I have a few supers extracted too late to let my bees clean them. I have read that they can be fed back to the bees next season - even if they start to ferment - but am unsure if this is good practice. Grateful if anyone can advise on this.
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I have a few supers extracted too late to let my bees clean them. I have read that they can be fed back to the bees next season - even if they start to ferment - but am unsure if this is good practice. Grateful if anyone can advise on this.
I did it once and they were fine. I guess storing the wet supers somewhere dryish would help.
I've always been able to get my supers cleaned up before storage. I have some old frames and dark comb in a pile in the corner and any honey has absorbed moisture from the air and is dripping out. The pollen beetles have done their thing too and there's pollen dust on the floor.
A reminder to me - I do need to check supers for wax moth damage as it's not been cold enough yet to kill off any yet- if they happen to be in the supers.
I store all my supers wet, it becomes necessary when you have 500+, it deters wax moth and any left over honey or mess will quickly get cleaned up by the bees if they're ready for a super.
Edit : I do stack them with a sheet of newspaper between each one(stops moths spreading and soaks up alot of mess) and a qx top and bottom to deter rodents.
mbc, is there any specific reason you place queen excluders at the top and bottom instead of (say) plywood?
mbc ... presumably with 500+ these go outdoors? What do you stand them on and cover them with?
Rats and mice can't eat through qx'sQuote:
Originally Posted by Black Comb
I prefer to have them indoors but many are placed on pallets outside as I'm reorganising and building new warehousing at the moment. The ones outside are on floors, qx's, a roof on top, four stacks together on a pallet and a tarp over the top. Drawn comb is a valuable comodity to me and I'd prefer my supers to be out of the wind and rain when not on the hives.Quote:
Originally Posted by fatshark
Not poly then mbc
I'm guessing :)
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I have a few poly supers, more brood boxes in poly but not enough, if anybody wishes to buy me all new poly equipment I wouldn't complain, but until my fairy godmother comes good I'll make do with what I've got.