[Bumpkin68]

I harvested my honey this year without an extractor the way an older German lady told me. She cuts the comb with a knife around the support wires, leaving about 1/2"-3/4" around all wires and edges of the frames. She then gives the frames back to the bees and feeds them sugar syrup so they have something to use to make more comb on the empty frames. It has worked fine for me so far. I heard horror stories about the bees making wild looking combs but by leaving the small amount of old comb for them, I guess they have a pattern to follow. After the comb is cut from the frames, sell some of it as cut comb and whatever you want to use as plain honey put in a large pot on the stove. Heat, but don't boil, it very slowly until it all mixes together and there are no lumps. It will look like motor oil with water mixed in it. Turn off the heat and leave it in the pot, covered if you prefer, overnight. In the morning, the wax will rise to the top and the honey will be below that. Remove the layer of wax and save this for candle making, waxing bowstrings or whatever. Pour the honey through a couple layers of cheese cloth or a 5 gallon bucket strainer (got mine from Dadant's) into a 5 gallon bucket with an airtight lid. Then pour the strained honey directly into jars. Wipe the tops of the jars, put on lids and labels, and you have a delicious, marketable product. I sold almost 15 gallons from 2 hives this year and barely saved enough for my own use! The heating isn't enough to harm the honey and everyone I sold it to said it was the best honey they've ever had. Good luck.