There follows part of a mail sent to me by a friend who teaches  beekeeping 
in Nigeria.  She has also sent as a word document the  instruction manual which 
I shall copy and paste into the next mail.
 
Chris
 
Hi Chris,
I usually advise a similar method to the one you describe ,  called the 
8 day float method. It requires only simple buckets and filters,  little 
sweaty hard work (pressing etc), foreign equipment (extractors etc)  and is 
used quite successfully on our rural Nigerian projects.

But I  am afraid the first lesson is that honey quality management starts 
right  from the hive at comb harvest. Hive type really does not come into  it.

Before we harvest
We harvest at night as well but we make sure we  visit the hives sometime 
BEFORE we harvest, IN THE DAY and IDENTIFY &  MARK  the brood comb/brood area 
or honey combs AND very importantly  note the COMB QUALITY (dark, medium, 
light). We mark the brood comb top bars  (with chalk, charcol, stones, 
whatever). Some people prefer to mark the  actual combs they will harvest 
instead of the brood area. We teach ONLY to  take combs that are READY i.e 
75% SEALED ON BOTH SIDES. No unsealed cells or  brood, EVER. This is a hard 
and fast rule which is re inforced after  harvest.  We then go back at night 
to harvest the honey  combs.

At the hive, at comb harvest, at night
1. Take 75% sealed on  both sides only
2. Sort / grade wax combs for quality (light medium  dark)
3. As 75% sealed combs are removed / cut, they are placed the  appropriate 
bucket (light, medicum, dark). BUCKETS must all have tight  fitting lids for 
transport, processing. Another hard and fast harvest rule  to protect against 
contamination in transport etc.

4. Cleanliness is  paramout. All equipment must be cleaned before etc. etc. 
No debris from  harvesting should be thrown about the hive. We advise to take 
an extra  bucket or bag to collect debris from harvesting.

On a practical note,  successful harvesting is about practice. We find that 
if people are clear  what they are doing and why after a couple of practice 
runs they are able to  harvest quietly at night without a lot of smoke and 
banging about the hive  and chucking debris everywhere about the hive. When 
the TBs are lifted the  combs are usually covered with bees and this is where 
the panic ususally  starts. It is very important to demonstrate and allow 
peopole to practice  the correct techniques under live conditions.

First some bees can be  gently tapped or shaken off as the bar is lifted, 
then most bees can simply  be brushed off with a brush of some sort and the 
remaining gently smoked off  to reveal the honey comb underneath, which is 
cut from the top bar (1'' or  so) and comb placed in the appropriate bucket 
with lid. A white cloth(s) can  also be used to give additional control, by 
placing it over the TBs as soon  as the roof is removed and rolling it back 
to gain access to each TB. Until  they are experienced, we get them to 
harvest in twos  only.




   

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************