Storing supers Please help this newbee stick with beekeeping!!!

[juzzerbee]

I am a newbee, so please help. I removed my supers today after leaving the bees clean them out for the last 2 days. The bees chose to VERY quickly start to fill many of the frames up with nectar again. To some extent all 7 of my supers have SOME honey in the frames once again, and some seem to be partly filled and capped. What should I do with these supers at this time in preparation for winter storage? Should I hassle around and try to extract them again? Leave what is in there and not worry about it? Also what is the BEST way to prevent wax moths from getting in the supers over the winter? I will be storing them in a shed in my backyard. Thanks, juzzerbee

[beegeorge]

if they are filling them, let them have it

[juzzerbee]

I understand and agree with that. So.........then you think that I should uncap what is capped and then extract all 60 frames all over again for what I am guessing will be maybe a quart of honey??????(By the way, although that sounds very much like sarcasm, it most surely is not). I am just trying to make sure I understand what yours and others thoughts are and what direction people think that I should go in next.

So lets say I extract again. How do I know for sure that all the honey is out? Make a observation and a good guess, I suppose. I only have a 4 frame hand powered extractor. As for storing the supers/frames this winter, what would the answer be to prevent the wax moths? I had purchased para-moth but I am deciding now not to use toxic chemicals in my supers or around honey.

BTW- while mowing the lawn tonight I saw what I think are wax moths flying out of the grass, about 50 of them, grrrrr. Thinking about bees happens all the time for me!!!!! Thanks juzzerbee

[Intheswamp]

Have your bees already got stores for the winter? I think what beegeorge was saying is that if they're storing nectar in the combs then let'em, they know what they're doing. I would imagine you'll be having a fall flow of sorts in a couple weeks or so. I wouldn't worry about extracting, but if for some reason you want the honey out the combs and won't be putting them back on the hives you might set the supers 100 feet or so away from the hvies and let the bees rob the honey back out...be alert for any possible robbing starting up at the hives.

Ed

[Luterra]

Following a suggestion on BeeSource this year I tried putting extracted supers back on the hives above the inner cover. This worked amazingly well, as they removed all honey (even from uncapped frames that I didn't extract), patched up damage to the wax from the extracting process, and left me with clean, dry, empty frames in about three days.

If you want capped honey gone, I might recommend breaking the caps with a capping scratcher. They seem to treat anything above the inner cover as a source of food rather than part of the hive.

Without the inner cover on top they will propolize the telescoping cover to the top super, but I found this to be only a minor annoyance. Don't leave it too long though...

Mark

[juzzerbee]

So if I do place them 100 yards away how should the stack be? Bottom board, telescoping cover. stagger the boxes, stack directly onto of one another?

My concern for this not that I want the little bit of honey that they re-stored but rather get all the honey cleaned out of the cells so that I can use para moth to winter my supers soon. Thanks, juzzerbee

[Intheswamp]

I'd just stagger stack them so bees could get to them easy. It shouldn't take them but a day or two to clean them up. Or, you could try what Luterra described...that sounds interesting.

Ed

[Luterra]

Wax is not a complete nutrition source for wax moths - they need some protein from pollen, bee coccoons, etc. So if your supers have never had brood in them, you shouldn't have to be too careful.

Freezing temperatures kill moth eggs and larvae, so if you can store the supers in an unheated area you won't have trouble over winter. Or if you have a big freezer you can freeze the frames for a few hours to kill any eggs/larvae and store them in a moth-proof box/location until next year.

You can store frames with capped honey, or wet extracted frames, though you will have to keep them away from ants, bees, and yellow jackets. Avoid storing uncured nectar (unless you keep it in the freezer) as it will ferment, stink, and be unpalatable for bees.

Chemicals are merely convenient for wax moths - non-chemical controls (i.e. freezing) are just as effective.

[juzzerbee]

Well I did it, I changed my ways of what i was going to do for my first wintering of my supers. I was going to use Paramoth, but I took the plunge and froze my supers and frames instead. I am planning on taping up the seams and placing thin sheets of wood between each super also. My thinking for adding the wood is that IF a moth gets into one of the supers the board should keep it from moving through to all other 6 of my supers stacked. Is this a good idea/approach to wintering my supers? Also, can I stack all 7 supers in one tall tower? This would make for more space in my shed this winter. Thanks, juzzerbee

[ekrouse]

I have had great success double bagging the supers. First let the bees clean up the frames after extracting. One year I skipped this and had crystallized honey sugar crystals in all the comb. It is very important that the frames are dry from water (wet from honey is OK as mentioned). If there is even a little moisture, everything will be moldy by spring. I use the big 55 gallon clear bag used for lining trash barrels. I put a lid on top to help get the extra air out. Then I tie the first bag with a Velcro strap. Then I use a second bag and repeat the same steps. I store about 40 medium supers this way.

-Eric

[berkshire bee]

I've had good luck just leaving the supers outside in the winter, as long as you prevent mice from getting in them(window screens work). As long as brood hasn't been raised in them, the wax moths don't bother with them.

[juzzerbee]

RATS!!! I was happy to have my supers all stored away and now after reading the post ekrouse wrote I realized that I forgot to let the supers thaw out and make sure that they were dry from all of the moisture. Well, I guess I will be unwrapping the supers tomorrow and letting them dry out for a day of two. Is there any sure fire ways to make sure that there is no moisture left in the supers? I assume there isn't going to be much since I left my bees clean them out prior to freezing them. Thanks, juzzerbee

[Seymore]

I thougt wax moth didn't bother frames in the winter?? What I have done is freeze for several days, remove and put in hive body, alternate direction perpendicularly for subsequent bodies, and leave till spring. After it heats up, I keep them in the freezer.

[squarepeg]

ekrouse, did you scrape that moldy comb out, or were the bees able to clean it up?

[ekrouse]

Squarepeg:

I rarely have moisture problems. Typically it is after the bees clean out the extracted frames and then they get damp with some rain. Generally a little bit of blue/green mold the bees will clean up when brood frames. Since I do natural comb in the supers, I generally cut out and let them redraw. Since I sell cut comb honey, I don't want to end up with quality issues from sub standard wax.

Where I run into real mold problems is with any comb that has pollen/bee bread in it. That's really asking for trouble.

[squarepeg]

i have a few that got damp and now have some mold. i guess i'll remove the worst parts and let them redraw. many thanks.