When to harvest honey is unique to your neighborhood and region. Around the globe, honey is harvested at every time of year. Here are factors to consider:
The Best Time to Harvest?
The best time of year to harvest – get ready – is when the frames are full and there is honey to harvest! Depending on your honeybees and if honey is ready to be collected and extracted, this is the time to harvest honey. Some years, a fortunate apiarist may have three nectar flows and three harvests – in spring, early summer, and late summer. The weather, season, and blossoms all play decisive factors, and as we all know, those can differ greatly from year to year.
The best time of day to harvest honey is typically mid to late morning on a warm, sunny day, when most forager bees are out collecting nectar. This helps reduce the number of bees in the hive during your work and makes the process calmer and quicker. Always make sure the majority of the honey is capped, as this ensures it has the proper moisture content for storage without fermenting.
In the end, the “best” time to harvest honey isn’t a date on the calendar – it’s when your bees have done their work and the honey is ready. By watching the blooms, tracking nectar flows, and checking that your frames are fully capped, you’ll know exactly when it’s time to collect nature’s sweetest reward.
