# freezing honey



## luka (May 23, 2012)

When you freeze honey for later use do you freeze until your ready to use or do you freeze for just 24 hours?


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## scdw43 (Aug 14, 2008)

It can be frozen for years. There is no reason to take it out other than to sell it or eat it. Takes just a few minutes to warm a jar up in warm water.


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## hilreal (Aug 16, 2005)

Can be frozen indefinitely if wanted. It will crystalize in the freezer sometimes. No real reason to freeze though?


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## luka (May 23, 2012)

Sorry for not being clear but what i meant was freezing a frame of capped honey to give to the bees later


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i have done that without any problems, kept it in the freezer until i used it. lot's of small hive beetles around here.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

luka said:


> When you freeze honey for later use do you freeze until your ready to use or do you freeze for just 24 hours?


Why are you trying to freeze honey? You can't actually. Pour some in an ice cube tray, pop them out and see what you have.

Freezxe honey for later use? You don't need to.

Why did you take it if you weren't going to use it. Leave it on the bees.


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## luka (May 23, 2012)

to give more space to the queen in the lower brood chamber


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## leonphelps (Apr 16, 2012)

I was under the assumption that you didnt need to freeze honey, it keeps indefinitely. There are records of honey from egyptian tombs still being eaten thousands of years later.


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## Ozarks Honey Company (Apr 18, 2012)

I can think of several reasons to freeze honey in the comb... To kill SHB or other pests, to hold and feed back later, maybe just not ready to extract, maybe a small beekeeper and has plenty of honey on hand but would like to save for later... Anyway, while I don't disagree with sqk, you typically would want to just leave it for the bees there may be a few valid excuses for throwing a frame of honey in the deep freeze. Leon you are correct, however, freezing is probably the best method that I can think of for keeping other critters off honey still in the comb.

But to answer your question Luka, I agree with all the above posts, you can freeze honey just fine. You definitely want to leave it in there until you are ready to use it, because if you take it back out of the freezer, I can almost guarantee that some creature you don't want will find it.

I can tell you from experience that even in a deep freeze set at about 10 degrees F. honey will not solidify they way that water does and some may still leak out of the comb. So, be sure to wrap it in cellophane handi-wrap or something similar. Also be careful what you lay it against as the wax will still dent and leak, try to keep it upright as much as possible.

Just last week I pulled a frame out that I had put in the deep freeze last year (for the same reason as you). I had forgotten about it and saw it in there, we were getting a bit low on honey so, I extracted it. After warming the frame up, I scratched the cappings and laid it over a baking sheet to drip. Once I got the honey out of both sides, I put it in a jar. Mmmmmm, tastes awesome!

Hope this helps,


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