How to Harvest Honey: Complete Beginner's Guide

Harvesting your first honey is one of beekeeping's most satisfying moments. You've invested months of work, and now you get to enjoy the sweet reward. But harvest too early, take too much, or do it wrong, and you could harm your colony or end up with spoiled honey. This guide covers everything: when to harvest, how much to leave, and every step of the extraction process.

When to Harvest Honey

Timing your harvest correctly is critical. Harvest too early and your honey will have excess moisture and ferment. Harvest too late and you might rob your bees of their winter stores.

The 80% Rule

Only harvest frames where at least 80% of the cells are capped with wax. Bees cap honey when its moisture content drops below 18%—the threshold for long-term storage. Uncapped honey contains too much water and will ferment in the jar.

To check: pull a frame and look at both sides. If you see mostly white wax cappings with only scattered open cells, it's ready. If more than 20% is uncapped, put it back and check again in a week.

Seasonal Timing

Most beekeepers in North America harvest between late June and early September, depending on local nectar flows:

Don't harvest after September in cold climates. Bees need time to prepare for winter, and any disruption risks their survival. In warmer climates with longer seasons, you may have a fall flow that extends harvest into October.

Signs Your Hive is Ready

• Honey supers are heavy – A full medium super weighs 35-40 lbs; a deep weighs 60-80 lbs
• Frames are mostly capped – White wax covers the honey cells
• The main nectar flow has ended – Bees are less active, foragers returning with less
• Brood boxes have adequate stores – Don't rob Peter to pay Paul

How Much Honey to Leave for Bees

This is where new beekeepers make their biggest mistake: taking too much. Your bees need honey to survive winter (or dearth periods in warm climates). If you take their stores, you'll be feeding sugar all winter—or worse, they'll starve.

Rule of thumb: Leave all honey in the brood boxes (the bottom 1-2 boxes). Only harvest from honey supers you added specifically for surplus. If you're unsure whether your bees have enough, don't take anything—better to have bees than honey.

Equipment You'll Need

For Removing Frames

• Bee suit and gloves – Bees get defensive when you take their honey
• Smoker – Calm the hive before removing supers
• Bee brush or leaf blower – Clear bees from frames
• Bee escape board (optional) – Lets bees exit super overnight, makes removal easier
• Covered container or empty super – To transport frames without robbing

For Extraction

• Uncapping knife or fork – Removes wax cappings (a hot knife works best)
• Uncapping tank or tub – Catches cappings and wax
• Extractor – Manual or electric spinner that flings honey out of frames. See our extractor reviews
• Strainer or filter – Removes wax bits (200 micron or double strainer)
• Food-grade buckets – 5-gallon with honey gate for bottling
• Jars – Clean, dry, food-safe glass or plastic

Budget tip: Many local bee clubs have extraction equipment you can borrow or rent. This saves hundreds of dollars if you only harvest once or twice a year. Browse extractors on Amazon →

Removing Frames from the Hive

Getting honey out of the hive without bringing a thousand angry bees into your kitchen requires some technique. Here are three methods:

Method 1: Bee Escape Board (Easiest)

A bee escape board is a one-way door. Place it between the brood boxes and honey supers 24-48 hours before harvest. Bees move down to the brood area and can't get back up. When you return, the super is nearly bee-free.

Pros: Minimal disruption, nearly bee-free frames
Cons: Requires two trips to the hive, doesn't work if there's brood in the super

Method 2: Brush and Shake

The traditional method: open the hive, smoke it lightly, and remove frames one at a time. Give each frame a firm shake over the hive to dislodge most bees, then brush off stragglers with a soft bee brush. Place cleared frames immediately into a covered container to prevent robbing.

Pros: One trip, works anytime
Cons: Time-consuming, bees get agitated, you'll still have some hitchhikers

Method 3: Fume Board (Fastest)

A fume board with bee-repellent (like Fischer's Bee-Quick or Bee-Go) drives bees out of supers in minutes. Apply the repellent to the fume board, place it on top of the super, and wait 3-5 minutes. The smell drives bees down into the hive.

Pros: Very fast, minimal bee contact
Cons: Some products smell awful, doesn't work well in cool weather

Extraction Methods

Once your frames are in a bee-free workspace, it's time to get the honey out. There are two main approaches:

Centrifugal Extraction (Most Common)

This is the standard method for Langstroth hive users. You uncap the frames, place them in an extractor, and spin them. Centrifugal force flings the honey out while preserving the comb for reuse.

Step 1: Set Up Your Workspace

Work indoors or in a screened area. Cover floors with plastic—honey gets everywhere. Have all equipment clean and ready: uncapping tools, uncapping tank, extractor, strainer, and buckets.

