The Beekeeper
Also referred to as an apiarist, a beekeeper is fundamentally a custodian of bees. While they own the hives, the bees themselves remain free to forage and leave the hive at their discretion.
When it comes to honey production, honeybees handle most of the labour, but without a beekeeper to create and maintain a suitable environment, the honey yeild will be quite low.
A beekeeper’s responsibility involves planning and organizing their hives for harvesting honey and other bees products, such as beeswax, either for personal use or commercial purposes. Additionally, farmers often rely on apiarists’ hives to pollinate their crops.
During the honey production season, beekeepers find themselves incredibly busy. Throughout winter, they prepare for the upcoming season by organizing and constructing hives, ensuring equipment is in good condition, inspecting winter hives, breeding colonies in anticipation of spring, and much more!
As spring arrives and honeybees begin to produce honey, our beekeepers will start to remove full frames of honey from the hives. This process can agitate the bees, so wearing protective gear is crucial to reduce the risk of stings. The recommended attire includes a complete bee suit with long sleeves and pants, a hood with a mesh veil, gloves, and boots.
An essential tool for beekeepers is the smoker, which has been used for centuries. It emits smoke to soothe the bees, allowing beekeepers to open the hive and work without triggering the colony’s defensive instincts.
Once full frames of honey are collected, the next task is to extract the honey from the wax comb using centrifugal force. Bees cap their wax cells to preserve the honey, so removing these caps is necessary for successful extraction. On a larger scale, this can be accomplished with an uncapping machine or a hot knife, carefully scraping away the caps.
After uncapping, the frames are placed upright in mesh baskets within the extractor. The spinning motion forces the honey out of the comb, allowing it to drip down inside the extractor and be pumped into storage tanks, ready for bottling.
Finally, the empty wax frames are cleaned and prepared for the bees to refills with honey! Any excess wax is melted down and shaped into moulds.
A Commercial Beehive
