[BeePappy]

I have nearly 60 lbs. of honey from a cutout I did last summer. The cutout/removal was in the wall of a building. I strained it through #8 wire and it was all pretty clean, however I know there was some insulation in close proximity to the comb. And there was also some drywall dust. I saved the honwy with the intent to feed it back to my bees in times of need. My question is if my bees eat this honey, will they re-constitute it enough in their own process that it would become clean enough to use for human consumption? I know that cutout honey is not supposed to be used for or by people. I've known keepers who have fed cutout honey to the bees with supers on, wouldn't it make sense that that same honey would then later be harvested?

 

[libhart]

IMHO that's bee feed, nothing more. Feeding cut-out honey to bees with supers on is just cheating to get around that. You don't give anything to a hive when there are supers on that you don't fully expect could end up in those supers. 60lbs isn't all that much. If you get a fall flow, harvest that deliciousness and then feed this to your bees to replace it, but make sure you're feeding it only into brood boxes. COULD some of it eventually end up in a super the following spring? Maybe a little, but do what you can and don't intentionally cheat.

 

[BeePappy]

Thanks for the response. Last year, I didn't do a Fall harvest, I left a supers on. All my hives came through a brutal Winter with feed. What you are suggesting is removing the supers, harvest, then feed this cut out honey let them pack up the deeps for Winter.
So, what's a good way to feed? In the past I've open fed, but at least 300' away from the hives.

 

[libhart]

I've only ever fed via inverted bucket feeders on top of my hives, surrounded by a box. I want to get as much into them as possible as fast as possible, and my neighbors would probably freak out at the sight of open feeding . If I didn't have the buckets, I don't think I'd buy them just for this. Try the open feeding since you've done it before and know it works for you. Obviously just make sure the honey isn't getting rained into. I think you'll know pretty quickly if it won't work and then you can switch it up if needed. Also, when you pull that fall honey, get this feed out right away (same day). Maybe put off the extraction for a day or two (not too long though) to see yes, this plan will work. If for some reason you decide it won't, you can always put the frames of honey right back on the hives.

 

[BeePappy]

Thanks again! Sounds good. Yes, the open feeding is not for the faint of heart. I'm lucky I'm in a rural area, and have the acreage to be spread out. I've got lots of food grade buckets free from the local bakery, I may just try drilling holes in the top, and invert like a giant boardman feeder. I've seen the bucket feeders with holes drilled to the rim, but these buckets won't work that way. The lid is different.