How To: Extract honeybee honey from backyard harvesting beehives

If you already have the skills for amateur beekeeping, as outlined in Mary Reilly's previous video, then it's time to start harvesting the honey from those honeybees. Mary shows the fruits of her busy hive and demonstrates honey extraction techniques. Mary and Kelsey Clark suit up in heavy-duty garb to sweep irritated bees from the hive frames. The comb on each frame is then raked to expose the honey. Then the frames are placed in an extractor that spins out the liquid gold using centrifugal force. Once filtered and jarred, honey is ready to use or give as a sweet and thoughtful gift.

Equipment for Extracting Honey

* heavy gloves
* heavy-duty pants tucked into boots
* head netting/veil
* smoker
* hive tool/retainer to pull frames out
* bee brush
* damp towel
* sharp comb or heated knife
* extractor centrifuge
* plastic pail for collecting honey from extractor
* mesh strainer
* jars with lids

For Winterizing the Hive

* sugar water feeder
* newspaper to be placed under the top super
* tar paper to wrap around the hive(s)