Processing over 2,000 pounds of honey in 6 hours!!!

After weeks of preparation we finally were able to get the spring honey harvested, and what an experience it was. Rusty and Christie were gracious enough to allow us to use their honey house to extract. We combined equipment and crews and got a LOT of work done in a short period of time. It was a good day!
I really think this was one of the more enjoyable days I have had since I have had bees!
If you like what you see I hope you will subscribe @brucesbees and ring the notification bell There is more to come!
Thanks and enjoy!!!
#brucesbees #honey #honeyharvest

[@brucesbees]

This was a good day. What do you think of our set up?

[@shannonswyatt]

How do you like that uncapper? I'm considering getting one.

[@brucesbees]

Game changer. I highly recommend. It takes a few frames to get the hang of it bad we have a pin roller handy for touch up if certain areas don’t get sliced. But it is SO much faster. Perfect for me.

[@WildwoodsBeekeeping]

Cool Set Up, Wow! 2,000 Pounds of honey. That is a lot. Great Job and God bless!

[@mrtraumaboyy4098]

Old school??? I do not see anyone turning a handle very fast with sticky hands....I got your old school!! Fantastic haul!! Good job Bruce!!

[@brucesbees]

We used to do it that way haha. I think we harvested thousands of pounds with a little 3 frame hand crank extractor. The Maxant was a definite upgrade and then have it both the Lyson 30 frame and the Maxant 20 frame going at the same time was awesome!

[@russellkoopman3004]

I love that first smell of honey from the extractor. Good stuff Bruce.

[@csorrells2000]

Nice. Looking good yall 2

[@Makermook]

As a new beekeeper, I'm always amazed at how much honey there is in each box. Basically 2½ gallons per medium honey super! For someone accustomed to buying honey by the 8 oz. bottle, that's just crazy.

[@brucesbees]

Yes bees are amazing creatures. That honey represents a lot of work. By the bees and also the beekeeper: and I love it! 🍯🐝🙂😎

[@davidr4761]

Hey Bruce. Thanks for all the videos. It’s been nice to have someone close by to learn from. I’m in my second year beekeeping and have 10 hives.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching the videos. Where do you live?

[@Cenepk101]

Boss Extracting… so impressed!!!!

[@gerardjohnson2106]

As always, great production of the video. Awesome production of honey. A wonderful demonstration of comradery in the beekeeping community. I'd like a big dollop of the cappings in my jar. Thanks for sharing

[@herdingbeeswithrustyandmik3689]

Great video brother!! Go ahead and start applying muscle ointment!! I checked some hives today. We have at least that much to harvest in a couple weeks!

[@brucesbees]

No doubt lol. And then mine again a couple of weeks after that. Whew! We have been blessed though this year. Good times...

[@LarryLeesBees]

Thanks for showing us that great operation Bruce! What a great setup! That is the one thing I’m missing in my set up so far. I need to get one of those bottlers soon. Very nice! 😃

[@keithinthemountains6450]

Wow Bruce, that's what you call " git-r-done"!!!

[@brucesbees]

Yes! Much better than my usual setup in my one car garage lol. I have pretty much outgrown that situation. Thank goodness for great friends!

[@HaselorHoney]

Love the smell of the first honey pull of the year.🍯 Keep up the good work 🐝

[@ralphmitchell3435]

I enjoyed the vid ! It would be interesting to see a vid on the clean up involved after the processing.

[@brucesbees]

I had to take the boxes and go. Rusty has an electric pressure washer he uses to spray everything down. That’s another advantage to having a dedicated space for honey. I don’t think it took them very long.

[@joer5627]

I’m sitting here smiling away, Bruce. Hoping to get 10 or so gallons myself shortly north of Atl. Queen cells galore this year.

[@brucesbees]

Hopefully you are able to reach your goals. We have had a good year down here so far. Lots of swarming early but the bees have rebounded like crazy.

[@CastleHives]

That’s an insane haul. . So awesome. Nothing like fresh honey. . 🍯

[@brucesbees]

Yes it is really good. Thanks!

