honey frame harves questions

[srf_onezero]

I have some novice questions on honey frames (medium super). Currently have 3 supers (9-frame mediums) above 2 deeps of Italians that over-wintered from package last year.

1) Do you wait until the the honey frames are completely (100%) capped before extracting?
I have a lot of honey frames with 97% of cells capped--some of the frames have a small patch of uncapped honey.

2) It is too late, but is it necessary to put cross-wires in wax foundation for honey in medium frames? The wax foundation I used has vertical wires.
I was told it wasn't necessary, but am wondering how they will extract (I have Dadant Junior Bench Extractor).



Thanks,
Shawn

[indypartridge]

1) Do you wait until the the honey frames are completely (100%) capped before extracting?

I don't. I'll harvest any frame that has around 75-80% capped.

2) It is too late, but is it necessary to put cross-wires in wax foundation for honey in medium frames?

Take it easy and you should be fine. I don't cross-wire. Of course the quickest way to learn how fast is too fast when cranking is to blow out a few frames...