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Consolidating, Shuffling and Storing Frames - help please

1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  AmericasBeekeeper 
#1 ·
Hi! I'm new to the forum and one year into beekeeping for the fist time, here in the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver, BC).
My question concerns getting prepared for fall. Just a few days ago I did my first extraction ever (very exciting!).
Currently I have one hive with a brood chamber, a honey supper for the bees' winter food, and a 3rd box with a couple near-capped frames of honey and a bunch of now-empty frames (post-extracting) that I am hoping the bees are cleaning up for me.

My question: if, for the fall and into winter, I want to go down to 2 boxes, and I want to store my existing frames that are now in the 3rd box, if some of them have near capped honey or even nectar, can I store these safely (without risk of moulding or spoiling) in any way til next spring? I am mindful that if I start to medicate, I don't want to contaminate these frames, so am wondering what the best thing is to do.

Any help or pointers or references to other sections on this site for this end of summer frame shuffle would be helpful.
 
#3 ·
rkereid: Thanks for responding. I'm hearing that about 60-70 lbs. is good for the winter, which I have in the 2nd hive body. My question is more about proper storage of the odd leftover bits in a 3rd hive body. I am understanding that for heat conservation over winter, it's better to have just the two boxes, so I'm trying to figure out about what to do with the frames in the 3rd that are not fully cured honey.
 
#4 ·
I'm not sure what your weather is like going in to fall, or what your fall honey flows are. I would assume you still have some mild weather and some kind of fall flow. If that is the case, leave the 3rd box on to take advantage of any fall nectar. Once you have frost and there is no more flow, re assess. You may be able to take off some of that for yourself or hold some back in case you need to feed in the spring. Lots of hives starve in the spring depending on the winter weather.

Good luck.
 
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