Wet frame & supers

[bobbb]

What is the best thing i can do with these. let the bees clean up or store wet.And what is the best way if I give to bees .

[Daisy]

If you set it out, the bees have a feeding frenzy and tear up the nice comb.

If you them put back on the hive, they seem to have better manners and not tear up the comb.. I think they suggest here to put the super above the inside cover and the outer cover over that, and the bees will rob the honey from there.

I put my extracted supers right back where I got them and let them refill if there is half a chance.........

This will be my first year storing comb for winter and I'll need to know the answer to the storing question myself.

Micheal? Where're you at?

[Karl]

i just today finished extracting about 15 boxes. I have always set them outside for a few days and let the bees clean the residue off. They are about 75 yards from my hives at this time. Yes, it does look like a feeding frenzy and in just a couple of days the frames are totally dry to the touch. At this time I put them into storage, stacked and covered with moth crystals added. By storing them wet I would be concerned about ants trying to get at them. I have never observed any comb torn up as a result of this. Just my experience.

[honeyman46408]

I am with Karl I set mine out about 200yards from the bee yard and they will clean one in about 3 hrs.
Ed

[WineMan]

Virtually everyone I know takes them outside to let the bees clean them. I must be the exception having stored them wet for as long as I remember. For me taking them out and bringing back in is just another step of work that I'll pass on.

[honeyman46408]

Wineman:
You probably have a lot more than most of us!!!
Ed

[odfrank]

I always stack them above the inner cover, very late in the afternoon. And store them indoors for the winter.

[Michael Bush]

>Micheal? Where're you at?

My computer died. I have temproarily resurrected it. Not sure how long it will last.

Last year I tried storing them wet because I was in the middle of regressing and I was afraid the bees would abandon the queen and move back into the drawn comb. It was a disaster of epic proportions. The moths devesated the comb.

What I normally do is this:

I put the wet supers on top of the hive on top of an inner cover with the hole open, or I just put them on top. The bees clean them up quickly without a lot of fighting and the comb is dry and clean when they are done. I spray the comb with certan (listed as "wax moth control" on www.beeworks.com) and put them in my basement (because I don't have a mouseproof place to put them outside). I try to have them sealed up beeproof so the mice and moths can't get into them. When we have a good hard freeze I move them outside (again sealed up tight enough to keep bees, moths and mice out) so the freezing temps can kill any moths the certan missed.

If you want to use the paramoth (I hate the smell of it and I don't like those kind of chemicals), then buy moth crystals at the local hardware or drug or department store, making sure it's the right active ingredients (Paradichlorobenzene). Seal up the supers to be mouse proof etc. and I just cut a slit in the box and put it on top of the top super and put an empty box on top of that one and a tight lid on that.