Our First Honey

And honey we did find! It was likely several years old, but thankfully, honey doesn’t spoil. Thrilled with our discovery—especially since it was our first attempt—we carefully removed the honey and brought it home to start the extraction process.

This was my introduction to what’s known as capped honey. The frame holding it hangs in the hive, providing a structure for the bees to build on. Bees collect liquid nectar from plants, deposit it into the comb, and then fan it with their wings to remove excess moisture. This prevents spoilage. Once the honey is ready, they seal it with a wax cap to preserve it for future use.

To release the honey, the capped cells need to be uncapped, allowing the honey to start seeping out. We did that by scraping over the cappings with a fork. Once uncapping is complete, the frames are placed into an extractor. This device is a large metal tub equipped with racks to hold the beehive frames. The extractor spins the frames at high speed and the centrifugal force flings the honey out, where it is collected in the tub.

The extracted honey is rich and natural, but it also contains impurities like dead bees, propolis (a resin-like substance bees use to seal cracks in their hives), and bits of wax. To ensure the honey is clean and pure, we filter it to remove these unwanted particles.

After using a honey filter, we avoid any additional refining to preserve the honey's natural flavor, sweetness, and nutrients. We then bottle the honey in sterilized jars with sealed lids, ensuring it remains fresh until it’s ready to be enjoyed.