What an exciting day! Today at Bee Sanctuary, we are finally processing the haul from my two strongest supers. To make sure I did justice to these 12 frames, I headed out to the East Rand to visit Mark, an experienced beekeeper who was kind enough to walk me through the professional way to extract.

The Pro Trick: Propolis Management

Before we even touched the honey, Mark pointed out something I usually overlook: the propolis build-up on the frame edges.

• The Lesson: If you don’t scrape that sticky resin off now, your frames won’t sit level when you put them back in the hive. Skew frames lead to “bridge comb,” which makes your next inspection a nightmare. Plus, a clean frame ensures the hive lid fits perfectly flush.

Mastering the Uncapping Fork

I’ve always just “scraped” the wax off, but Mark showed me the proper technique using the uncapping fork:

• The Point is Key: You only use the very tips of the tines. If you push the whole fork down, you actually just “wipe” the wax closed again, trapping the honey inside.
• Safety First: Those tines are incredibly sharp—Mark warned me they can go right through the bone if you aren’t careful! Keep your hands far back and let the tool do the lifting.
• Watch the Thickness: The wax is often thicker at the bottom of the frame than the top. I learned to adjust my “scoop” depth to ensure I wasn’t just sealing the cells shut as I worked.

The Final Yield

Once the frames were uncapped and spun in the extractor, the results were fantastic. We filled a 12kg bucket with clear, beautiful Highveld honey.

• Foundation Tip: Looking at the empty frames after extraction, you can really see which ones had great wax foundation. They stay sturdy and neat, ready to go right back into the supers for the bees to refill.

Gratitude and Growth

A huge thanks to Mark for the mentorship today. This 12kg harvest is a major win on our road from 3 to 300 hives. Every drop of honey is a testament to the hard work of our rescued colonies!

Hungry for more harvesting tips?

I’ll be posting a close-up video of the uncapping technique soon so you can see exactly how the tines lift the wax. Make sure to Subscribe to the Bee Sanctuary and hit the notification bell!

Beekeeper’s Choice: Do you prefer using an uncapping fork like this, or do you find an uncapping knife faster for large harvests? Let’s debate in the comments!

How should we proceed? Would you like a tutorial on cleaning and storing your supers after extraction, or are you ready for the next spring swarm rescue?