Bees not capping honey

[Benton2569]

I am probably being impatient but here is the scene:

My one productive hive has two medium supers full of nectar/honey. This stuff has remained un capped for several weeks, possibly over a month. At best a few frames are capped. In contrast, I have another hive that has one medium honey super on and that was gathered and completely capped in half the time.

Does placement of the supers have any impact on capping? I currently have 3 honey supers on my hive in question. Starting from the brood chamber up they are in the following order; undrawn foundation, a super substantially full and mostly uncapped, a super completely full and mostly uncapped. I am thinking up pulling off the super of foundation.

I have also propped up the top for better ventillation.

[Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary]

Is it humid in your area? The honey's moisture content is not dropping very fast, so the bees haven't capped it yet. If it's humid in the air it takes a while for the honey to fully cure. If the bees are drawing out your foundation I'd leave the super on, but if they ignore it you may want to take it off.

Give your bees time. The honey will probably reach the right water content all at the same time, so it may be like and over night change.

-Nathanael:cool:

[Benton2569]

We have had a mix of weather this summer. Overall it has been pretty good but more on the humid side these last few weeks. It is interesting to see how different things are between hives. I had expected to see at least some progesss being made. Guess I had better leave them a lone and let them do their thing.

[jean-marc]

If the honey has been uncapped for several weeks, it is more than likely ready to extract. The reason it has stayed that way is because the honeyflow ended. Now to be certain of this take a frame and try to shake the nectar/honey out. Hold the frame by the end bars and snap your wrists to try and get the nectar out. If it does not come out it is honey, ready to extract.

Jean-Marc