# How long should I wait for capped Honey?



## giarc18 (Mar 25, 2015)

Do bees ever "not" cap Honey when it has reached their acceptable moisture content? 
I have a hive that has filled three supers with honey. I've been waiting for them to fully cap the Honey, or at least mostly cap, so I can extract but they haven't . It's been several weeks since the first super was put on and still not fully capped. About 75%. They drew comb, and filled the supers rather quickly, but just aren't finished capping. After several weekly inspections , no progress seems to being made towards completing the capping. 

Meanwhile, another hive I made from a split this spring , which is a few weeks behind the first hive, has drawn , filled , and almost completely capped one super in a matter of a few short weeks, and is working on their second super. They've drawn and filled the second super almost completely with nectar in about 2 weeks. Just waiting to see how fast the second super gets capped. I'm About ready to add a third.

Back to the first hive - I've shook the frames to see if the nectar drips out and only a few small drops came out after several vigorous shakes. 

This is my first year for Honey, so I'm not sure when the flow begins or ends around here in northern Indiana. Or what kind of progress I should expect to see. It has been an unusual year so far though, for this region. Unseasonably cool and rainy all spring and summer so far. Rain , rain , and more rain. And cool.

I'm running out of supers to keep adding so I need to extract soon or buy more. Not a bad problem to have I guess. 

Any insight is appreciated.

Giarc.


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## Ian G (Jul 29, 2014)

Is there a bee club near Plymouth where you could borrow a refractometer? A few members in Fort Wayne will let you test using theirs. Ive also read of people pulling them off, even uncapped, and then using fans to circulate air around them to draw the moisture down. The record rain we've had definitely isnt helping.

Sounds like yours are doing better than mine. Mine have barely put anything away. Probably doesnt help that most of them have swarmed twice.


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## giarc18 (Mar 25, 2015)

I have a refractometer ordered and on the way, but I don't want to find out the moisture is too high [after] I've extracted, if possible. Just more stuff (dehumidifier) I don't want to spend money on right now.

The nearest club that I am aware of is 30 miles and they meet on Saturdays, which I work, so it wouldn't work out for me. 

I have a third hive I started from a package this year and it isn't doing anything. Still in the first deep and barely touched the second deep. Should be a lot further along imo . if the queen doesn't get busy real soon I'm afraid they won't make it through the winter. But that a topic for another thread.

But these other two hives are doing quite well , as far as Honey production. imo. 
I wasn't expecting very much , if any, honey from the second (split) hive, and they are filling supers when I thought the flow would be over by now. 
This week's inspection will tell me more. This week has been the fist stretch of more than a day or two without rain in months. 
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Giarc


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