[@lordmike9384]

excellent video bruce. thank you for sharing your methods and experience of growing a small bee business from the ground up. im a few hives behind you and your videos are great so show me how things should look in the near future if i play my cards right. great work guys!

[@GrammyMidwife]

Amazing! I would love to spend a day learning.

[@kentcostello8099]

OMG they are well oiled group. I love your videos and information. I hope to get that big soon. Keep it up and going please. 👍🏽🇺🇸🐝

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in and thanks for the support. It is a grind but we plan to keep plugging!

[@paulawaldrep9882]

That's a sweet situation! 😍🐝

[@mattsara2802]

That is a lot of honey 🍯

[@brucesbees]

Yes it is. More to come! We have been blessed so far this year for sure!

[@paulquerengesser2926]

You guys are busy bees.

[@padenclark2100]

It is so satisfying watching you fill those honey bottles at the end.

[@brucesbees]

It makes it all worthwhile. And it can be mesmerizing. Maybe I just need to do a video of me filling bottles haha!

[@LarryLeesBees]

That is the one thing I’m missing in my set up so far. I need to get one of those bottlers soon. Very nice!

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

Knocked it out in a hurry!!! Thanks Bruce!!

[@massachusettsprepper]

A very nice harvest indeed my friend. I won't get my first harvest until the middle of July. Thanks for sharing.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it’s very different down here. We will be mostly done in the next few weeks. Then we get to fight mites, hive beetles and angry bees for the rest of the summer and try to keep them alive lol...

[@massachusettsprepper]

@@brucesbees your harvest season comes and goes before ours ever gets started. At least by the time ours gets over, it's almost time to put the bees to bed for the winter LOL.

[@brucesbees]

Yes. It is interesting to me how our climate is much warmer but our honey season is much shorter than you guys up north. I guess the Lord knows what he is doing! 🙂

[@massachusettsprepper]

​@@brucesbees amen to that!

[@BlanchardsBees]

That's a lot of HONEY🍯

[@robertdemers702]

Pretty cool, so after everything is done do you have to power wash the equipment.

[@brucesbees]

Yes that is what he did I think. I was already gone replacing boxes on the hives when they cleaned up.

[@donbearden1953]

Bruce, great job! You said 31 for you and 3 for the other equals 34 - 5 gallon buckets. 34 x 5 = 170 gallons in 6 hours! I commented the other day that you would have 180 gallons in 6 hours, I missed the volume by 10 gallons and got the duration correct! Did all the workers eat 10 gallons or did I just miss on the volume? lol. Maybe you need to dock my estimation pay! lol 😂

[@brucesbees]

I hear ya lol. As you know when harvesting honey that even if you love honey by the end of the day it’s not really what you want for dinner lol. It is always a sticky mess but it was so much better to do it in a space that was designated for honey production instead of my one car garage! It was easier to stay clean and didn’t seem as messy. Your estimate was very close all things considered. Some of the boxes were not completely full. That might have been what threw you off🙂

[@williamkn621]

I hope to pull honey this year myself. Awesome.

[@brucesbees]

Great! Hopefully it will work out for you!

[@griffm5]

dumb question.....are there any bees flying around?

[@jezzyby47]

Approximately what percentage of the total harvest is Royal Jelly, Propolis, and just plain honey and how do you extract each of those into separate lots?

[@brucesbees]

I just harvest honey.

[@BeesBikinis]

Holy honey Batman!

[@brucesbees]

Yes lol! Thanks for checking in!

[@t_g_gamerftw5075]

Question. What is the motor specifications on that 20 frame extractor. Was going to build my own, since I have a 34 inch diameter food grade tank sitting around, rather than buying one 1200$, but haven't been able to find what kind of motor they use.

[@brucesbees]

I hav no idea. I am not super mechanically savvy. I usually just buy everything already put together. Wish I could be of more help to you.

[@shanetaylor7369]

How many production hives do you normally have? I'm doing my best to expand past my 10 hives

[@brucesbees]

I think we pulled honey from between 50 and 60 hives but I did not count. Keep working at it. You will get there!

