Partially filled frames from Supers

[Michibee]

I recently removed the honey supers from my three hives. In the supers that were not filled some of the frames were partially drawn (less than half) with capped honey. Some were nearly fully drawn with only partially filled uncapped cells. Some had areas on one side fully drawn and capped while areas right next to it had not even been started. I think I may have added additional supers too soon before the first were almost full.
What did I do wrong? What is the best way to feed this back to the hive? Should I lay the partial frames outside the hives?
Thanks for the help.

[Ruben]

I have some that I froze in my freezer and if I need them in late winter I'll give it back to them then. Laying them outside the hives might cause them to start robbing, I'd get some other opinions other than mine because I could be wrong on that.

[Michibee]

Thanks for the reply Ruben. The robbing situation is what I'm not sure about. If it is given outside the hive would that promote robbing from the stores inside the hives?
I'd like to get several more opinions from others who may have a simular situation.

[Mike Gillmore]

I had a similar situation recently with some partially filled supers. Here is one method you can try that worked for me.
First remove the supers... then place the inner cover on top of the upper brood box, with screen stapled across the notch to prevent outside entry. Next place an empty super on top of the inner cover. Then put the super with partially filled frames on top of the empty box, followed by the outer cover.
Make sure you use a knife or capping scratcher to open any of the capped cells. They should have the super cleaned out and the nectar moved down into the brood boxes fairly quickly.
This keeps everything enclosed and prevents any robbing activity.

[ October 04, 2006, 09:32 PM: Message edited by: Mike Gillmore ]

[Hobie]

If you did put partially filled supers outside the hives, how far away from them would it have to be to prevent robbing? Or does the veritable smorgasbord put bees from multiple hives into a frenzy regardless of location?

[Michibee]

Thanks Mike,
I think I may try this method. Sounds like it is just what I'm looking for.
I do have a concern, I didn,t keep track of the frames and what hive they came from. IYO do you think this will matter?

[Mike Gillmore]

Michibee,
If you're confident your hives are healthy it does not matter at all if you mix frames. I would check each hive's weight by lifting from the back and tilting forward.... then feed the frames back to the lighter hive.

Hobie,
I like to put them about 100 yards or so away from the hives. If they are too close then you could end up with a real robbing nightmare.
When the bees find the source and bring it back to their friends for a taste they are given exact coordinates to the source. If it is far enough away the bees fly directly to it without searching elsewhere. If the frames are too close to the hives then it seems they are not able to pinpoint it's location and all the bees begin searching frantically "everywhere" in the immediate vicinity of their hive... including their neighbor hives. It can get ugly very quickly.