[JackB]

I extracted several frames and would like to let the bees clean them up. I've read where this may cause robbing. Is there a certain distance from hives or can I just place them around the center (four hives) of bee yard? I realize this may attract flies,yellow jackets or whatever but is it safe to go ahead and let the bees clean them up? Thanks

 

[Kevtater]

Put them in a super and put it on one of the hives. Option 2, put them 30-40 yds away, but don't put them near your hives, it will cause robbing.

 

[David LaFerney]

If you put them on a hive they will probably clean them up within one day - if you put them in the open they will tear up your comb and each other and probably start a robbing frenzy. Why would you do that?

 

[heaflaw]

I agree with David. I like to put the wet frames above the inner cover (with the hole covered with duct tape) and an empty. My reasoning is to make sure they perceive the wet frames as not a part of their hive.

 

[Graperunner]

If the hole is covered how do the bee get to the frames.

 

[Mr.Beeman]

I place my wet frames back into the super and set it up in the yard about 40 yards away from the hives. Sure the bees get a little miffy while congregating on the wet supers, but they get over it by the time they hit their respective hives.

 

[squarepeg]

i had the opposite experience. when i put a wet super back on a hive it called the robber's attention to that hive, perhaps it was the odor of the open honey? the colony was strong enough to ward off the robbing, but i wasn't happy with the frenzy it caused. since then i have put them 70 yards or more away and have done this dozens of times without incident.

 

[heaflaw]

If the hole is covered how do the bee get to the frames.

Oops. I meant the hole to the outside, not the hole in the center of the inner cover.

 

[odfrank]

Put them on as late in the day as possible.

 

[squarepeg]

Put them on as late in the day as possible.

i can see how that would work, and a good option if there's no where far enough away to put them in the yard. regarding the tearing up of the comb, i don't really see that with uncapped comb. they will definitely tear up capped honeycomb while robbing it out.

 

[Robbin]

I put some about 100 yards away, next to my feed station. They destroyed the comb in a day. I'm going to try putting the supers on my strongest hives this weekend. Hopefully that will keep my strongest hives busy, and they are the most capable of protecting themselves. I'll also put on an entrance reducer and pull the supers early the next morning. I never expected them to maul the comb the way they did. I did not see a lot of fighting, but they treated the comb badly, I'm hoping that if it's on their hive, they will know it's theirs and not tear it up.

 

[heaflaw]

Yes, put them on just before dark. Also, if there is a something of a flow happening they will not go beserk and tear up the comb like they will in a dearth.

 

[Robbin]

Our dearth has already started. I'll try it with a couple frames first. Thanks for the warning about the dearth, when I did it before, I was starting to feed some in the middle of the dearth.
All these hives have plenty of stores right now, so hopefully it will work out. I'll put them on late, and pick them up early this Friday and report back on how that goes.

 

[VanIslander]

For the backyard beek with two or three hives, couldn’t we simply cycle the honey supers on the hives? I have a first year package hive with six boxes (all 8-frame mediums). The bottom three are brood, pollen, and honey – the top three, honey supers. Of the top three, the lowest one is full of capped honey, ready for harvest. The middle is ¾ full, and the top one has just been on a week – they’re busy drawing the frames with new comb.

My game plan (bear in mind, I’m a newb...) is to wait until the middle super is full; then pull the two full full supers, leaving the third for them to continue filling. Then after harvest, put the empty supers back on top of the newest box, and see if they can refill them before the end of August. I’ll leave them at least one full box for winter (which is pretty mild here...).

In this way, the harvested boxes get cleaned and reused by the hive they belong to. Will this cause robbing from other hives?

 

[JackB]

Thanks to all who replied. While these simple questions may seem plain common sense to the experienced, it is a big deal to the new guys starting out in this hobby. Your opinions are always appreiciated. Thanks for taking the time.