Step 2: Uncap the Frames

Using a hot knife, electric uncapping knife, or uncapping fork, slice off the wax cappings to expose the honey beneath. Work over an uncapping tank that catches the cappings (these contain honey too—you'll strain it later).

Cut close to the cell walls but don't gouge into the comb. Move smoothly from top to bottom. An electric hot knife makes this much easier.

Step 3: Load the Extractor

Place uncapped frames in the extractor, making sure it's balanced (frames of similar weight opposite each other). For tangential extractors, you'll need to flip frames and spin both sides. Radial extractors do both sides at once.

Step 4: Spin

Start slowly and gradually increase speed. If you spin too fast too soon, you can blow out the comb, especially with new wax. Extract one side partially, flip, extract the other side, then go back to finish the first. For radial extractors, just spin gradually faster.

Honey collects at the bottom of the extractor. Open the gate periodically to let it drain into a bucket through a strainer.

Crush and Strain (No Equipment Needed)

If you use top-bar hives or foundationless frames, or just don't have an extractor, you can crush the comb and strain out the honey. This destroys the comb, so bees must build new wax (which costs them honey), but it's simple and requires no equipment.

1. 1. Cut comb out of frames and place in a large bucket or pot
2. 2. Crush the comb with a potato masher or your hands (wear gloves)
3. 3. Pour the crushed mixture through a strainer or cheesecloth into a clean bucket
4. 4. Let it drain for 24-48 hours—gravity does the work
5. 5. The wax stays in the strainer; honey drips through

This method takes longer but produces beautiful raw honey with minimal processing. You can render the leftover wax for candles or other products. Learn how to process beeswax.

Straining and Bottling

Straining

Raw honey contains bits of wax, propolis, pollen, and occasionally a bee part or two. Straining removes these while keeping all the good stuff (unlike ultra-filtered commercial honey that strips out pollen).

Use a double strainer (coarse on top, fine on bottom) or a 200-400 micron nylon filter. Let honey drain through—don't force it. This can take several hours.

Settling

After straining, let honey sit in a covered bucket for 24-48 hours. Air bubbles and any tiny wax bits rise to the surface. Skim off the foam before bottling for a clearer product.

Bottling

Use clean, dry jars—any moisture will cause fermentation. Glass mason jars are classic and economical. For selling, consider hex jars, muth jars, or squeezable plastic bears.

If your bucket has a honey gate (a valve at the bottom), bottling is easy: just open the gate and fill jars. Otherwise, use a ladle or pump.

Label with the date and floral source if known. Store in a cool, dark place. Properly harvested honey never spoils—archaeologists have found 3,000-year-old honey that was still edible.

After the Harvest

Return the "Wet" Supers

After extraction, frames still have a thin coating of honey. Place the empty ("wet") supers back on your hives at dusk. Bees will clean every drop overnight, and you can store the dry frames for next year.

Don't leave wet supers out in the open—it triggers a robbing frenzy that can destroy weak colonies.

Store Your Equipment

Dry, extracted frames attract wax moths if stored improperly. Freeze frames for 48 hours to kill moth eggs, then store in sealed plastic bins or keep them on the hive until you need the space.

Clean your extractor and buckets thoroughly. Honey crystallizes if left to dry, making future cleanups harder.

Process the Cappings

Your uncapping tank will have a mix of wax and honey. Let it drain for a day or two (the honey slowly separates). You'll get "cappings honey"—some beekeepers say it's the best of the batch. The remaining wax can be melted, cleaned, and used for candles, lip balm, or furniture polish.

First Year Expectations

Some first-year hives in excellent locations with strong nectar flows do produce surplus. But going in with the mindset that year one is about building a strong colony—not filling jars—will save you disappointment.

If your hive seems heavy and supers are filling late summer, you might get a small harvest. But when in doubt, leave it. A living colony is worth far more than a few pounds of honey.

Honey Yields: What to Expect

How much honey can you expect from a hive? It varies enormously based on location, weather, colony strength, and hive management. Here are rough averages for surplus honey (what you can harvest after leaving enough for bees):

One medium super of fully capped honey yields roughly 25-30 pounds. A deep super holds 40-60 pounds. If your bees fill two medium supers beyond their winter needs, you're doing well.

Enjoy Your Harvest

There's nothing quite like eating honey you've harvested yourself. Every jar represents months of your bees' work—millions of flower visits, thousands of miles flown. Handle it with respect.

Share it with friends and family. Sell the surplus at farmers' markets (learn how to sell honey locally). Give it as gifts. Save some for yourself when you're sick and nothing else sounds good.

And remember: every jar you take is honey your bees made instead of eating. Make sure they have enough left to thrive. A healthy hive will produce for years—one greedy harvest can end that relationship permanently.