# Hefty Storage Bins - good or bad?



## crabbydad (Apr 29, 2012)

i'm doing the same thing. i guess we'll find out in the spring how it worked out


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I don't know why you froze frames that bees had cleaned after you extracted. If you were concerned about wax moth larvae or SHB larvae it seems to me that there shouldn't have been any because you would have seen them when you extracted.

What are you doing w/ your empty supers? Why aren't you storing your frames in the supers they came from?

I don't see anything wrong w/ what you did. I just don't understand why you did it. Please explain it to me. I stack my extracted supers on wearhouse pallets and cover the stack w/ a tarp and leave them outdoors.


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## NewJoe (Jul 1, 2012)

I store mine in a similar way, however after freezing I place mine in XXL zip lock bags. The zip lock will hold at least a full medium super of frames. The storage bins (totes) stack nice and neat in the barn. Then I just stack the empty boxes anywhere that is out of the elements.


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## SDiver40 (Apr 14, 2013)

Thanks for the replies

Being new to keeping bees, I didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances. 
Plus right now, I don’t have any place to keep them in the dry and away from critters.
Most everything I have read said to keep them in a dark plastic bag. But if the air tight bin is not going to cause a problem I prefer them. Easy to stack and store and don’t have to worry about ants or moths.
Thanks Tom


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## ericweller (Jan 10, 2013)

Will the frames grow mold in the sealed container?


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## NewJoe (Jul 1, 2012)

ericweller said:


> Will the frames grow mold in the sealed container?


None of the ones that I have stored as described have molded. But I put them back on the hive above the inner cover to get them clean good first


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## SDiver40 (Apr 14, 2013)

Same here, going on 3 months in the containers and no signs of molding.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

You can do that and I have done it in the past. Now, I extract...let the bees clean them up...spray with BT and stack in the barn. It's quicker and cheaper.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

In my zone wax moth larvae do not attack extracting combs that have not been used for brood. They attack brood combs with pollen. I store my honey supers in a fairly well sealed room with no other protection. I avoid the expense of specialty items when standard hive parts can be used.


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## ZeldaFarmer (Jan 4, 2012)

I had a similar question of how to store my extracted frames. I let the bees clean them up and then I stacked the mediums on a piece of plywood and put an outer cover and hive strapped them. It is already getting cold in the North East and I thought this would work for storage in the winter. Really don't have room in the garage or basement. I was told that when I use them again in the spring, the bees would clean out anything that was left. Any other thoughts on this?


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## max2 (Dec 24, 2009)

"The frames I extracted this year, I left out for the bees to clean."
Leving frames out for the bees to clean is never a good idea - the quickest way to spread AFB etc and to encourage robbing


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## jrhoto (Mar 2, 2009)

You did well letting the bees clean up the frames and by freezing them you made sure that you took care of the wax moths.Wax moths are very desructive and do create a lot of damage.I would say you were right on the money with your prep and storage.
www.poorvalleybeefarm.com


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## ZeldaFarmer (Jan 4, 2012)

Max2-Guess I worded it that badly."The frames I extracted this year, I left out for the bees to clean." I put the supers back on the hive for the bees to clean. They cleaned them out and I wanted to know the best way to store. Plastic bags just tell me moisture and mold. I also do not put chemicals on my hives. With winter coming I was under the assumption that the freezing temps would kill the moth and larva. True or Not True? jrhoto seems to think that is true?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Zelda,
I know that there are a lot of folks who don't live where I do, so maybe they don't have a place where they can do what I do, but I stack my supers on a wearhouse pallet and leave them outdoors where they get robbed by bees and yellow jackets. I cover them w/ a blue plastic tarp. 

Being honey supers, meaning they rarely have any brood reared in them and more rarely any pollen stored in them, it is quite rare for waxmoth damage to occur.

If you consider doingh something similar you might want to place a queen excluder down on the pallet before you stack supers on it. and have a good cover in the top of each stack. Doing so would minimize damage from mice.