[@lrdishman8692]

Bruce, first I really do enjoy your educational videos. I am a new beekeeper with a question. I have two strong hives and I want to split them so I was wondering if I should first harvest honey in early July and then make the split or split now. Also should I apply the 45 day mite treatment after splitting the hives. I live in North Alabama. Thanking you in advance.

[@brucesbees]

It really depends on your goals. If maximizing honey is you biggest goal then I would wait until after you harvest. If increasing numbers is your biggest goal then you could go ahead and split them now. I personally will wait until after I harvest from my production hives to split them if I decide to make more splits. Hope this helps. Lots of different ways to do things.

[@lrdishman8692]

@@brucesbees thanksI’ll harvest the honey and then split

[@lrdishman8692]

What concerned me was doing it this way would I be too late making the split

[@brucesbees]

It’s really a trial and error thing. Every area is a little different. Hopefully it will work out ok but there are no guarantees with bees.

[@DougJohnson-om3uw]

How many colonies produced this amount of honey?

[@brucesbees]

That was a while back and I can’t remember exactly. This year we had 9300 pounds from approximately 100 colonies or so.

[@zetectic7968]

Team work = successful honey harvest! How do you package it for sale? Glass jars?

[@brucesbees]

Mostly one pound squeeze bottles. Also do Muth glass jars or other jars on request. This year gonna try 2 lb bottles. Also do some pints for a local farm store. I seek a majority of mine to local stores.

[@yoopermann7942]

are you guys protected from WHINNEY THE POO ?? i wasnt one time and HE or him and his cousins raided my "WILD " harvest and made a GIANT MESS !! i havent been able to do a wild harvest in aout ten years now i sure miss doing that!! great video

[@brucesbees]

Yes lol. Fortunately no bears in this immediate area yet that I know of.

[@betorockatUSA]

Bruce, can you describe how this beautiful honey room controls the humidity?

[@brucesbees]

I don’t think it has a humidity control. But I am actually not sure.

[@ECP]

Quick Question.... why use the roller decapper ? Instead of cutting the cappings off with a knife? Just curious

[@brucesbees]

Way faster and more efficient.

[@ECP]

@@brucesbees more wax to strain from the spinner?

[@brucesbees]

Not significantly more. Actually not nearly as many cappings overall.

[@lifeunfiltered4822]

I have a new hive I got this spring and they were very docile and easy to work with at first but now they've so aggressive that I'm thinking about setting them on fire and giving up on beekeeping. I've been trying to ask for help figuring out what's going on and how to deal with them from my local beekeeping association but they're not able to help so far. I'm desperate, they're stinging me repeatedly even through the suit if I even get near them, and I can't even open the hive to mess with them at all.

[@brucesbees]

Wow. Sounds rough! My bees have their moments of meanness but are not usually that extreme. If possible you could try to requeen them but if that doesn’t work then you might need to euthanize them. If you end up doing that I would encourage you to try again though with some bees that are known for their gentle genetics. Most bees are not that crazy. I know what you mean though. If the bees are super defensive and aggressive it is not fun at all. Where are you located? Where did you get your bees?

[@lifeunfiltered4822]

@@brucesbees I'm in mississippi. I don't think its genetics since they weren't like this at first. They were very gentle, and this is a sudden change. But right now we can't even go outside without getting attacked. I've got kids, animals, elderly neighbors...so I'm panicking a bit. I can't even get near them, much less try to open the hive and pull out frames, even fully suited they manage to sting many times through my suit and of course that's not fun. I'm swollen on my face, head, neck, and arms right now and my daughter wanted to wash her car today and the bees swarmed her when she went outside. So I'm kinda desperate. I've asked around locally for help but there's nobody yet I've been able to find who could help. Of course I'm reading every article and watching every video...I know all the possible things it could be and fixes I can try...but how do I protect myself enough to avoid the stings while I try to do any of those things? My suit is nothing to them. I got them from a relatively local beekeeper with several years experience and none of his are doing this, and mine weren't at first either. I only just got them this spring.

