had help .I too learned this year that the fume board needs to be cracked when placed on top of the hive.Seemed to work better for me on my first pull. As always from Central Kentucky thanks for posting!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Tim!! Yea, I never knew that until last year. Works better. I appreciate your support on the channel!!

[@jimhughes6794]

You are looking good. I don’t think I will have as good as percentage this year as you have. I will find out next weekend.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Jim, it ended up being way better than I had anticipated once I got to extracting. You might be surprised. I know I was. Best wishes my friend!!

[@gunlinebees.3831]

Hopefully you got urself a decent run out of it... It's slim pickins this year for a lot of us. Lord willing it'll turn on for the fall flow. 🍂 Thanks for sharing and God bless.

[@MikeBarryBees]

It actually did come out way better than I had hoped for. I was only down about 40 to 50%. That’s a blessing!!! Thanks for the support.

[@gunlinebees.3831]

@@MikeBarryBees That's great to hear! Lord willing, we'll have next year to make a run at it again. Y'all take care and have a blessed one.

[@rtxhoneybees]

On mine, the early capped honey is VERY wet. 19+%. I'm happy to pull some uncapped because it is dryer and helps with the overall %. This is only my third Spring so i dont know what "normal" is yet. Last year was an awful drought and i got less than 150 lbs. Ive collected nearly 700 lbs this year with just a tad left to pull. Im pretty happy with that. Take care Mike. Glad you got some honey.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yes, I had a few frames that same way. Capped and wetter than the uncapped. I think that was tallow though. Only saw a little bit of that. Congrats on a great harvest!! We came our way better than I was expecting, so hope to get the video up this coming weekend. Take care and watch the heat!!

[@drippingcombbeecompany3640]

Maybe next year will give us all a bumper harvest .. Thanks SCPO 🐝🐝

[@MikeBarryBees]

Maybe so. This season is panning put much better than I had hoped though……

[@badassbees3680]

Identical in Missouri..I mean Identical..I'm bottling now..

[@MikeBarryBees]

Hoping to have all the equipment washed down by mid week and buckets put away until needed. Very happy with the harvest considering the slow growth. Take care John and thanks for your support!

[@badassbees3680]

@@MikeBarryBees I've got a Tulip Poplar harvest

[@HoneyMarketingBoard]

Hi Mike, Love the videos. Can you tell me what Growing Zone you are in. I am in the UK.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Peter, thanks so much and glad you enjoy the videos!! As I understand, we are in zone 9.

[@grantsimpson9211]

Mike how long will you dry the supers with the box fans and dehumidifier?

[@MikeBarryBees]

I dried them for two to three days. Almost too long as to was already quite dry on the hive. It got down to 14% in some cases.

[@jaymartinrealtor7736]

Holy cow Mandeville and Covington! I live in Mandeville and just got a hive today. Can we hook up for knowledge transfer?

[@jeffjeffers9810]

Mike I really enjoy your videos. I have a question for you. Is there a rule of thumb for what size extractor to buy for how many hives a person has. I been looking very seriously at the hillco extractor 9 or the 18 frame. Thanks for the videos. Have a great day my friend

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks and glad you enjoy the videos Jeff. As far as extractor size, there’s really not a rule of thumb. It’s more about how hard or long you want to work as your hive numbers grow. I used a plastic hand crank two frame extractor when I had 15 hives. So when I was bringing 20 supers in the kitchen I decided it was time as I knew I would grow. If you’re happy with just maintaining a few hives, bigger and more expensive doesn’t make sense in my opinion. But I’d say if you’re planning to make honey each year, even if you want to stay somewhat low on hive count, then a smaller electric would be a good investment so you can save time and effort. If you know that you’ll eventually grow in the next few years, then my opinion is you go ahead and go bigger so you’re not like me buying a second one within 5 years😬😬. It’s really about determining efficiency with what you plan to process and what your plans for growth are. HillCo makes excellent extractors for the price and functionality.

[@jeffjeffers9810]

@@MikeBarryBees thank you Mike. I’m planning to be at 25 hives and selling some nucs. Have a great day my friend

[@TheRainHarvester]

Are the fans blowing down or up?

[@MikeBarryBees]

I have them blowing down.

[@benjamindejonge3624]

45 isn’t bad

[@MikeBarryBees]

I agree. They weren’t full like most seasons, but they were better than I thought. Extracting video coming this weekend.

[@andrewklahold2880]

Mike thank you for your videos semper Fi

[@MikeBarryBees]

You are welcome and thanks for your support!!

[@johniac7078]

So far it is down in the Northeast too. We can a cool spring and an enormous amount of rain. The flow is all messed up. It looks like I will be down 50% unless mother nature changes her mind. Enjoyed the vid, thanks.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Glad you enjoyed the video and hang in there on the flow. Hopefully it turns out better than you think. Ours did for me. Way better than I anticipated.