Leave em on or take it off

[ewetmill]

I have three honey supers on one hive and one of the supers is 100% full and capped. Can it be taken off and extracted now, or is there some reason that I should wait until the end of the honey flow and take all of the supers off at once. The only advantage I can think of to wait is that it is easier to extract all of the honey for the season at once, rather than a little bit at a time. I am anxious to pull the super and get some honey. What should I do?

Eric
Vero Beach, FL

[Robert Hawkins]

They're your hives. You're the boss. Pull it. extract. Eat. It's just another cleaning.

Hawk

[Tia]

That's the reason I wait until the end of the honey flow. I hate cleaning and recleaning the uncapping tank, extractor, etc. But this year I had to take the supers off piecemeal--hives were so high they were in danger of being blown over! As long as the honey's capped, you can take it when you want.

[Jim Fischer]

"Harvest early, harvest often" is our mantra.

The more empty drawn comb provided
to the bees, the more they go out
and gather, and the larger the net
harvest.

There are a well-known set of studies
that show that the difference is significant,
and I'll look 'em up, and provide citations
to anyone who sends me an e-mail when I have
the time.

[I'm cooling off and eating lunch right now -
temp 81, humidity 5000% today. :( ]

I just use a hose to clean everything. If
you don't have a waterproof honey house
that you can hose down, just drag everything
outside, hose if down, and give it a little
scrub. Its not that big a deal - unbolting
your extractor from the floor would take
longer than the cleaning.

[ikeepbees]

Eric,

While I haven't seen the studies Jim mentions, I agree with his concept. My observation (unscientific though it may be) is that the more often I can get honey off of a colony and empty comb on it, the more honey it will make.

Something else I have noticed is that I can pull a finished frame from a super, and replace it with a frame of wax foundation, damaged comb, or starter strip and it will be turned into a frame of capped honey in seemingly no time at all. This works best if the frame sides facing the inserted frame are capped are mostly so. A fun and easy way to add to your drawn comb inventory if you have the time.

One more important note: Being in Florida, you must consider the SHB. When the flow is over, it has been my experience that the sooner you reduce the internal volume of the hive (pull supers), the better off they will be.

[Michael Bush]

>I'm cooling off and eating lunch right now -
temp 81, humidity 5000% today.

Is that a scientific measurement or just your estimate?

>While I haven't seen the studies Jim mentions, I agree with his concept.

There you go agreeing with Jim again, you cleverly disguised primate. smile.gif

Drawn comb definitely makes a world of difference.

[honeyman46408]

[I'm cooling off and eating lunch right now -
temp 81, humidity 5000% today. ]

Wow I wish it was that coooool here ;)

[Jim Fischer]

>> I'm cooling off and eating lunch right now -
>> temp 81, humidity 5000% today.

> Is that a scientific measurement or just your
> estimate?

Well, when the needle is touching the peg,
one is forced to record a number somewhere
between infinity and the maximum value
listed on the gauge. The gauge goes to "100%"
so I had to be within two orders of magnitude
of the actual value. Not bad, given the fact
that I was suffering from a terminal case of
heat stroke. smile.gif

[Michael Bush]

>I was suffering from a terminal case of
heat stroke.

I'm sorry to hear of your demise. I was looking forward to meeting you.

[Trevor Mansell]

What are you making now in Vero Beach? Mangrove or cabage palm? Both are very high in moisture and will ferment very quickly.

[stinger]

>>>Well, when the needle is touching the peg,
one is forced to record a number somewhere
between infinity and the maximum value
listed on the gauge. >>>>

i WAS JUST ASKING MY HUSBAND "HONEY, WHY IS IT THAT MEN ARE OBSESSED WITH LOOKING AT THE OUTSIDE THERMOMETER?" WOMEN JUST WATCH THE WEATHER REPORT. JUST AN OBSERVATION THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BEES...

[Phoenix]

Somehow I knew you were a woman... THEY NEVER KNOW WHEN TO STOP YELLING... :D

[Sourwood]

lol

[guatebee]

Ikeepbees: in some back post it was mentioned tht you know some bee man from Tennessee, who uses ceckerboarding and gets about 200 lbs per hive.

Could you PLEASE elaborate?

[BULLSEYE BILL]

>I'm sorry to hear of your demise. I was looking forward to meeting you.

I'd like to be a fly on that wall... you could take him Mike. smile.gif

[stinger]

it's been HOT here in SC. Today is the hottest day so far---at least that is what the WEATHER REPORT said--lol

[Michael Bush]

>I'd like to be a fly on that wall... you could take him Mike.

I certainly didn't have a confrontation in mind.

[Jim Fischer]

Sure I could take him.
Either one of us could take the other.
...out for a large number of drinks somewhere.

Anything else just ain't gonna happen, so
stop playing at being Don King.

[Robert Hawkins]

Nice try Bill, but I guess you can go back to playing Donkey Kong.

Hawk

[Joel]

As to why do men look at the thermometer instead of listen to the weather report. You girls still don't get it, men are visually stimulated, we're hard wired that way. If Victoria's Secret was a radio program it wouldn't last long!. Guatebee, I'm confused, every beekeeper I talk to makes 200 lbs a hive??!!

How did this post end up here?

[Jim Fischer]

> As to why do men look at the thermometer instead
> of listen to the weather report...

I find myself looking at the the thermometer while
listening to Jaco Pastorius and his group "Weather
Report" fairly often.
http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/weatherreport.html

> Victoria's Secret
...is that she is a streetwalker. ;)

> every beekeeper I talk to makes 200 lbs a hive?

I don't, and neither do they, not from every hive.
If wishers were horses, I'd need tons of oats.

[Dick Allen]

>so stop playing at being Don King.

A couple of times I've checked out his web site (not Don King, the other person). On his site was a photo of a guy standing in a beekeeping suit. The guy had a large beard. The top of his head, however did not have the same appearance as that of Don King. FWIW.

[scsasdsa]

men look at the thermometer because the weather man works with averages and not specifics.If it aint accurate don't want to hear it.

[Robert Hawkins]

Oh thanks Dick. That was Don King, not Donkey Kong. lol.

Hawk

[Michael Bush]

I got over 200 pounds a piece from four hives once. Once in 31 years. smile.gif I'd love to see it again.

[LaRae]

It seems that some beekeepers are like most fishermen...at least with their stories about the one that got away ...or how much honey they really get from one hive!

Quality not quantity! I think that's gonna be my motto.


LaRae

[Michael Bush]

I figure I want the maximum quantity of honey for the least amount of my backbreaking work. smile.gif