When to Remove the Honeycombs? Help With 3Bee Scales

Choosing the right time to remove the honeycombs is indeed very important not to lose honey and also to obtain a better quality in the case of monofloral honeys. Removing the honeycombs too early obviously leads to a loss of production, because we are not going to make full use of the bees' work by not bringing home some of the honey that could still be produced. But removing them too late can also entail risks: both because of the possibility of contamination of the monofloras with other nectars and because the bees can start to take it back, and very quickly too.

And for choosing the right time to remove the honeycombs the 3Bee technology comes to our aid very efficiently. The scales in fact signal us when the import is dropping and starting to stop, and that is the time to go and collect the honeycombs. Leaving the honeycombs on top of the hives when the importation is over means running the risk that the bees will be left with up to several kilograms of honey per day, especially in spring when the cold or bad weather returns or in summer when there is a drought.

Obviously, the best time to choose when to remove the honeycombs also depends on the type of honey we want to make, whether monofloral or millefiori. For the millefiori the indication given to us by the scale is sufficient. When the importation stops, it is good to go immediately to harvest. In the case of monoflora honeys, on the other hand, it is important to evaluate the flowering progress as well. In order to obtain a good product with a high degree of purity, it is essential to remove the honeycombs when flowering is over. This prevents other nectars from 'polluting' the product.

Therefore, keeping track of the flowering progress is necessary. It is also important to bear in mind that in hill and mountain areas, with different microclimates, the flowering of a plant can be different from slope to slope, from area to area, depending on altitude and exposure. Seeing, for example, a withered chestnut tree on a slope does not mean that the flowering of the chestnut tree is over in the range of our bees. But what if, when the flowering we were interested in is coming to an end, the scales tell us that the importation is continuing and perhaps in an interesting way? In this case it is good to go and remove the honeycombs to ensure the purity of the monofloral honey. You can then immediately give empty honeycombs so that that flow of nectar is not lost. It will be seen at honey extraction whether it can still be considered monoflora or labelled as an excellent millefiori.

Someone might also ask another question, however: what if at the right time to harvest the honeycombs indicated by the scales and the flowering trend, some honeycombs do not yet have the right moisture content to extract them? No problem, they can be de-hydrated in the honey house. Stay up to date on the innovative monitoring systems by 3Bee and all the news from the beekeeping world.