Apiguard, Uncapped stores in super

[ruffle]

I should preface this with saying that up to now we've not been extracting honey in any form other than cut comb so spinning or otherwise isn't really an option (no kit or great desire to do it).

We're halfway through this years Apiguard treatment and we took off the supers before the first dose. There's quite a bit of uncapped honey in the supers and I'm wondering if the following course of action makes sense to you more experienced beeks.

When the Agiguard is finished, we'll put the supers back on over a QE and feeder board; bruising the capped stores. I'm hoping the bees will rob out the stores in the super and take it down into the brood box (brood and a half).

We can then take the supers (one per hive) off and store the empty comb over the winter.

Is this the likely outcome? or will I be left with the problem of partly filled supers to store?

Any better suggestions?

 

[Walrus]

Personally I would put the super underneath the brood box (no queen excluder). They should move it up fairly quickly. Just need to be sure that there is space in the BB i.e. they really need the stores. It can stay there over winter.

 

[ruffle]

Hmmm... wouldn't the comb then be 'dirtied' by the passage of bees over the winter and be unsuitable for cut comb in 2013?

It would also mean the hive was running on brood and two halves which I'd have thought was too big for overwintering.

 

[MJBee]

If you put an empty super box between the "feeder board" and the super you are trying to empty the bees will move the honey more readily. The super "spacer" makes it not part of the hive as far as the bees are concerned.