Budapest beekeeping startup

Farmers Market; Tánczos selling Acacia and Linden honey

András describes the bumble bee colony 

 

Zoltan led the honey extraction and honey tasting 

Examining brood comb

 

As a young person, my dad, amongst his other farming community chores, kept beehives in Bakonyjákó, Hungary. Visiting this farming community was on my bucket list, and since work sent me to a conference in Vienna, Austria, I could not resist a piggyback visit to Hungary.

In preparation for the trip, we contacted a Hungarian-speaking guide. Also, I had ChatGPT create a list of common beekeeping terms in English, Hungarian, and the Hungarian phonetic pronunciation. I spent hours repeating out loud the bee vocabulary and listening to Google Translate. Warning, others say I can be annoying in my repetitive habits.

Unexpected first contact with a beekeeper
Setting off from Budapest by car to Bakonyjákó, a wrong turn for lunch brought us to a farmers' market. At the first food stall, we met Tánczos selling honey. Without any spoken words required, I was offered a wooden tongue depressor and jumped into honey tasting. The guide helped me understand that the two varietal honeys are acacia and linden. I spoke to the beekeeper using my limited German and discovered my new friend has 30 hives.

An afternoon with a beekeeping startup, Mézerderdő méhészet
Our guide found a beekeeping activity for us. András greeted us at the entrance of the startup wearing a green hoodie with the text, Méhész vagyok, mi a szupererőd? The guide whispered, “I’m a beekeeper - what’s your superpower?” Three years ago, Zoltan and András purchased a plot of land at the edge of Budapest, and they now run a part-time beekeeping startup focused on what appears to include insect education, beekeeping experiences, and honey sales. The plot supports 50 hives, all with vigorous flight activity, and colonies kept in two box styles. Half of the hives were traditional Hungarian style of boxes, all of the same size, and the other half a mix of box heights, including a very tall deep box.

The afternoon was shared with 30 paying visitors who split into two groups. We set off with András and started by looking at their native and commercial bumble bee hives. My ChatGPT vocabulary is only vaguely useful, perhaps confused in translation, but the guide says family when describing a colony. I’ll guess that these guys interchange the words colony and family when speaking to visitors. Their relaxed and playful style of education wins the trust of the crowd. Somehow, the visit and the word family (instead of colony) shifted my perception, and I find myself in a The Matrix movie moment. The beekeeping experience includes passing around honey supers and brood comb, extraction of a few frames, honey tasting, and more honey tasting. These guys are living the life, and it felt like I had run away with the circus.

Saying goodbyes, I had more questions for András and found him smoking a cigarette - yeah, this is beekeeping in Hungary, and smoking is part of the relaxation culture.

crush and strain 2021

Here's my crush and strain experience so far this year:

bee yard activities:

• inserted a triangular bee escape beneath a deep box and next day removed 8 fat deep frames 
• halfway (8 steps) between hive and Storage Tote brushed small number of bees from the frame
• one deep frame donated to "May 10th" swarm and remaining frames taken indoors
  

 kitchen activities:

• attached (with blue painter's tape) brown paper on floor and cabinets
• placed food safe 5 gallon bucket on brown paper and attached combcapper
  
• plugged frame into combcapper and cut capped comb from frames with paring knife
• crushed comb with 2 inch Plastic Joint Knife attached to a pole
  
• filtered crushed comb with small mesh fabric strainer and bottler stack - yielded 3.4 gallons (12.9 liters) of honey 
• in 3 cycles, I used 1 cup of water, coarse cotton fabric and a 5qt round slow cooker set on high for 1.75 hours to catch wax impurities which resulted in 1.54 lbs (700 gm) of wax

harvest 2020

 

Notice the thin stripe above the 3rd box (count from the bottom), it's the triangular bee escape. 24 hours prior, I added the escape so that I can harvest frames above the escape without disturbing the vast majority of bees. I found more bees than expected during harvest and the reason can be seen in the third photo, a frame of brood.

I brushed off bees from harvested frames halfway between the hive and the plastic tub (2nd photo) - which is twenty steps away from the hive. 

I've not shown the crush and strain harvest of 5 fat frames which yielded 1.4 gallons of honey.

bottling 2019

Here's my over-the-stove ergonomic bottling setup. Not shown is my homemade pail perch which helps exclude white foam.

These yellow caps contain a drip-less valve for upside-down storage.  I attach a upside-down label to my third hand (T-square), then transfer the label to the bottle.   Not perfect, but this process helps appropriately place the label.

crush and strain 2019

We worked in the middle of the kitchen floor to contain the sticky clean-up.  Imagine a compact vertical stack - from the bottom up: 

• brown paper
• food safe 5 gallon bucket
• combcapper
• medium frame of capped honey. 

Sagar and Quin (co-workers) cut comb with a paring knife from foundationless frames. Comb was crushed in the bucket using a 2 inch Plastic Joint Knife attached to a pole.

