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

6K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  squarepeg 
#1 · (Edited)
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
 
#3 ·
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:D
 
#4 ·
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
 
#5 ·
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
 
#6 ·
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
 
#8 ·
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.
 
#10 ·
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
 
#12 ·
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
 
#13 ·
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.
 
#15 ·
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.
 
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