[@brucesbees]

If they don’t calm down you might have to euthanize them. Even if queenless or some other situation they should not be this crazy. I think Dirt Rooster lives close to you but I have no idea how close. Maybe you could reach out to him. If you end up destroying them you shouldn’t give up and you should try again. All bees are definitely not like this. I do wonder if there is anyway they were somehow taken over by Africanized bees. I have heard that can happen. They definitely do not sound like typical European honey bees. I don’t think it is anything you are doing right or wrong. Something is definitely off.

[@jimhughes4765]

What tank are you using to fill the bottles? Looks very smooth.

[@brucesbees]

Maxant 15 gallon with no drip gate

[@brucesbees]

Game changer!

[@00kennedyp]

Where did you get the uncapper? Trying to see if I can purchase one in the UK

[@brucesbees]

Simple Harmony Farms.

[@brucesbees]

simpleharmonyfarms.com/uncapper

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

Those screens are the weak link. We finally just stopped using them let the wax float to the top skim it off.

[@brucesbees]

Not sure what you mean by weak link?

[@jamesnovinger3339]

Do you retail your honey or wholesale ? How good does the roller work? I use heated uncapping knife but it does damage the comb some.

[@brucesbees]

I sell it both ways. Before we bought the Simple Harmony Farms Uncapper we used a serrated knife. I’ve never been a big fan of the heated knives. We just use the pin roller to puncture nay cells we miss with the uncapper.

[@lrdishman8692]

Where did you say you were this morning. It sounded like Hartselle Alabama

[@brucesbees]

Hartford, Alabama. It was a week ago. Just got the video edited and posted. Thanks for checking in!

[@medic5836]

What does someone do with that much honey. I’ll be happy just to get 2 five gallon bucket this year

[@brucesbees]

I do my best to sell it. Last year we sold around 350 gallons worth. Hopefully people will continue to buy it. The demand has been high around here.

[@medic5836]

@@brucesbees wow that’s amazing the people that know the value of raw local honey will pay the price but the ones who don’t know and complain about the price don’t know the work that goes into it. Truly amazing 31 five gallon bucket of local raw honey. Try selling it to micro breweries they will buy it faster than you can make it. Good luck with the sells.

[@brucesbees]

Yes I know some people make mead but I don’t drink so would have no idea if it was good or not lol. I had a guy buy some from me awhile back to make mead with though.

[@larryschoenberger7957]

Wow awesome job guys, and gals as I see more than just two of you ended up with sticky fingers LOL

[@brucesbees]

Yes! Sticky indeed. 🙂

[@taylorboysoutdoors]

What kind of bag was that/ cheesecloth?

[@brucesbees]

5 gallon paint strainer from Lowe’s / Home Depot

[@taylorboysoutdoors]

Cool thanks

[@taylorboysoutdoors]

Be my first year extraction this year

[@brucesbees]

Good luck!

[@MERRLINN]

Is this honey from this year? Seems early

[@brucesbees]

Yes. Here in the south we are within a month of being pretty much done with honey. The season is early and short. We are in a really nice flow right now with tallow and when it is over then we only have minimal flow the rest of summer.

[@MERRLINN]

@@brucesbees thanks

[@tristonosborne5537]

Where do you sell most of your honey?

[@brucesbees]

I sell it to personal customers and word of mouth. I also have some local stores and businesses that sell it.

[@BackyardBeesNC]

That's not your official honey processing shirt :)

[@brucesbees]

Man you have to get your channel going again! Hope all is well with you my friend!

[@BackyardBeesNC]

@@brucesbees yeah, yeah, got on the local news the other day with my bees. link on my FB page

[@brucesbees]

Seems like you shut it down right when I gets rolling.

[@BackyardBeesNC]

@@brucesbees yeah, your doing good now

[@brucesbees]

@@BackyardBeesNC still have a long ways to go. It's hard to figure it all out for sure!