What can a smallscale beekeeper do if without enough freezer space and without the time (or possibly without the desire) to extract honey during those precious warm weather days of summer and fall? We are so busy at the traditional honey harvest times of year and we could enjoy the harvest more if we could delay the procedure.
Solution: Leave the honey harvest on the hives, let the bees care for it, use what they need, and the beekeeper can harvest the excess in the spring when the bees start foraging for the fresh nectar, which they prefer anyway, instead of capped honey which they chose to leave stored. When the bees are capping new honey, harvest last year's surplus. Now you are sure that it was surplus for the bees, and it is now your reward. Below is a photo of thawing frozen honey frames for use, but imagine not even freezing them. Instead, you let the bees bank the honey for you and take the unused frames off in the spring and extract them at your leisure.
