Products of the Hive
By: Richard Wahl
Uses of Honey
The primary reason most new beekeepers get into the management of bees is to ultimately collect some honey. Initially, this might be to get just enough for personal use as an alternate sweetener (in place of granulated sugar) for baking, added to a cup of tea or even for the hope of harvesting a little extra that can be given to friends or sold at those ever present local farm markets or Fall craft bazaars. As the awareness of the benefits of this very natural sweetener have grown, so has the interest in many more individuals maintaining beehives for their own purposes.
The most frequently asked question I get when I take honey to sell at a local farmer’s market or retail craft store is, “Is it local honey?” Since I am lucky enough to have several farmers markets and numerous Fall craft bazaars in my immediate area the answer is, “Yes, I am quite local” usually able to add a given mileage of how near my apiary is. Why is there such interest in the honey being from a local source? There is a common belief that the residual pollen that stays in the honey produces an anti-allergic response. One could logically assume that small amounts of honey with its inherent pollen content might provide some element of anti-allergic defense. For a number of years when I first began selling honey, an elderly cousin of my father would buy a sixteen pound lot each year. He said he would take a tablespoon with his breakfast each morning as he believed it contributed to his continued health and longevity. He lived in good health to the age of 96. I once asked him how he came about this belief. His response was that as a young man he was once told by an elderly gentleman he knew that his secret to an old, healthy life was, “I eat a tablespoon of local honey each morning.” And that man he knew lived in good health to the age of 99. I have no medical background and would advise consulting with a practicing doctor before relying on this as any substitute for other medical interventions. But when paired with many of the other homeopathic remedies that I grew up with as a child in my household, I cannot help but believe there may be a grain of truth to this. While growing up, honey was a reliable tonic for sore throats or even to treat a bad sunburn. There are many studies that have found honey to have antibacterial properties, thus allowing injuries to heal without infection. There are also sources that can be found in many publications that laud the health benefits of using a naturally produced food product such as honey. One simply needs to look up unique or unusual uses of honey to find a host of different applications. One of the favorite uses of honey is in the making of lip balms or skin creams. Again, there are numerous websites that provide recipes for these substances. But it is not uncommon to see homemade lip balms or creams being sold by vendors who have added these items next to their honey sales.
Cut Comb Honey
When I first started selling honey at local craft bazaars and farmer’s markets, I was occasionally asked if I did cut comb honey. This apparently, was a familiar product that some of the older generation had grown up with and I then had to figure out exactly what it was and if I wanted to add it to my honey sales. The cut wax comb is edible, just like honey, and there is a belief that it has its own health benefits. Cut comb honey is exactly that, capped honey that is cut out of the honeycomb frame or from the top bar with the comb intact. This obviously does not work with commonly used plastic foundation or even with wax foundation that has wire supports through it, although some beekeepers use plastic filament fishing line that can be gently pulled out before the comb is cut. Thinner wax foundation can be purchased from most of the larger bee product companies or the bees can be given the space to start their own comb usually with a starter strip at the top to get them going. The best tender comb is made early in the nectar season and so the smaller comb frame supers or honey supers should be put on the hive as soon as the first good, Spring nectar flow occurs. Deep supers are not normally used for this due to the fragility of the comb in a larger frame. As soon as one sees snow white comb being made by the bees it is time to set cut comb frames on the hive. It is also a good choice to only put cut comb frames on very strong hives that will have a tendency to draw out new comb much faster than a hive that is just getting established. Another trick used by experienced beekeepers is to put nine frames evenly spaced in a ten frame super (or seven in an eight frame super) to get the bees to draw the comb out deeper. Once the comb is filled with honey and capped, it is cut out of the frame in squares that are then often placed in clear, square containers or jars sometimes with the remaining space filled with honey.
To ensure no hive beetle or wax moth eggs remain alive in the cut comb, it is advisable to freeze the comb at least overnight to kill any potentially hidden eggs. If the entire frame is frozen before cutting, wrapping it in plastic keeps the condensation out of the comb during the thawing process. A very sharp hot cutting tool is a must when cutting the comb in order to damage as few cells as possible. Cleaning the cutting tool after every cut also aids in making neat, clean cuts. Naturally there will be honey drips from the cut cells so working on a metal cookie sheet or over a piece of aluminum foil is a must, as long as the foil does not also get cut. The cut comb can be placed in containers and sold with or without additional honey backfill. If selling cut comb without honey backfill, care must be taken to not damage, squash or have honey drips on the comb as the cut new comb is very fragile and tender.
