# SHB Larva in Extracted Honey



## Skinner Apiaries (Sep 1, 2009)

Dehumidifier. Get the humidity under 20%. Dry air means no shb hatch. I still seem to have an occasional wax moth larva. I find the larvae can ferment it and ruin it, but once again a dehumidifier and plenty of 80s 90s highs and a couple fans means we can pull and dry supers of uncured and continue drying after extraction in open bottling tanks/barrels and strain behind that before bottling to prevent any stray bees that fly in to the tanks from ending up in the honey. When in doubt taste it. In my experience, in my area, the humidity is so high, that any honey that isnt sealed under lowered humidity, i.e. let to sit for a few days, ferments. It's all about management. I actually got the green pull tip from some canucks. Works for me.


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

Also, the best way (IMHO) to keep WM, SHB, or anything else, from getting into/messing up pulled supers is cold. If you have the capability, freezing those supers will kill eggs & larvae of pretty much any bee, or bee pest, that might be/get in there.


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## Ozarks Honey Company (Apr 18, 2012)

I like rob's idea and I am actually considering purchasing a large enough freezer specifically for freezing supers for 2 days before extraction. Another advantage to this is that it should lower the moisture content.

My plan is to bring the supers in, put them in the freezer for 48 hours, then check the moisture content, if it is right then begin extraction.

Any advice on this one from those that have tried it is appreciated...


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

idk about the practicality of it, but if you could somehow attach a vac. pump to the freezer & draw a partial vacuum, then the freeze-drying principle might help lower your moisture content a bit faster. Just a thought, and I'm not entirely certain it's a very efficient one...but the principles are sound+proven.


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

Best way I now to store unextracted honey is on the bees. Why would pull the honey until your ready to extract it. The freezer is OK for capped honey, but not uncapped. The best honey dryer is the bees, they have been doing all there lives. Why make more work and problems.:scratch:


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## Ozarks Honey Company (Apr 18, 2012)

No, I agree and I was only speaking of pulling capped honey... Sorry, should have clarified that.

Really was just wondering if anyone processes after freezing to kill unwanted pests?


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

but this is a commercial thread and you have to pull hundreds at a time so you need to think big. Do I hear 53ft refer trailer to freeze them and then raise them for extracting?


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

whatd he say?


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

He said fill a 53 foot refrigerator semi trailer and freeze the supers then return them to warm temp to extract. I repeat what honeyhouseholder said. Why bother with all these gyrations. Handling, freezing, reheating all costs money and time!


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

I agree with Householder, get em' in, get em' out. Don't pull unless you know you can extract. NO dilly Dallying allowed.

A man has got to know his priorities.

Crazy Roland


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

inch:I think if I had to freeze them, then thaw them out and warm them up before I could extract I'd just quit.


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## rainesridgefarm (Sep 4, 2001)

but when you pull 500 supers in two days it takes you a few days to extract them all. getting them in and out would be nice if I had more help but I do it alone and sometimes it takes a few days to do all of them. If I had a refer unit I could pull 2000 and not worry about them. How many are you pulling at a time, then extracting, to get them in and out?


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

I originally replied in this thread without checking to see which forum it was in. Due to that, I answered assuming I was answering a hobbyist or sideliner, who has more limited resources & returns for & from his bees. That said, I personally believe for the purpose of commercial honey harvesting, although the eqiupment I had in mind originally (chest freezer, small vac. pump, etc.) would obviously be of no real use, the sheer quantity of honey, as mentioned by rainesridgefarm in the last post preceeding this one, would actually make the concepts MORE plausible. It's always more cost efficient to set up for hard-freezing 2000 supers worth of honey than it is to set up for hard-freezing 5 of them, until the other 7 are ready to be harvested, as the honey harvested from the 2000 will pay for the equipment, while the 5 supers will likely barely hold more than the hobbyist beek who owns them will eat himself. 

In that light, I'd say that if someone finds themselves shorthanded for harvest, a reefer (whether stationary, or a trailer) sounds like a VERY feasible way to "multiply yourself" by allowing one to focus purely on pulling supers one day, then looking after the bees, if necessary, without worry of your entire honey crop spoiling because some other emergency came up, or because you were under-staffed on extracting day.


...Just my opinion, and I only really ever aspire to be a sideliner at most, but I hope it helps someone


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