Getting honey from the hive to a jar runs in eight steps: pull capped frames, check the moisture, uncap, spin them in an extractor, strain, let the honey settle, bottle it, and label it. The moisture check matters most: honey that's too wet can ferment in the jar, so beekeepers pull frames that are mostly capped and check with a refractometer before bottling. Straining takes out wax and bits of comb, and settling lets the air bubbles rise, so the jars are clear. Raw honey isn't heated beyond what it takes to flow into jars. In the example below, a Wisconsin beekeeper runs an extraction day.
The short version
- Eight steps: pull, check moisture, uncap, extract, strain, settle, bottle, label.
- Pull frames that are mostly capped.
- Check moisture with a refractometer before bottling.
- Strain out wax; settle out bubbles.
- Warm only enough to flow; raw honey isn't heated beyond that.
- Label the name, net weight, and your name and address.
- TaroStack records each extraction as a batch with its jars and lot. More below.
The eight steps
| Step | What happens | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pull frames | Mostly capped frames taken from supers | Hive yard, frames |
| 2. Check moisture | Refractometer on a sample | Reading |
| 3. Uncap | Cappings cut off with a hot knife | Time |
| 4. Extract | Frames spun in the extractor | Time |
| 5. Strain | Through a double sieve | Time |
| 6. Settle | In the bottling tank | Hours |
| 7. Bottle | Jars filled by weight | Jar weights |
| 8. Label | Name, weight, name and address, lot | Lot |
Selling it legally in Wisconsin is in honey business license, and what a jar sells for in how to price honey.
An example: an extraction day
Kettle Moraine Apiary, the made-up beekeeper with 60 hives in West Bend, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, extracts in its honey house in August:
| Step | What happened |
|---|---|
| Pull frames | 120 frames from the east yard, mostly capped |
| Check moisture | Refractometer 17.8% |
| Uncap and extract | Hot knife; 20-frame extractor, 6 loads |
| Strain and settle | Double sieve; 48 hours in the bottling tank, foam skimmed |
| Bottle | 440 jars of 12 oz, filled by weight |
| Label | Lot KM-0818, "Wildflower Honey", net weight, name and address |
One super from the west yard was only half capped and read 19.5%, too wet, so it went back on a hive to finish instead of into the tank. The jars carry the lot, so a shop asking about one jar leads back to the yard and the day. How long honey keeps is in honey shelf life.
Get the run sheet
Download the honey extraction run sheet. Two sheets: a blank run sheet to print for each batch, with the eight steps, the check at each and its target, and spaces for the actual reading, the time and initials; and the same run filled in from the example. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The run sheet covers one extraction. Two yards, a summer and a fall harvest, and 440 jars to a farm stand, two markets and three shops: when a shop asks about one jar, the lot has to lead back to the extraction.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack records each extraction as a batch with its jars and lot, so a jar leads back to its yard and day.
Extractions as batches. Each extraction is a batch with its date, the jars and lids it used, and how many jars it filled.
Jars by lot. Each batch gets its lot, and lot labels print for the cases.
Where it went. Each shop's order records the lot it got, so one report shows every shop that got a harvest.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which harvest is in a jar | Written on the case | The lot on the jar |
| Jars filled | Counted at the end | On the batch |
| Which shops got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Recipes, batches, lots and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.