[AdamTX]

I left a couple of partially filled supers on a hive over this last winter. Now all of the frames in those supers are filled with honey -- about half of it capped and the rest soon to be. Some of the frames were clearly used to raise some brood -- I suppose the cluster moved higher up in the hive, during the winter, the way they tend to do. Is there any reason not to harvest the honey from these previously-used-for-brood frames, along with the honey I harvest from my other hives/supers after the spring flow? I have not treated the hive with any chemicals, so there is no issue from that front.

Assuming I do harvest the honey from those frames, should I then return the frames to the hive and keep using them for supers in the same fashion I would normally do with honey-only frames? (and if not, then what to do with them?)

 

[RayMarler]

Honey from brood combs is just fine, tastes no different to me than honey from honey only combs. I'm talking extracted honey here, not comb honey. I would extract the honey and put the wet combs back on the hive and let the bees fill them again.

 

[Michael Bush]

I agree with Ray. No difference. I think some people imagine a difference... but I see no difference at all. I harvest them all the time.

 

[dfortune]

I wonder if pollen concentrations would be higher?

 

[crofter]

I think it may be a case of "mind over matter"; if you don't mind it won't matter.

I would bet though, that for honey judging contests, the winner for the lightest color and clarity will not have been extracted from previously brooded comb. Many people who seek out natural honey would be disappointed if it was pale and flavorless but I have seen honey extracted from some raunchy looking old comb that would best be not shown to the customers. He extracts late and gets the goldenrod and knotweed so it is not going to be subtle tasting however thin you slice it.

I am no connoisseur of wine or honey so would not claim to be able to detect it, but the mixture of wax and propolis the bees use to polish up the brood cells is slightly soluble in honey. That said, much of the incoming nectar is deposited in the brood chamber initially till it is moved up to the supers so propolis is not like some evil enemy of honey that could be avoided entirely in any event.