# Honey super storage and being treatment free?



## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

i keep mine in the freezer for at least 72 hours but i'm not sure how much difference that makes.

i then stack them in my garage on their sides so the light can get in. 

i haven't tried plastic bags, but i would be concerned about them molding if there is any condensation after coming out of the freezer.

i've thought about getting some mosquito netting to put around them, that way they can dry out good and there's no way for moths to get in.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

another option, and something i am doing this year for the first time, is putting them back out on the hives, on the bottom of the stack.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

What Squarepeg said.

Also, wax moths are only much of a problem if there has been brood in the combs so they are dark, or if they have pollen. So if the supers have been over an excluder and are clean white, there will be little problem with moths, I just store mine in the shed no worries, wax moths starve on pure wax. Dark combs or combs with pollen are a wax moth magnet though & guaranteed to get destroyed so precautions have to be taken.

Oh, don't mix colors in the same box. If you have some clean white combs in the same box with dark combs, the wax moths get enough sustenance from the dark combs to also move over and eat the white ones, keep the stacks separate.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I'm in a similar climate as far as winter. Here's what I do:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeswaxmoths.htm

More on wax moths:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#waxmoths


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## callyNY (Sep 10, 2014)

Hi, Michael. I just read through your first link. Where you say _"...I wait until late to harvest. The reasons for this are that I can better assess what I should leave for winter, thus saving feeding nearly as often, I save harvesting and then feeding, which is less work. I don't have to chase the bees out of the supers as I merely have to wait for a cold day when the bees are hunkered down and pull the supers which are empty of bees..."_

I find this idea very appealing - how late is late and how cold is a cold day?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Bees cluster at about 50, but only loosely. You need about a 40 F morning to harvest by this method and have most all the bees out of the supers. If you wait too long the fall honey starts crystallizing (at least in my location).


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## callyNY (Sep 10, 2014)

Looks like we'll be having a few 40 degree mornings soon, so I'll give it a try. Thanks!




Michael Bush said:


> Bees cluster at about 50, but only loosely. You need about a 40 F morning to harvest by this method and have most all the bees out of the supers. If you wait too long the fall honey starts crystallizing (at least in my location).


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## Hotburn76 (Aug 21, 2014)

Thanks Michael! I have read your links, but unfortunately I read them after harvest. I do have them back on the hive getting cleaned up, I may just leave them until we get a frost. Thanks for your website, I have spent a lot of time on your site and watched all the presentations on you tube that you have hosted. My wife is about to shoot me if she hears your voice come across her tablet again. First year and my bees are chemical free so far, only did drone comb removal and hoping they make it through the winter. Planing on catching mutts in the spring.


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## tedlemay (Oct 3, 2011)

anyone ever spray a product called BT on your comb? if so what are your thoughts?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>anyone ever spray a product called BT on your comb? 

I have.

>if so what are your thoughts? 

It's less work to just manage the comb so it's either guarded by bees or freezing regularlly. But it works.


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