leftover frames

[aircooled]

I have a bunch of frames from a deadout, and they have crystallized honey and some granulated sugar on and in them. Should I spray these out with water, then give to the bees to clean up? If I should just give them to the bees, where is the best place in the hive to put them so that they clean them up? How long do you think it should take to clean them out? How about frames with dead bees in them (they starved and their dead little butts are hanging out but will not just fall out when the frame is rattled).

Thanks!

-mike

[Michael Bush]

The time to give them to the bees was a couple of months ago. Now they will probably ignore them and just haul in more honey. Then they would have consumed it to rear brood. Not sure what the best course of action is now. Perhaps you could uncap it and put it on a hive and let them decide what to do with it.

[Countryboy]

I'd put the stuff out for the bees to rob it out.

It's a great way to find bee trees too. Earlier this spring (like late March/early April) I found a bee tree almost 1/2 mile from my house because of the bees robbing out deadout frames, and I followed the beeline.

Another time to give them to the bees would be in the summer dearth. The bees will be glad to get any kind of honey/nectar then.

[aircooled]

The time to give them to the bees was a couple of months ago. Now they will probably ignore them and just haul in more honey. Then they would have consumed it to rear brood. Not sure what the best course of action is now. Perhaps you could uncap it and put it on a hive and let them decide what to do with it.

So are you saying that in February they would have cleaned them out? Can I wait till next february and put them on my hives then? Could I make a split off one of my current hives, and give the new colony these frames along with some others? Just to clarify, these are not frames full of honey that crystallized, but are kinda half done frames, some with some crystallized stuff, some others with what looks like sugar residue in them, and others with the dead bees still stuck in the cells.

Thanks!

[Michael Bush]

They would consume it for winter stores. They would burn it up in late winter rearing brood. Now they are storing things not eating things...

[Oldbee]

What about pollen in the "leftover frames" [1-2 years old] that fills about 1/3 to 1/2 of the frame? I have some 5.1 drawn frames that I would like to place more toward the center of the second deep brood box/nest. Some, or a lot of the pollen is in the middle of the frames. Will the bees move this pollen out to provide space for the queen to lay or will they just leave it there or gradually use it? It is from last year of course. Other than for early spring build up, do they actually use much of last years pollen when new pollen is being brought in? Do I need to put these frames in position 4-6 or dosen't it matter? I only have 2 hives to work with.

It must be confusing when you have quite a few deadouts and the frames are still good and relatively new.

[Michael Bush]

I've never pulled pollen out of a hive. They stored it for a reason.

[Oldbee]

I wasn't planning on pulling pollen out of any hives. I want to add 5.1 drawn comb that has a lot of pollen in it to the second hive body for the brood nest.

Maybe the question is confusing because I may not have enough 5.1 to fill the box.