14x12 full of honey - what to do

[Jack Straw]

I've moved across to 14x12 this year. Although the bees are gradually filling the supers with stores they are preferring to fill in cells with available stores in the brood chamber first.

I've put some dummy boards in and am removing frames not in use for brood they are having me over by part filling 7 out of 9 frames with brood and filling the other half of these frames with stores. I can't remove the frame and replace with a dummy board because it has brood in it and because they are only half filling with brood the remainder is filling up with stores. Then as the brood hatches they fill more of the cells with stores, and a reduced but significant area with eggs. I now have 3 frames which are full of stores and no brood. Obviously this is getting worse as the brood nest reduces

I like lots of aspects of 14x12 but it looks as though I am going to have a minimal amount of honey this year as 14x12 won't fit in my extractor.

Is it too late for them to draw out foundation? I could crush the 14x12 frames to extract the honey but am worried it is getting too late for them to draw out foundation so they have somewhere to store their winter food, be it honey or Ambrosia

Any suggestions as to what I can do to encourage them to move the stores into the supers or extract the stores by crushing the 14x12 frames but still giving them the necessary to over winter would be gratefully received

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's what bees do - as the brood nest contracts they pack in winter stores, look on the bright side - no need for feeding!!
If you do insist of taking every scriven of honey off the bees, either find tangential screens to fit your extractor (I'm assuming you have a radial) or find someone who has and have a loan.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I've moved across to 14x12 this year. Although the bees are gradually filling the supers with stores they are preferring to fill in cells with available stores in the brood chamber first.

I've put some dummy boards in and am removing frames not in use for brood they are having me over by part filling 7 out of 9 frames with brood and filling the other half of these frames with stores. I can't remove the frame and replace with a dummy board because it has brood in it and because they are only half filling with brood the remainder is filling up with stores. Then as the brood hatches they fill more of the cells with stores, and a reduced but significant area with eggs. I now have 3 frames which are full of stores and no brood. Obviously this is getting worse as the brood nest reduces

I like lots of aspects of 14x12 but it looks as though I am going to have a minimal amount of honey this year as 14x12 won't fit in my extractor.

Is it too late for them to draw out foundation? I could crush the 14x12 frames to extract the honey but am worried it is getting too late for them to draw out foundation so they have somewhere to store their winter food, be it honey or Ambrosia

Any suggestions as to what I can do to encourage them to move the stores into the supers or extract the stores by crushing the 14x12 frames but still giving them the necessary to over winter would be gratefully received

Are the supers stocked with drawn frames or foundation? Is there plenty of forage about? How productive is your strain of bees?
For example my colonies all bar one which has become queenless are filling supers like crazy while the outer brood frames lie empty at the moment. I look on this as a good thing since soon the supers will come off and the space in the brood is going to be needed for winter stores. Different circumstances of course as mine have both fully drawn brood comb and drawn supers from previous seasons.
Did you make the move to the larger format early in the spring or somewhat later and did you give any (but not too much) 1:1 syrup to help comb building at the time? Did you start with a few frames between dummy boards and expand the brood space as the frames were drawn? More questions than answers I'm afraid Sometimes you just have to go with the flow especially if the colony has decided local conditions dictate it's past the times of plentiful forage.

 

[oliver90owner]

14x12 won't fit in my extractor.

This is clearly your problem. Needs addressing, or you will have to live with it. An alternative method of extraction could be employed for these frames?

 

[For want of a better word]

Simply put the filled 14 x 12 frames under the brood box with a crown board over the top of the box.
Fix the floor beneath the brood box with the stores in it with a large opening that the bees would find difficult to defend and they will move the stores up into the brood above or even a super if you have one that is being filled.
Make sure the hole in the crown is closed down to one bee sizes space.
If you have Buckies / imported hybrids do not try this as all you will get is a massive robbing frenzie!!

Yeghes da

 

[Finman]

.
If you find somebidy who extract it for you,

But choose such frames that you can extract.

 

[REDWOOD]

if the cells are open then the chances are they will move it, I find they only put it there when there is a flow on and will eventually move it up.
You need prolific queens in a 14x12 box that lay in most of the frames so they cant store honey there.
Personally I don't extract 14x12 frames but I will remove them and store for other purposes.

 

[Tremyfro]

I saved my spare 14x12 frames which were full of capped honey and used them for Spring build up. Otherwise I leave them in the brood box for the bees to winter on. My extractor will take them but it's a fiddle to fit them. The BS brood frame size fits the extractor easily.

 

[maddydog]

Personally I don't extract 14x12 frames but I will remove them and store for other purposes.

My bees get to keep what they store in the 14*.12 frames. Usually ivy anyway so no big deal
If I do have an excess of frames (demaree or spring congestion) then I take them away for making up nucs.
The very last thing I would do is crush them

 

[Brian Bush]

It's what bees do - as the brood nest contracts they pack in winter stores, look on the bright side - no need for feeding!!

 

[Finman]

Simply put the filled 14 x 12 frames under the brood box with a crown board over the top of the box.


Yeghes da

That is odd British system. No other Nation put bees move honey from one frame to another..
When bees suck winter syrup and process it to capped store., bees consume 24% out of original sugar in that work.

When bees move honey from one store to another, you may think, how much it goes honey in vain processing.