# safe to eat this brown substance in comb?



## TwentyninePalms (Jul 4, 2021)

Hi, we just had a colony removed from a fence. Some of the honeycomb contains dark brown cylinders of a hard particulate material, hexagonalish in cross section but smaller than the cell







. Pictures attached. Is this propolis? I didn't expect to see propolis inside the cells. Something else? I would like to eat and give away some comb and am concerned about waste products or some other problem. I feel very ignorant and cannot seem to find a good photo series of the different substances one would find in a hive. Thank you for any advice.


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## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

It doesn't look like anything I'd like to eat. YMMV


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## Amibusiness (Oct 3, 2016)

I think it's strangely cryaralized honey. I dont think i have seen that.... What does it taste like? What happens when you cut it or smush it?


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Whatever it is, has degraded and likely contains a range of bacteria, moulds and fungi. Just what any of those could be is a crap shoot so eat at your own risk.


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## Plannerwgp (May 18, 2019)

TwentyninePalms said:


> Hi, we just had a colony removed from a fence. Some of the honeycomb contains dark brown cylinders of a hard particulate material, hexagonalish in cross section but smaller than the cell
> View attachment 64399
> . Pictures attached. Is this propolis? I didn't expect to see propolis inside the cells. Something else? I would like to eat and give away some comb and am concerned about waste products or some other problem. I feel very ignorant and cannot seem to find a good photo series of the different substances one would find in a hive. Thank you for any advice.
> View attachment 64400
> View attachment 64401


Why would you want to eat it????


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## Jack Grimshaw (Feb 10, 2001)

When in doubt
THROW IT OUT!


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

So much more info is needed.
You said you "had" a colony removed from a fence. It would be helpful to know what type of fence and how long the colony has been there. Is this something the cut-out crew left behind? Was this picked up from the ground or the bottom of the cavity? Can you be certain no one has ever sprayed this colony with an insecticide? Most fences have a neighbor on the other side.
It be sawdust or rotten wood mixed in it, heck, it could be almost anything.
I have heard it said that the first person to eat an oyster was either brave or very hungry. How does it smell?
This is the other end of the spectrum.


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## TwentyninePalms (Jul 4, 2021)

Thank you all for your thoughts. We hired "beekeepers" to come relocate the colony. I expected them to open the fence, find the queen, move her into a box, and then the bees to follow. Instead some guys who didn't talk like experienced beekeepers opened the fence and started vacuuming the bees into a cage. They also took some comb away, but I wasn't there to see how it was packaged. The bees were alive in the cage when they left, and they claimed they could successfully relocate this way, but I am concerned. Also I am ignorant, so I hope my concerns are unwarranted. I would appreciate hearing from anyone if they have experience with successfully relocating bees this way. 

Anyway, in answer to one of these questions, I provided new food-grade buckets hoping that we might find honeycomb that would be good to eat and to give away. They took the comb out and put it right into the buckets. So I'm. not worried about contamination during the transfer. The colony had been there for a few years. I was interested in eating the comb because I appreciated the work of the bees and I have harvested comb and honey from managed hives before. It's a wonderful process and gift. But, as you all point out, I don't know whether previous homeowners used pesticides and I can't identify this substance. I do know there have been no pesticides in the 1.5 years since we bought the place. But I hear you. The substance is in a lot of the cells. So I guess we are not eating or giving away.

Next question. We grow a lot of food and actively compost and make compost tea. I've been told that we shouldn't put honey in compost or compost tea because the antibacterial antifungal substances will slow down the very microbial processes we want to encourage. Anyone have any experience with this? Or any other suggestions besides throwing away all this hard work from the amazing bees? It's only a few pounds but a few pounds is a lot of work...


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## MajorJC (Apr 13, 2013)

TwentyninePalms said:


> I would appreciate hearing from anyone if they have experience with successfully relocating bees this way.



Here are a few guys that do Honey bee removals with a bee vacuum and document the whole process of the cutout, removal, and re-hiving the bees. They also make very entertaining videos. Enjoy.



https://www.youtube.com/c/JeffHorchoff/videos





https://www.youtube.com/c/628DirtRooster/videos





https://www.youtube.com/user/JPthebeeman/videos


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## Emmett (Mar 24, 2021)

Is it old bee bread?


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

Old mummified larvae.
Safe to eat.
But has near zero nutritional value and is.. eh.. non-appetising to me (saying this while I do press brood for food).


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## G3farms (Jun 13, 2009)

I have been doing cut outs for many years and can most assuredly say YES, a hive can be successfully relocated to a managed hive and continue to thrive.

Sometimes we get a couple of buckets of very pretty new comb and honey and other times there is near nothing for honey. It depends on how long they have been there.

I personally would not eat that, just sit it outside and see if there are other bees in the area that will find it, they will clean all of the honey out of it and leave you with wax, pollen, bee bread, and the trash.

It looks like mummified old larva to me.

Also look here on this forum and you can see pics of cut outs.








Swarms, Trap-outs, and Cut-outs


Swarming hives as well as techniques and experience catching those "wild" bees.




www.beesource.com


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

Wax and honey does not compost well. I would take it out to the woods and give the scavengers a tasty (to them) treat. If you think you might like to get into beekeeping, that location will be an excellent place for a swarm trap next spring. J


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## Gray Goose (Sep 4, 2018)

Sure, I would eat it.
try small bites first, and if you do not get sick , increase the amounts slowly.
Can also smash it all and strain it to only consume the liquid.

Sure there is better honey out there, but I am of the opinion it is digestible.

So Honey is bee vomit to start with, some bits of pollen, wax, bee bread, and the occasional mummified larvae just adds texture. looks like it would be yummy on some good dark Rye bread, toasted.

 

GG


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