Basic Equipment
Q. What is needed to make honey?
Honey starts as flower nectar collected by bees, which gets broken down into simple sugars stored inside the honeycomb. The design of the honeycomb and constant fanning of the bees’ wings causes evaporation, creating sweet liquid honey. Honey’s color and flavor vary based on the nectar collected by the bees.
Q. What raw materials are used to make honey?
As you may know, the raw material for honey is nectar, a sugary liquid produced by flowering plants. The amount of nectar available for collection by bees is directly affected by environmental conditions such as precipitation and temperature.
- Basic Equipment. Bee hive.
- Frames and foundation. Wooden frames hold sheets of beeswax or plastic foundation that are imprinted with the shapes of hexagonal cells.
- Smoker. A smoker is the most valuable tool for working bees.
- Hive tool. Ideally shaped for prying apart supers and frames (Fig.
- Veil and gloves.
Q. How do I start beekeeping for beginners?
First things first: Take a beekeeping class in the fall or winter (around November or December). From there, order your bees and equipment. When your bees arrive in the spring (typically April), you’ll install your hive and spend the next 3-4 months feeding them a combination of sugar and water.
Q. Is honey farming profitable?
The short answer is yes, and beekeeping for profit extends far beyond simply selling your own honey. In fact, there are many ways to make money with beekeeping that most new and for-profit beekeepers aren’t aware of.
Q. Can I sell honey from home?
To sell honey anywhere, your honey must comply with FDA regulations, which includes labeling your honey correctly. If a plant or blossom is the primary honey source, you can include that (i.e. Clover honey). Second, the label must include the net weight of the honey, not including packaging.
Q. Does raw honey need to be cooked?
According to the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI), heating honey is contraindicated as it causes adverse effects. Cooking it deteriorates the quality and loses its essential enzymes and nutrients. Heated honey can actually produce delirious effects in the body and can be fatal at the same time.
Q. Can I put raw honey in my tea?
Whether you need to warm up or cool off—adding raw honey to a hot mug of tea can soothe, heal, and revitalize. For at least 2700 years, honey has been used to treat a variety of ailments, but only recently have the antiseptic and antibacterial properties of honey been chemically explained.