If you don't have an AFB problem, setting supers out to be cleaned out by your bees is not a dangerous practice.

I have seen people set supers back on hives above an inner cover so their bees can clean them out. Seems like extra handling to me. I guess it could minimize the instigation of robbing w/in the yard. But I haven't noticed that to be a problem for my hives.

Hefty Storage Bins might be the best thing for some folks, but not for me. Keep the frames in their boxes. But that's just me. I have 500 colonies. Bin storage wouldn't be practical.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Just a note here although it has more to do with pests than equipment / hardware. In my experience, wax moths are looking to get into brood comb. However, with a heavy infestation all bets are off and I've had them destroy honey comb and even get into foundation to an extent. I even have the little "grooves" from them etched into the barn floor where an infested super was sitting. I guess my point is that you can't always feel safe if all you're storing is honeycomb. "Safer" maybe, but not immune.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

A waste of good money. But them back in there supers. 
David


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## max2 (Dec 24, 2009)

ZeldaFarmer said:


> Max2-Guess I worded it that badly."The frames I extracted this year, I left out for the bees to clean." I put the supers back on the hive for the bees to clean. They cleaned them out and I wanted to know the best way to store. Plastic bags just tell me moisture and mold. I also do not put chemicals on my hives. With winter coming I was under the assumption that the freezing temps would kill the moth and larva. True or Not True? jrhoto seems to think that is true?


Thanks for the clarification. I'm always concerned to read beekeepers exposing their bees to AFB and other diseases which are easily transferred via honey


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## max2 (Dec 24, 2009)

" 
If you don't have an AFB problem, setting supers out to be cleaned out by your bees is not a dangerous practice."

A bold statement! IF you and OTHERS in the area don't have AFB . Is it really worth the risk?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

If others in your area have AFB, how are your bees going to get AFB from someone elses bees coming to rob your empty honey supers? Below low risk.


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## max2 (Dec 24, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> If others in your area have AFB, how are your bees going to get AFB from someone elses bees coming to rob your empty honey supers? Below low risk.


From " The beebook by Warhurst and Goebel" pg 188 - How AFB spreads: AFB is spread in four main ways: drift, robbing, feeding back honey and/or pollen, and using contaminated equipment.

pg 189: Never feed cappings honey or extracted honey back to bees....

I understand that in the US some beekeepers " mask" AFB by the use of antibiotics. Cappings from treated hives may not display AFB symptoms but are still able to spread AFB.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

The frequency of which would be the reverse order. Buying of and using contaminated equipment being the highest likelihood of exposure.

Certainly if your bees rob honey from an infected hive the chances of your bees coming down w/ AFB is good, but how does your colony get infected w/ AFB by robbing honey from it's own extracted combs if you don't have AFB already? That was my point.

I may be wrong, but I thought we were talking about someone setting their own combs out to be robbed, not someone elses. 

Yes, some people do use antibiotics against AFB. It is not w/ the intent of masking anything. No more than you or I getting vacanated to prevent coming down w/ polio.


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## max2 (Dec 24, 2009)

"
Certainly if your bees rob honey from an infected hive the chances of your bees coming down w/ AFB is good, but how does your colony get infected w/ AFB by robbing honey from it's own extracted combs if you don't have AFB already? That was my point.

I may be wrong, but I thought we were talking about someone setting their own combs out to be robbed, not someone elses. '

There is no guarantee that the only bees having a feed are from your own hive. It is called " the hand shake principle" - like getting a cold on a train by mixing with a crowd.

"Yes, some people do use antibiotics against AFB. It is not w/ the intent of masking anything. No more than you or I getting vacanated to prevent coming down w/ polio."

The intent is not to mask but the outcome is the same. Antibiotics will only last for a year or so and will never cure AFB. The result us that AFB is not visible but it is there.

The bottom line is surely that in any area where AFB is present to feed honey in the open is not worth the risk.


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