Replacing Wet Frames

[obsoddity]

Today I extracted two frames and put back the empty wet frames into a nuc with no lid about 5 feet in front of my 3 hives. After about two hours (close to 5:30 pm) I went back to check expecting the frames to be covered with bees, but to my surprise, there was not one bee on the frames or in the nuc. Is this normal? How long does it take them to smell the dripping wet honey off the frames? Should I put the frames back in the hive tomorrow instead? I was hoping to start stockpiling some drawn frames, but now I am stumped. What did i do wrong?

[MDS]

Try moving it about 20 feet away and see if that changes things. I've had better luck further away. At times they are likely to get in fights over the wet frames and you would not want robbing going on close to your hives. This year I will be putting wet frames back on a hive and letting them clean them up from there.

[beeware10]

If there is a good honey flow on could explain it.

[Vance G]

Why would you do this? If you put those wet frames back on the bees, they will refill them in hurry if their is a flow on. If there is no flow on they will get robbed out by every colony within miles bringing their miteload and diseases with them. Storing them wet til the next honey flow just results on the bees moving into them faster than they would if they were dry. If you just don't like sticky, you are in the wrong business. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

[obsoddity]

At 5:30 today I removed the nuc and both frames and put them in my truck. Tomorrow I will rotate them back into the hive. Thanks for the feedback.

[beedeetee]

When I get my wet supers out when the flow is starting, they can sit for a couple of days 25' from my hives and only attract a dozen curious bees. When the flow is over...it's war. Bees seem to prefer nectar over honey.

[NasalSponge]

Another issue is bees will tear up the comb if open fed, they will not if placed into a hive.