# what do you do with honey frames after extraction?



## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

Put them back on for cleaning. After that then you can store them in whatever fashion you want that keeps pests out.


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## MeadFarm (Nov 4, 2009)

Bees are the best cleaners - though you do need to go through the process of pulling the boxes again and removing the bees from the frames (presumably the same way you used when harvesting). This is great if you have just a few supers to deal with. What do the beeks do that have say, 50 supers worth of frames to clean?
I'm now looking at this task and I'm wondering if there is another method? 
How do the commercial outfits clean and store their drawn comb?
Sorry to reply with more questions.


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## beedeetee (Nov 27, 2004)

They don't need cleaning. I have done several things in the past, but now just stack them wet and cover them. Now that I don't let brood into the supers I don't have problems with wax moths (although I understand that other people do). Putting them on wet in the spring before the flow start get the bees right to work. It is the least work and works best for me.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

beedeetee, 

How do you keep the ants, roaches, silverfish, SHB's and other critters at bay with wet supers? That's why I've never considered putting up wet supers.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

beedeetee said:


> They don't need cleaning. I have done several things in the past, but now just stack them wet and cover them. Now that I don't let brood into the supers I don't have problems with wax moths (although I understand that other people do). Putting them on wet in the spring before the flow start get the bees right to work. It is the least work and works best for me.


He is totally correct. Sort the ones that have had brood in them and put them separate. The ones that just had honey stack wet and make sure the ants don't get to them. The ones with brood then you need to put them with a mothball (Not Mothballs) type system that keeps the moths away. Wet supers brings them up into the boxes quick next year.



D Coates said:


> How do you keep the ants, roaches, silverfish, SHB's and other critters at bay with wet supers? That's why I've never considered putting up wet supers.


 Pest control spraying outside the building.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

okay so what about storing them inside a building after the bees clean them out , if they are cleaned do they need some kind of crytals under them for fumes or something, i keep finding information and they say the bees won't except them with that smell



Ben


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

I spray them with BT. Totally natural and harmless to humans and bees. It's fungus spores that stay dormant for years on the comb until ingested by a wax moth worm. At that point it hatches and eats the moth larva from the inside out. No need to let the frames air out before putting them back on the hives after storage.


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## beedeetee (Nov 27, 2004)

I put 3-4 sheets of newspaper on the floor and stack supers on those. If I have supers with gaps where the boxes meet, I fix those with duct tape. I put a lid or piece of plywood on top. Having the bees clean them out is fine, but that means that you have to get the bees out of them a second time. With a couple of supers that might be okay, but wet supers make the bees really happy in the spring. On a strong hive they will have repaired the comb in a day or two of adding the supers.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

We also use the BT. We store them wet indoors with the top, & bottom open, just a drip tray & a couple boards for spacers on the bottom.


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

Store em wet in a garage that gets below zero in winter. Wet supers give the bees a moral boost in spring.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

This last Spring, I used mine from the previous year to regress a package of 5.4 bees down to 4.9. It was actually just an expiroment that seems to have worked.


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## VeesBees (Apr 4, 2012)

We're new at this so sounds like we may be going to extremes...after the bees clean them up, we put them in the freezer for at least 24 hours then store them in the supers in large plastic bags.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

okay so i guess that storing them wet is a good thing, only if i can keep out all bugs with a seal on the super. So do the boxes need to be vented some how?? i don't want them to mildew.

Ben


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Another option. The shed in which I extract is about 80 yards from my bee yard. After extracting I put the boxes, all at once, against the wall of the shed and the bees come over and rob them out. I let them do this for a day and then take them away just after dusk. I then store them dry. I hear that if you leave the supers close to the yard when you do this it will trigger a major robbing event.


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## woodedareas (Sep 10, 2010)

Forgive my ignorance but what is BT?


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?237911-Beekeeping-Glossary


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## garyk1398 (Jan 25, 2011)

Last year I put them back on top of the inner covers and let them clean them up. Some great points have been made above my post about storing them wet. Now I'm wondering how a person find BT. Is it for sale online or in a local store?


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## oklabizznessman (Oct 24, 2011)

Got my BT from Amazon .com works great on tomatoes also I'm wondering if you can apply it underneath your hives to control beetles?


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

I've gotten it from Sundance who sells it here. http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?225796-Agree-WG-Bt-Aizawai-Powder It doesn't do anything to SHB'sor their larva unfortunately.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

When purchasing it make sure you get the correct strain of BT "Aizawai"


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## woodedareas (Sep 10, 2010)

Barry
Thanks for the Glossary. Think I will take a pass and go without it.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

So my concern is should i seal them shut with no ventillation or do you put a screen/vent on top when storing wet? my concern is mildew .

i really don't want to spray BT on them if i can help it, but it sounds like a good product.

Ben


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## MJuric (Jul 12, 2010)

Along the same lines what is everyone's experiences with letting the bees clean them up away from the hive? I did this last year and I put the extracted hives all around the hives. I later read this was not a good idea and could trigger robbing and other issues. I didn't see any of that but decided to try and put the box back on the hive for one I extracted recently. That didn't work so well. They took a bunch of the honey from a lower super and moved a bunch of it to the super I just extracted 

What I was thinking for the fall was to just stack the boxes some distance away from the hives and let them have at it for a while. That way I don't need to remove the bees, I can just collect them at night and I also don't have to worry about them filling it up again or worse yet transferring the honey out of their winter boxes into the super.

~Matt


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

i would think in Nova Scotia in the freezing weather you could store them covered or open. Just leave them on the hive until freezing weather.



Ben Little said:


> So my concern is should i seal them shut with no ventillation or do you put a screen/vent on top when storing wet? my concern is mildew .
> 
> i really don't want to spray BT on them if i can help it, but it sounds like a good product.
> 
> Ben


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