One of our members keeps bees, and she and her partner invited us to join them to learn how to extract honey from the hives. Before our arrival, they had already lifted the trays from the hive and were ready to demonstrate how to access the honey safely.
The first step was to “de-cap” the thin wax from the top of the honeycombs; samples were then taken to test the water content of the honey. Did you know that this has to be below 20%? The trays were then spun in a kind of centrifuge for five minutes; after this, the honey could be collected, filtered and decanted into hexagonal jars.
It was a highly enjoyable and informative evening; everyone came away knowing far more about the process. On a very hot evening, we all cooled down with a delicious honey and mint mimosa, and went on our way with a jar of delicious Sheffield honey to enjoy!
