Tag Archives: bees

honey press

Pressing honey

I was very luck last week. I got to take part in the pressing of two boxes of honey from the apiary. Sean Hearn, is the man in charge of all things “bee” at Organic Lea. Through him, I’ve had my first introduction to the style of bee husbandry called “natural bee keeping” which I first wrote about here.

Natural bee keeping is much different than the more commonly practiced or industrial bee keeping, and the more I research different aspects, the more I find myself feeling that the natural method is more to my liking.

Following on from these differences, it should not be a surprise to learn that the process of honey extraction is another area where Sean steers away from the common industrial methods. I remember seeing a program about an off grid couple in the Blueridge mountains in the Appalachian mountain range who had top bar hives. Unfortunately the program was quite light in detail, but the woman did mention “pressing” the comb was the only way they had to release the honey.

I am not a cheap person when it comes to tools, nor am i frivolous. I believe that buying the best tools once is the best investment. When it came to a “honey extractor” I just didn’t like the notion of having a piece of equipment sit around for most of the year because it had only one use. When Sean said I could join the team for pressing, I was very excited but I had no idea how much that afternoon would teach me.

Foremost, wanted to know why Sean felt pressing was a better method than using a centrifuge extractor. I expected it was going to be a similar reason to my own conclusion, that a tool with one use that was used so infrequently wasn’t a good investment but to my surprise this turned out to be quite low on his list.

You see when bees gather nectar, that nectar includes  vitamins and minerals from the plant, the bee process it adding important enzymes and probiotics all in tiny trace amounts. When a bee fills a comb with her honey it is then capped off from the air and it all stays sealed inside.

Harvesting honey requires “uncapping” of the cells. In industrial operations, the uncapped honey gets inserted into a centrifuge which spins with such force air forces the honey out to the sides of the barrel where it drips down into a bucket. The process relies on air. Unfortunately, exposure to air releases some of the enzymes and probiotics. Thus the honey loses a significant amount of it’s original ingredients.

Cold pressing honey relies on pressure to force the honey out of the comb and while it still has contact with some air in the process of reaching the bucket below, this is reduced. Less of those important enzymes and probiotics are lost. Sean, and many other natural bee keepers believe that by retaining as much of these ingredients the honey is closer to it’s natural state and thus nutritionally superior.

I am a honey lover, but that day in the kitchen I tasted something far richer and more complex than even that which I have bought in local markets. It makes me wonder if that might have been the first real honey I have ever tasted?

Perhaps you have heard that honey was at one time considered a healing substance or even a cleanser? I have and I’ve often wondered. It seems logical that honey in it’s purest form was the start of these assertions. Perhaps modern technology, although faster has led us to harvests that may be high in efficiency but falling short on quality.

bees2

Swarming is important

I ‘ve done a lot of searches on the internet in preparation for my eventual acquisition of bees for our Norwegian smallholding. Like many folks I have seen the media reports on how our bees are dying and am worried. I know bees aren’t our only pollinators but I love honey, and of course I want our pollination rates to be as high as possible, so having a pair of hives on our land seems an obvious choice. The more I learn about bees the more interesting they become to me. It’s a topic I can see myself delving into over decades, one like sustainable farming, I will always be learning more about.

I’ve watched numerous documentaries from all over the world. Devoured information on Skep, main stream National and Topbar hives and read dozens of blogs. By and large, it seems most sources are of the opinion that a bee keeper must prevent swarming. In fact, a bee keeper who allows his bees to swarm is widely regarded as a “bad bee keeper.” Perhaps it is my lack of practical skills with bees or a fundamental misunderstanding on my part, but when I read about swarming, my first reaction was excitement. I just kept thinking, “A new colony, fantastic!” The negativity confused me.

I remained confused for quite some time and then I met Sean Hearn, who has one of his apiary set ups at the farm I train at. I was lucky enough to be able to assist Sean a few times over the last few months and while doing so he patiently answers my queries. He was also the first person to give me an answer about swarming that made sense to me.

Sean, although trained in traditional bee keeping, is one of a small number of bee keepers who subscribe to what is either called “sustainable or natural bee keeping” a school of thought where minimal interference is practiced, chemicals avoided and focus is on both the hive’s health as well as production of honey.

As under the gun to learn as much as possible as I feel I never seem to get as much time with the mentors on the farm as I would like or probably need and Sean is no exception, but I’ve found his blog quite good as an additional source of information.

Natural bee keeping is vastly different from industrial counterpart. To fully appreciate how radical it is you need to understand traditional or industrial methodology first. This podcast where Sean speaks to the folks at 21stCenturyPermaculture points out some of the main differences is quite good as a starting point. The subject is quite broad of course, but the cord that first resonated with me is the point of swarming.

Natural keepers accept swarming. The swarm is actually the hive reproducing itself and to prevent this, is to take away the ability to reproduce naturally. This is much akin to comparing an F1 plant to the open pollinators.

I know already which sort I believe to be important for our future.