Crushed comb was poured into the strainer bottler and left to sit for a few days so that foam (tiny air bubbles) can rise before bottling.

After cutting away honey comb, frames are returned to the Storage Tote. Over-night, honey dripped into the Tote and were captured too. Sticky frames were stacked outside in a location away from the hives.  Bees assisted with the final honey clean-up of sticky frames - a circle of life scene which reminds me of sky burial.

In the 3rd photo, I used a slow shutter iPhone app.  Crawling bee behavior looks like white dots while flying behavior looks like brown lines (classic multiple exposure).

harvest 2019

Click on the first photo and notice the thin stripe above the 3rd box (count up from the botttom), it's the triangular bee escape. 24 hours prior, I added the escape so that I can inspect frames above the escape without disturbing the vast majority of bees. I placed a plastic tub twenty steps away from the hive and a few remaining bees were brushed from the frame halfway between the hive and the plastic tub. Harvesting frames went so smoothly that I began to doubt why did I wear a hoodie.

Click on the second photo, this is a stunning example of comb building using foundation-less frames.  What I found unusual is that all the honey cells are completely capped.

Most likely my honey surplus will be considerably smaller than last year. In the third photo, frames are blue tape sealed inside the plastic tub and ready for the next step which is to cut out the comb.  More about this in the next blog post.

Georgia Prison Beekeeping

I made a final bid in MABA's picnic and live auction. Anything is possible with the hard work of dedicated GBA volunteers and Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. I love the light colored honey and label created by prisoners at Lee Arrendale State Prison, a women's facility.

Follow this link to a article in Atlanta Magazine, At Georgia’s Arrendale State Prison, women inmates forge a bond by keeping bees.

Atlanta Community Food Bank

A long term goal met - an Atlanta Community Food Bank donation of 21 lbs of honey.   In 2017 there was no surplus honey.   This year, the favorable spring climate helped the flowers and honey bees produce lots of surplus honey - enough for friends, neighbors and the Food Bank.  Thank you to all my friends who helped with the crush and strain harvesting.

Please visit the Food Bank. Today's Food Bank is more sophisticated than a warehouse and distribution center for macaroni and cheese boxes or canned goods.   

ergonomic bottling

Here's a photo during my fourth round of bottling.  Also shown is the last phase of bottling where I tilt the bottler with a homemade pail perch. 

Kitchen cabinets limit my ergonomic bottling options, but there's one place!   Over the stove and with the help of a short four legged stool, I can comfortably stand and bottle honey.   Repetitive bottling can be a literal pain in the neck if I don't create a proper work environment.

Just a coincidence, but the sturdy four legged stand is decorated with a stylized bee.

crush and strain simplified

It's called crush and strain, but there are surrounding steps to this simple slogan.  My honey harvest starts with the bee escape and ends with bottling.  So that foam can rise before bottling, strained honey is left to sit for a few days. With just one 5 gallon bottler, lots of honey and a busy day job, I had to modify my sequential honey harvest process.

Lucky for me, Home Depot sells food safe 5 gallon buckets - I bought two buckets to store crushed comb (wax and honey).  When the bottler becomes available, then I pour crushed comb into the strainer bottler. 

I'm trying to avoid making a large horizontal sticky mess in the kitchen.   So, I work in the middle of the kitchen floor.  Imagine a compact vertical stack - from the bottom up: brown paper, 5 gallon bucket, combcapper and medium foundationless frame of capped honey. In under an hour, Melissa and Dillon help cut comb from 14 frames with a paring knife.  Comb is crushed in the bucket using 2 inch Plastic Joint Knife attached to a pole.

crush and strain with Combcapper

Combcapper gadget simplified my crush and strain process.  I'm not using the supplied nail and cut the medium foundationless frame down in thirds, guiding each 1/3 piece by hand into the 5 gallon bucket.  The combcapper holds the frame securely - an essential element when using a sharp paring knife. Michael Willis, coworker and beekeeper, helped me in the kitchen extracting 12 frames which yielded 4 gallons of strained honey.

small honey label

I'm using a new source for custom printed honey labels.   Vistaprint has a honey bee graphics as a design, but I decided to upload my own image/design.     To form a circular image, I used Picasa.  Here's a link to advice from a Picasa user  "Go to the last editing tab and then to "Borders"..  Slide "Corner Radius" to the right (all the way) and make the outer colour white or what ever colour you want."

bottle without white foam - pail perch

I was able to eke out a few more bottles of honey without white foam by tilting the pail. This homemade pail perch requires an extra pail lid, 2x4 scraps, fender washers and wood screws. For stability, a string connects the pail handle and pail perch.  To counterweight the tilted pail, I borrowed a heavy canned good from the pantry.

