Pop's Bees, LLC

Pop's Bees, LLC Sorry, but no honey to sell in 2026. Pure Raw Honey for sale. Nectar gathered by bees located in the Williamstown area. Twice strained.

Preparing to bottle my honey for future use and I want to make sure that it doesn't ferment from the moisture content be...
07/16/2026

Preparing to bottle my honey for future use and I want to make sure that it doesn't ferment from the moisture content being too high. It could be too high if I used too much uncapped honey that the bees didn't finish processing yet.

I used a Brix Refractometer to test. Looks like I'm good at 14.6%! I'm well below what is needed.

The ideal moisture content for bottling raw honey is between 17% and 18.5%. The USDA requires moisture to be at or below 18.6% for Grade A honey.

If moisture climbs above 18.5%, wild yeasts in the honey can activate and cause the honey to ferment. This fermentation causes bubbling, a sour smell, and a watery texture.

It appears that the girls think that it is a little hot and humid today. I think they are right!Typically there would be...
07/15/2026

It appears that the girls think that it is a little hot and humid today. I think they are right!

Typically there would be a small cluster of them hanging under the hive to create space and airflow inside. Right now population is at peak and it's 95° and feels like 108° just before 6pm when most are coming home at the end of the day.

The foragers need to hangout outside to allow workers along the entrance and inside to fan with their wings to create airflow while others inside tend to the larvae and process nectar into honey. This helps reduce temperature and humidity and reducing moisture content in the honey.

After soaking the wax cappings in filtered water to dissolve remaining honey (and saving the honey water to drink!) it's...
07/13/2026

After soaking the wax cappings in filtered water to dissolve remaining honey (and saving the honey water to drink!) it's time to melt and further clean the wax cappings in an old crock pot with some water in a paint strainer bag to use for future candle making. When finished I had a 1 pound 2 ounce block of beeswax.

07/13/2026

Raw honey (not heated or filtered) flowing from the extractor into a double screen strainer to remove loose wax bits.

07/13/2026

Into the extractor to spin out the honey.

Time to harvest some honey! Decapping to open honeycomb cells.
07/13/2026

Time to harvest some honey! Decapping to open honeycomb cells.

The bees were already bearding around the entrance yesterday. I added spacers along the back edge of the hive under the...
07/01/2026

The bees were already bearding around the entrance yesterday. I added spacers along the back edge of the hive under the inner cover to help create more ventilation for the anticipated heatwave. This gets covered by the telescoping outer cover to protect from rain. Of course they also have water sources nearby.

Pulled 9 frames of fully capped honey today all from this spring. Unfortunately only one hive and I didn't take any from...
05/26/2026

Pulled 9 frames of fully capped honey today all from this spring. Unfortunately only one hive and I didn't take any from the brood boxes since I gave them so much sugar syrup last year. I don't want to contaminate pure raw honey with sugar syrup.

I also took advantage of the cooler temperature to apply a full treatment (2 packs) of Formic Pro to treat in case there are any Varroa mites. You can always count on there being some mites. I'm just treating to keep the count low. This gets put between the 2 brood boxes for 14 days.

When the hive population is high and so is the heat and humidity many bees will move outside to create space for airflow...
05/20/2026

When the hive population is high and so is the heat and humidity many bees will move outside to create space for airflow inside. At night when all the foragers have returned there could be many more. When they cluster on each other and hang below the entrance it is called Bearding.

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Williamstown, NJ

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