Creamed Honey
First of all, what is creamed honey? Honey that has crystallized with very small, smooth crystals is called creamed honey and is also known as spun, whipped or churned honey with a texture somewhere between peanut butter and mayonnaise salad dressing. The texture and color are the only difference from natural honey. The only ingredient in creamed honey is honey, there are no other additives. Creamed honey has smaller crystals that are round and smooth rather than that of the rougher texture of crystallized honey. Creamed honey can only be made from natural honey and cannot be made from most of the store bought, pasteurized honeys as most pasteurized honeys do not have a tendency to crystallize easily. There are several ways to make your starter for creamed honey. One method is to buy “seed” creamed honey from a known source. Seed creamed honey is merely a jar or container of previously creamed honey that you will use as the basis to make more creamed honey. It will be whitish in color, almost like mayonnaise. Once you have “seed” creamed honey, simply add one part of the creamed honey to seven to ten parts of your natural honey and maintain it at an ideal temperature of 50°F to 57°F (10°C-14°C). Stir this mixture three or four times with intervals of several hours between stirrings. In time, the mixture will take on a creamy white texture and is ready to be bottled. I like to start a batch and stir it each morning for about a week. The more often it is stirred and the longer it is allowed to develop, the creamier and more stable it becomes.
One can also begin with their own crystallized honey. Crystallized honey simply has larger granulated crystals which hold a rougher texture much like undissolved sugar, and in fact crystallized honey could be thought of as a super saturated sugar. A jar of crystallized honey left un-warmed can become a solid mass. Depending on the flower source, some honey will crystallize more rapidly than others. Clover honey tends to crystallize much faster than say, a tupelo honey which is very slow to become solid. Warming crystallized honey will bring it back to its normal state. However, temperatures above 110°F (43°C) can begin to destroy some of the valuable enzymes in natural honey. To turn crystallized honey into creamed honey, put the crystallized honey into a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and mix on medium speed for twenty minutes. An equal amount of un-crystalized honey can be added for a larger amount of creamed honey. A more tedious method used before the advent of mixers was to use a mortar and pestle with a bit of arm strength to crush the crystals. In either event, after about twenty minutes of mixing, a smooth creamy honey will result which can then be used as “seed” honey to make even more creamed honey. Many creamed honey aficionados like to use creamed honey as a spread on toast, bagels, rolls or muffins, add it to their tea, bowl of oatmeal or granola bowl. Those selling creamed honey as part of their product selection often charge prices as much as one and one-half more than that for the same amount of natural honey. The added cost is due to the additional processing steps.
Honey as a Rooting Hormone or Yellow Jacket Trap
Many beekeepers are just as interested in their pollinator plants as they are their bees. One interesting use of honey that I have found is to replace powdered plant cutting root hormones with honey. When taking a cutting that will normally root with the use of a synthetic rooting hormone, which is then placed in soil, substitute the cut end dipped in a bit of honey instead of the hormone. The natural anti-bacterial qualities of honey reduce the tendency for the cutting to rot off and at the same time, provide the necessary moisture content at the tip of the cutting to assist it getting off to a good start.
There is always that bit of honey left in the pie plate or container the strainer was left sitting in after use. This residual bit of honey that can be collected in the clean-up process and be put to good use in this manner. Residual waste honey can also be used in wasp and/or yellow jacket bee traps. At the top of a two liter plastic soda bottle where the curved area becomes a straight vertical side, make a cut completely around the bottle. Add one banana peel, one cup vinegar (or apple cider vinegar or apple juice) to one-half cup honey (or sugar) and one cup water to the remaining soda bottle. Invert the cut top and insert upside down into the remaining plastic bottle with the cap removed. Tape, staple or make cuts and folds to keep the inverted part above the liquid level in the bottle. Set this in an area where yellow jackets or wasps are a problem. For some reason, honey bees and other native bees do not seem to be attracted to this mix, but yellow jackets in particular are. They can get in through the narrow neck, but can’t find their way out. This is especially useful in Spring when new yellow jacket queens have emerged and are looking to start a new nest or during honey collection when opening hives seems to draw more yellow jackets and wasps.
Bee’s Wax
Another easily obtained product of the hive is beeswax. Once you reach the point where you are removing honey supers from the hive and decapping frames to extract the honey, the cast off wax cappings can be processed and the wax, once cleaned, used or sold. In our area, cleaned wax normally sells for around the same price per pound as one can get for their pound of honey. Wax can be melted down, cleaned and used to paint new foundation, make candles, lotions and creams or for other uses. I have cleaned wax using a variety of methods which I explain below. Two notes of caution:
1. Any container used to catch or separate debris from the wax or to catch the rendered wax will be almost impossible to use for any other purpose in the future. Previously melted wax is very difficult to completely remove from any surface.
2. Never melt wax over an open flame as the vapors and wax itself are very combustible and can cause a fire or ignite by spontaneous combustion if in a small enclosed area.
There are a variety of wax cleaning methods. I have tried using a solar wax melter which is no more than a closed box with a clear glass or Plexiglas top with the wax sitting on a screen mesh covered with a double layer of white cotton t-shirt or other tight weave cloth material. As the wax melts it will drip through the cloth material and the screen into a tub or pan below. The wax comes out very clean but it takes a hot, sunny, Summer day and can take days to complete even in my enclosed, very warm Summer greenhouse.
