[Omega]

3rd-year newbee here. I have a bit of an odd situation. In the past when we scraped honey frames for crush-and-strain we'd put the frames outside the hives and the bees would go nuts over it. We'd do the same with honey frames that had had uncapped cells - we'd toss them in an extra super and let the bees clear out those cells, then take the rest inside for processing.

This year, they haven't touched the leftover frame from crush-and-strain, nor have they touch the frames I left out for robbing (they were completely unmanageable in size due to me originally going foundationless and it seemed like they were nowhere near getting capped - I have taken a frame out to accomodate how thick it was, and I suspect they had cells built on cells aare that point. So I decided to set them out, assuming they'd go for it like in past years. Nope. Not a sincgle bee to be seen on it, and they're about 20 feet from the hives.

What's changed for this year from last year? If they don't go for it and I decide to pop it back onto the hive in another super, will it matter that it's sat outside overnight and most of today?

And lastly, am I an idiot for doing it this way? Does anyone else have any suggestions for how to deal with ridiculously-sized hone frames?

 

[AR Beekeeper]

If you are still in a nectar flow the bees will ignore exposed honey and continue to forage nectar.

 

[Omega]

Ah, that explains it. I thought maybe that might be the situation. Am I good to just toss those frames back into the hive?

 

[AR Beekeeper]

If the comb is drawn out "fat" now would be the time to trim it to the proper thickness. Catch and save the honey to be fed at a later time. It being outside overnight will be no problem.

 

[Omega]

Got it. Thank you both for the help!

 

[Honeyeater]

I don’t know whether I’m being over cautious but I believe open feeding is best avoided because it might spread disease from other hives, and invite robbers if done close to your hives.

 

[Sickdog5]

good way to tell if your in a dearth or not

 

[NY14804]

I'm experiencing them ignoring my extracted frames this week too. No more than 3 bees have been visiting them at any one time. No wasps visiting either. We are in our third week of drought with few blossoms seen anywhere. If there's a flow distracting them, I don't know what it would be.

 

[Sickdog5]

I'm experiencing them ignoring my extracted frames this week too. No more than 3 bees have been visiting them at any one time. No wasps visiting either. We are in our third week of drought with few blossoms seen anywhere. If there's a flow distracting them, I don't know what it would be.

maybe were you live sumac is still available. my sumac was a bust this year

 

[Hops Brewster]

If you are going to open feed anything, whether syrup, pollen sub or wet supers I advise moving it farther away from your hives. At least put a building between the open feed and the hives.
I've had to deal with a robbing frenzy, and it ain't pretty.

 

[psfred]

I never leave anything out, after mid June I'm almost certain to start robbing, and will lose my small hives and splits.

I would suggest getting a small extractor rather than crush and strain, you are reducing your honey crop quite a bit. Drawn frames get filled up much faster than they can draw new comb. You can also control the size of the frames by using only drawn frames in a box, one less than full capacity so they draw it a little thick, makes it easy to uncap with a knife.

 

[drmrjen]

Hello, I have found a box of capped honey frames that I forgot about last year. I must have forgotten to put them into the freezer as well because the wax moth is pretty bad. So I scrapped off the capped honey and put the empty frames and foundation into the freezer for 48 hours. I left the scrappings outside for the bees to clean up. We are well into the robbing season. But no bees will go near this pile of wax moth mess. Can the wax moth taint the honey while munching on the wax?

 

[LAlldredge]

I avoid open feeding at all costs. May be time to look into an extractor to preserve your comb. After spinning I set the box and frames back on top of a colony (enclosed) and they fix it within days. Then I take the box off for storage. Frames are sitting in totes for winter in the bee closet to give them a head start in spring and to protect them. Empty boxes are outside in the carport.

Open feeding is possible and time efficient. However unless you have the land and experience level it can turn into a disaster. I'm a 3rd year too and had to learn this the hard way.

 

[GregV]

......... Can the wax moth taint the honey while munching on the wax?

Bees don't care of the moths much.
They do care for temps to be high enough to fly to your frames (it is freezing here to be flying).
Since you don't show your location, hard to say what is the real deal.

 

[drmrjen]

Thank you for all your replies I've been beekeeping for over 15 years now. The weather is warm. This is my original question... "But no bees will go near this pile of wax moth mess. Can the wax moth taint the honey while munching on the wax?" Can the honey smell or taste bad to the bees?

 

[GregV]

Thank you for all your replies I've been beekeeping for over 15 years now. The weather is warm. This is my original question... "But no bees will go near this pile of wax moth mess. Can the wax moth taint the honey while munching on the wax?" Can the honey smell or taste bad to the bees?

Then take some of this mess and directly put into a hive (like above the frames) and watch.
Why not just test it for yourself?
Really takes minutes.
Or leave for a day and check back later.

Do tell us what you find.