Before tilting the pail, I left a generous amount of time for bubbles to rise then I bottled honey to a point just above the honey gate.  After tilting the pail, I let the bubbles rise again before bottling the remaining honey.   

adulterated honey

While working in Asia, I googled "local Taiwan honey" which led me to a puzzling topic of adulterated honey. I'm not discussing mouse droppings, but cheap sweeteners added to store bought honey.  Have a look at this YouTube and a link to Food Safety Magazine. 

Rowse Honey TV Advert 2015

I discovered a humorous advertisement in the UK.

sky burial - stack of sticky frames after crush-and-strain

I'm complaining about a good problem, too many frames of capped honey.  I credit the success mostly to honey bees from over-wintered hives and favorable Atlanta spring weather.  

I purchased a Sterilite® ClearView™ Storage Tote - Transparent with White Lid 66Qt. from Target.  The 12.25 " H x 16.25 " W x 23.5 " L dimensions are ideal for the storage of 15 medium frames of capped honey - the maximum processing capacity of the 2 (5-gallon) bucket strainer and bottler.

I'm using a a third 5-gallon bucket and a plastic scraper attached to a pole to thoroughly crush the honey comb.   I'm not a solo act - Ram, Melissa and Dillon volunteered to help - not counting the kitchen clean-up and hanging brown paper, the crush-and-strain process takes about 30 minutes.

After cutting away the honey comb, the frames are returned to the Storage Tote.  Over-night, a considerable amount of honey drips into the Tote and I captured these honey dripping too.  As seen in the photo, I stacked the sticky frames outside and in a location away from the hives.   The bees assist with the final honey clean-up of the sticky frames - a circle of life scene which reminds me of sky burial.

crush and strain 2012

The day before the crush and strain, I removed eight deep frames of capped honey from the freezer and left the frames to thaw inside their plastic bag.  I cut away the honey comb and nearly filled a five gallon bucket - probably the limit of my strainer. 

Including preparation and clean-up, the entire crush portion took just one hour - a new record.  Here's my best effort with a material balance.

• 48.0lb of honey + 8 deep frames + wax
• 42.6lb of honey + wax
• 37.0lb of honey

After two days of straining, stirring and settling, I filled 73 x 8oz bottles of honey.

I rinsed the wax pieces in warm water and dried those pieces on the sunny driveway.  Next, I placed the pieces in bags which are stored in the freezer until I was ready to use the solar melter.  Sounds extreme, but a few years ago wax moths made a complete mess of unprocessed wax which I left  indoors.

Coincidentally, I started the solar melting during Atlanta's all-time record of 106°F.   The block of wax smells great and has a beautiful deep yellow color - I'm blown away.

triangular bee escape

Puzzled why I did not use this triangular bee escape sooner, but after many years in storage, I gave it a try.  The picture shows the interesting triangular side of the bee escape, but remember that this side faces downwards.  I added the bee escape beneath an 8 frame deep super with capped honey.  Above the deep super, I closed the small vent notch of the inner cover.

After twenty four hours most of the bees cleared the deep super except for a small patch of bees beneath the inner cover hole and another small patch associated with drone brood. After removing the bee escape, I found that bee escape exit passages were not blocked by drones--which I heard was a problem with other bee escape designs.

crush and strain honey

Each deep frame of capped honey comb was wrapped in a large plastic bag and put in the freezer a few weeks ago.  Freezing allowed me to postpone the crush and strain and kill any trace of small hive beetle larva.  The day before the crush and strain, frames were removed from the freezer and left to thaw inside their plastic bag. 

Comb was cut away from the frame in 3 parts and dropped into a 5 gallon bucket.  Nearly 6 deep frames of capped honey comb filled the bucket to the top.  Last year, instead of using a complete sheet of wax foundation, each frame was started with a narrow strip of  wax foundation.   What a pleasure that none of frames were wired.  So, I did not have to hassle with cutting away wire.   

I reused the cardboard and packing paper from Brushy Mountain before sending both to recycling.   The cardboard was reused twice, first to catch glue and paint drops (from assembly of deep hive body) and then to cover the kitchen floor during crush and strain.  Packing paper was used to cover the cabinet doors which sped up the kitchen clean-up too.  Including preparation and clean-up, the entire crush portion took just two hours--seems a lot easier than last year.

After straining and settling, nearly 6 deep frames of capped honey fills 40 x 8oz bottles of honey.

crush and strain

In the past, crushing honey comb using a hand scrapper on the kitchen counter top required lots of sticky clean-up.  Backwards Beekeepers inspired me to change the crush portion of my honey harvesting process.  I purchased a 2 inch plastic knife ($.98), a 5 gallon bucket ($3.98) and lid ($.98).  The plastic knife was attached to 1/2 inch CPVC pipe using stainless steel machine screws and stainless steel nylon lock nuts.  A plug added to the end of the CPVC pipe prevents the honey from entering the CPVC pipe.  I am not concerned with puncturing the bucket as the knife moves very slowly through the viscous honey comb mash.  This 8-frame medium super contains 30lb of honey comb or 24lb of honey (43 8oz bottles).