The tried and true method is to place as much raw wax as possible in a large pot. Add water to fill the pot to halfway and bring it to a boil over a hot plate. This is best done outdoors as there will be an odor given off. Once the wax and water are at a rolling boil it can be poured through a double cloth, old honey strainer or triple cheesecloth into another container to get rid of most of the debris. A five gallon bucket works well with a standard painter’s cloth strainer. I use wooden snap clothes pins around the top edge of the bucket to hold the paint strainer above a point where the wax will not reach it. This is particularly important if there is a lot of debris in the wax as the debris weight can pull the paint strainer lower into the bucket. The finer remaining debris can be scraped and rinsed off the bottom of resultant wax block after it cools. To get it really clean, it may take a second boil. After the first boil, the worst debris will be on the bottom, with a thin layer of sludge honey and then the wax floating on top. After a day or so your block of floating wax should come free from the side of the receiving container. If it doesn’t come out easily just warm the sides of the bucket or container with a blow dryer for a bit. I have also been told that a large urn coffee strainer works well. My final melt is normally using an old turkey roaster as described below.
Another method is to find a used turkey roaster at a garage sale. Use a piece of metallic window screen to form a depression under the cover of the roaster with a cloth layer over the screen. I use a double layer of washed white cotton T-shirt as the cloth layer which seems to catch any remaining wax debris. Be sure to have water in the roaster to about half full, but with room for the wax to float and not touch the screen. Bring the water to a boil and then set the roaster on the lowest setting – in about eight hours the wax should melt through. Be sure to check and add water if needed. Allow it to cool overnight and the shrinking, floating wax will usually be free from the sides of the roaster. It may take a second melt and replaced cloth to get the wax really clean.
Do not use clothes other than white as colored, print material may not be color fast. Don’t ask how I know this. Once the wax is clean it can be re-melted in a clean pot and poured into molds for candles, or used to paint new foundation, make lotions and creams or just sold.
Other Products from the Hive
Anything other than honey in its various forms that can be taken internally may follow an entirely different set of regulations. Legally, to sell other orally taken substances may require specific FDA regulations and production procedures in specialized facilities, not your typical home or honey house. Thorough research must be done to ensure all food laws, manufacturing facility requirements, documentation and labeling requirements are met if selling additional product lines. Careful study and research is also recommended even if only using any of the items noted below for your own use.
Bee Pollen
Often seen in bee sales catalogs are bee pollen collectors. Some beekeepers make it a point to collect pollen which can be used as a topping on cereals, yogurt or salad, or in smoothies or similar drinks. Bee pollen is a natural mixture of bee secretions, honey, enzymes, wax and flower pollen.
Take care if using pollen products as they may cause allergic symptoms. Make sure any labeling and regulatory rules are met as stated above if selling bee pollen.
Propolis
I make it a habit to scrape off the side, top and bottoms of my honey frames as well as the super indent rest where the frames sit after every honey harvest. This makes it easier to correctly space the honey frames in the cleaned super upon their next use. Most of the collected residue is propolis. As noted on page 70 in the September issue of Bee Culture Magazine, propolis has its own properties and use. Propolis is a resin-like material made by bees from the secretions of poplar and cone-bearing trees. It is renowned for its health benefits and is used by the bees to seal cracks in the hive and seems to help the bees fight against bacteria, viruses and fungi in the hive. I once worked with a new beekeeper and explained to her teenage son that propolis has a numbing effect if eaten raw. Ever the adventurous type, the teenager plopped a gum-sized bit in his mouth that I had just scraped of a newly removed honey super. Needless to say it numbed the left side of his mouth and his speech was a bit slurred for a few hours after chewing on that bit of propolis. Once collected, propolis can be dissolved and used as a tincture. Numerous sources explain the process of making the tincture and its uses or benefits which are outside the scope of this article.
Royal Jelly
Royal jelly is a whitish milky substance made by worker honey bees that is rich in carbs, protein, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Royal jelly is used as food for the queen bee. As such, it takes many queen cups where the bees are feeding royal jelly in order to collect enough to get sufficient quantities to sell. Royal jelly is normally collected when larva are about four days old. As such, it is quite expensive and outside the scope of what would be expected of a new beekeeper.
Bee Bread
Bee bread is a mixture of pollen, nectar and honey and is the main food source for the honey bee workers and larva. Bee bread consistency can vary greatly based on the source of the plants where bees are foraging. The harvesting and production of bee bread as a sales item is outside the scope of this column for beginning beekeepers and as such, I will leave the topic for the more advanced beekeeper.
Bee Venom
In addition to pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee bread, bee venom is also used as a component of apitherapy. Specialists in this field have seen bee sting venom as potential for treating inflammation and central nervous system diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Once again, this is far outside the scope of the new beekeeper and my only experience with bee stings is that it seems my arthritis problems disappear for quite a number of days after receiving a bee sting, which I try to avoid despite the resolution. All told, the honey bee (Apis mellifera) is an amazing creature with many of the hive products still being understood and researched for further applications. I hope this article has provided a greater understanding of the potentials still remaining along with some that may be readily employed by the new beekeeper. Have fun with your bees and try a new beehive by-product or two in addition to honey.