HONEY PROCESSING
Many species of bees collect nectar which they convert in to honey and store as a food source.
However, only bees which live together in large colonies store appreciable quantities of honey .
These are bees of the genus Apis and some of the Meliponinae (stingless bees).
Bees prepare honey mainly from the nectar of flowers, but other plant saps and honeydew are also
used. As each bee sucks the liquid up through its proboscis and into the honey sac, a small
amount of enzymes are added and water is evaporated. The enzymes convert sugars in the
nectar into different types of sugars - honeys always contain a wide range of sugars, varying
according to the nectar source. After the liquid has been placed in the cell of honeycomb, bees
continue to process it. The temperature of the hive is usually around 35C and this temperature
together with ventilation produced by fanning bees, causes further evaporation of water from the
honey. When the water content is less than 20% the bees seal the cell with a wax capping: the
honey is now considered 'ripe' and will not ferment.
Honey consists of a mixture of sugars, mostly glucose and fructose. In addition to water (usually
17-20% ) it also contains very small amounts of other substances, including minerals, vitamins,
proteins and amino acids. A very minor, but important component of most honey is pollen.
Processing
Honey should be processed as soon as possible after removal from the hive . Honey processing is
a sticky operation, in which time and patience are required to achieve the best results. Careful
protection against contamination by ants and flying insects is needed at all stages of processing.
It is important to remember that:
Honey is a food and it must therefore be handled hygienically, and all equipment must be
perfectly clean.
Honey is hygroscopic and will absorb moisture, therefore all honey processing equipment
must be perfectly dry. Too much water in honey causes it to ferment.
Honeycombs from top-bar hives or traditional hives
Cut-comb honey
Collect pieces of comb consisting only of
sealed and undamaged honeycomb, cut them
into neat portions and package them carefully
for sale. Since the honey in the comb is
untouched and is readily seen to be pure,
honey presented in this way fetches a high
price. Honey which has not been open to the
air has a finer flavour than honey which has
been subjected to processing in any way.
Strained honey
To prepare strained honey, remove the wax
cappings of the honeycomb with a knife and
break the combs into pieces, see Figure 1.
Make sure that you do not use unsealed
combs containing unripe honey or pollen.
Use a cotton cloth to strain the honey from
the pieces of honeycomb into a clean, dry
container. Strained honey must not contain
any trace of wax or other debris.
Figure 1: Remove the wax cappings from
the
honeycomb
