MiSustainable Holland: Holland Area Beekeepers to offer honey extraction demonstration

Maya Klanderman
·2 min read

HOLLAND — Are you interested in beekeeping and want to learn more about the extraction process? Are you new to the beekeeping world and want to extract honey from your frames with experienced beekeepers? The Holland Area Beekeepers Association has an event for you.

The HABA will hold a field event, including a Honey Extraction Demonstration for beginning beekeepers, from 10 a.m-12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at Don Lam Bees, 882 W. 26th St. in Holland.

Holland Area Beekeepers Association members check on hives while wearing protective gear, as recommended for all in-person event participants.
Holland Area Beekeepers Association members check on hives while wearing protective gear, as recommended for all in-person event participants.

Those attending can bring frames of honey as well as a container to take their honey home in. The event is free and no registration is required.

This event is to show people who are just getting started with beekeeping how to spin their own frames at a central location, without having to purchase a honey extractor. Honey extractors can cost up to $400, so this event helps smaller and new beekeepers harvest their honey more cost efficiently.

With the help of experienced beekeepers in the association, this event will have four or five spinners to show how to extract honey from frames. The HABA recommends that beginner beekeepers with one to six hives come out, as well as people who are interested in starting their hives and want to learn more about the extraction process.

This frame from a HABA member’s hive holds bees storing honey. An upcoming demo will help members and beginning beekeepers learn more about capturing the honey.
This frame from a HABA member’s hive holds bees storing honey. An upcoming demo will help members and beginning beekeepers learn more about capturing the honey.

These in-person events are designed for hands-on experience and close-up observation. All levels of beekeeping experience are welcome. Due to the hands-on nature of this event, the HABA recommends bringing protective gear to wear.

The HABA is a collective of more than 500 beekeepers with a broad range of expertise and experience. In the past few years, they have seen more interest from the younger generation in beekeeping, with around half of the monthly attendees being under the age of 40.

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The other demonstrations that the HABA has done this year have been on the topics of queen rearing and varroa mites. If you are interested in learning more about the HABA, members have monthly meetings with an open Q&A forum, remarks from the HABA president, and presentations from local experts on various topics.

The next meeting is- at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Howard Miller Community Center in Zeeland. The topic will be Winterizing/Winter Bees with Chuck Bauer, a seasoned beekeeper from Grand Rapids.

— Maya Klanderman is a sustainability intern with the ODC Network, studying Sustainability Science and Society and Anthropology at Michigan Technological University. Thanks to Lee Bosko, vice president of the Holland Area Beekeepers Association, for contributing information about the demonstration.

About this seriesThe MiSustainable Holland column is a collection of community voices sharing updates about local sustainability initiatives.This Week’s Sustainability Framework Theme: Community Knowledge: The collective knowledge and energy of the community is an incredible resource that must be channeled to where it is needed.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: MiSustainable Holland: Beekeepers group to offer honey extraction demonstration