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How do I clean honey combs that have old crystalized honey in them?

11K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  jim lyon  
#1 ·
Lesson learned - we stored a super full of frames of honey in our garage over the past year and it is not good for us or for the bees. I want to empty the combs of the old honey and clean them so the honey is gone but the drawn comb remains. Any brilliant ideas out there? Our bees are making honey like crazy! Good news!

Thank you!
 
#8 ·
Thanks for all the advice - yes, it was 90 in Maine for a few days this week and over 140 in our garage. The chemical was talked about recently in Bee Journal - honey that is heated and aged has a chemical reaction that produces a chemical that is safe for humans but not for bees - not corn syrup, but an actual chemical reaction. Jerry talked about it in his column. I've read about it in other forums. Sorry I can't remember the chemical.

Next time we'll put the frames in the freezer and keep them there until we want to extract. Hard lesson to learn!
 
#9 ·
You must have a really tight garage that soaks up the solar. Are you serious about your garage being 140 inside. Seems like the comb would have melted.

In my opinion you are worrying about something you don't need to. Honey heated to 140 degrees won't kill your bees.
 
#10 ·
Dear B&K. I bet you believe in global warming too! Someone managed to alarm you where alarm is just not warranted. Feed it back to the bees if you want to save the comb. The honey would have reliquified in the comb long before it got to 140 degrees. And it didn't get to any 140 degrees or the comb would have melted. But do what makes you feel good.
 
#11 ·
"You must mean HMF, hydrxymethylfurfural. It is an organic product derived from heating or drying sugar containing foods. It is found in lots of foods as you can imagine. It seems to be safe for humans to consume." Jerry Hayes in June 2011 ABJ.

That was his answer. He didn't say it was harmful to bees. Go ahead and put those frames into your hives and let the bees do w/ them what they will. Fear not.
 
#12 ·
Scrape the cappings off of the honey and place the super on the bottom of the hive. The bees will clean it out and move the honey up above the brood. Then you can take that super and put it above the brood nest when it is empty for the bees to fill it with fresh honey.
 
#15 ·
Great idea! I wouldnt put them on top in a good flow or they will simply fill honey around it and you will still have granulated honey when you take them off which is a major PITA when it gets in your cappings and can also throw your extractor out of balance if there is much of it. Been there done that a few times.