Comb storage

[Garry R]

At this time of year there is a lot of discussion about how to store comb eg. wet vs dry etc. A quick note to describe what I do.

First get an upright freezer. There are loads of these free on recycle sites. Get one. It doesn't matter if it is not working but great if it is.

The drain hole should be blocked - it stops wasp/eawic and possibly wax moth access.

Now wrap two frames together as shown in a sheet of newspaper and put in the freezer. My freezer holds 80 frames and I have a couple of them.

Leave a space at the bottom and put 200ml of 80% acetic acid in a silicone tray/loaf tin in there. Close the door and the seal keeps the acid fumes in. Job done. I have never had wax moth problems doing this. I also think it helps with nosema spores.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Just wet straight from the extractor into a cleaned torched super. Stacked in a cold shed. Never had wax moth. Oh I tell a lie. I found one tiny larva in some propolis behind a frame runner while I was extracting.

 

[Hachi]

I have north of 60 supers

 

[Garry R]

I have north of 60 supers

I wasn't suggesting this for the larger scale beekeeper but for the hobbyist with 5 hives (probably 15-20 supers) the freezer storage fits the bill. Should have clarified this.

 

[Nige.Coll]

I have 400 supers. Good idea for small scale and the recycling of old freezers. I'm after an old commercial freezer or 3 that don't work to store jarred honey in.
I have had a problem with acetic acid sending the wire in the frames rusty. Spoke to t's and the wire is galv not stainless.
Thanks to the wire issue I have 200lbs of wax to trade in and rather a lot of frames to clean up or burn.

 

[Amari]

At this time of year there is a lot of discussion about how to store comb eg. wet vs dry etc. A quick note to describe what I do.

First get an upright freezer. There are loads of these free on recycle sites. Get one. It doesn't matter if it is not working but great if it is.

The drain hole should be blocked - it stops wasp/eawic and possibly wax moth access.

Now wrap two frames together as shown in a sheet of newspaper and put in the freezer. My freezer holds 80 frames and I have a couple of them.

Leave a space at the bottom and put 200ml of 80% acetic acid in a silicone tray/loaf tin in there. Close the door and the seal keeps the acid fumes in. Job done. I have never had wax moth problems doing this. I also think it helps with nosema spores.

1. Why wrap in newspaper - doesn't it restrict the flow of acetic acid fumes around the combs?
2. The freezer itself is a tad cumbersome. Maybe one could make a large airtight box or modify an existing container?

 

[Amari]

I have 400 supers. Good idea for small scale and the recycling of old freezers. I'm after an old commercial freezer or 3 that don't work to store jarred honey in.
I have had a problem with acetic acid sending the wire in the frames rusty. Spoke to t's and the wire is galv not stainless.
Thanks to the wire issue I have 200lbs of wax to trade in and rather a lot of frames to clean up or burn.

Since changing from a tangential to a radial extractor c.15 years ago I've not used wired foundation. I rarely get a blowout.

 

[Poly Hive]

Nige I have a spool of stainless sitting in the garage that I will never use. I'll weigh it if you are interested but I know there is some length on there. On my kitchen scales it goes to 2.5kg but I know it's heavier than that.

PH

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

Just stack and do a sulphur burn on top. We stack in twenties and do three burns through the winter in an old baking tray with a knackered brood as an eke. Another bonus is it keeps the mice away from the stacks also.
Pete little used to fill his kiln with boxes and burn around four pound for each fill.

 

[Philren]

Having seen the freezer recommendation, I have a small freezer that takes 12 frames at a time. How long do I need to freeze them before putting the next 12 in?
Thereafter, they’re stored in a sealed box.

 

[Garry R]

1. Why wrap in newspaper - doesn't it restrict the flow of acetic acid fumes around the combs?
2. The freezer itself is a tad cumbersome. Maybe one could make a large airtight box or modify an existing container?

The only reason I wrap in paper is that it soaks up the little honey which otherwise may run out of the freezer if it pools at the bottom. In the spring the frames and comb are still pretty sticky and the bees are straight onto them. The freezer is convenient and sealed without the problem of having to make an airtight box - it already is - once you seal the drain hole. When I used supers to store the frames the wasps seemed to instinctively know there were wet frames in them and buzzed around for weeks as a right nuisance but this does not seem to happen with the freezers. The acetic acid doesn't put them off at all as far as I can see although not a single bee has actually told me that in person!! (As with many other things in beekeeping that the bees have forgotten to tell us all!!) Forgot to mention that when the freezer is empty I hose it out with a power washer - no need to worry about electrics if it is not working and I cut off the plug as a safety precaution.
Sone mentioned rusting galvanised wire - if I wire foundation I use stainless wire but generally I use my homemade foundation without wire for supers. It is somewhat thicker than commercially bought and after one round of use as tough as old boots. Even the first round go gently and it's fine even in a radial extractor.

 

[Hachi]

I wasn't suggesting this for the larger scale beekeeper but for the hobbyist with 5 hives (probably 15-20 supers) the freezer storage fits the bill. Should have clarified this.

No no need Garry its a good idea I was more frustrated I have too many to use the idea.

 

[Dodge]

I would be concerned about the newspaper.

Frames and wax will contain food for human consumption, I would be concerned about the cleanliness of the paper and also exactly what chemicals are used to bleach the paper pulp and also what exactly is in the Ink of the print especially of it's going to be soaked by and potentially bleed into any residual honey on the frames.

 

[Amari]

I would be concerned about the newspaper.

.......especially the Daily Wail......

 

[fian]

Perhaps the most natural remedy to store supers is the following.
1. Just at the end of the harvest, take the supers close to the apiary so that the bees can clean them.
2. Group rises between two roofs, wrap them with transparent film and place some eucalyptus branches on the top (between the last rise and the roof).

 

[Mabee]

Perhaps the most natural remedy to store supers is the following.
1. Just at the end of the harvest, take the supers close to the apiary so that the bees can clean them.
2. Group rises between two roofs, wrap them with transparent film and place some eucalyptus branches on the top (between the last rise and the roof).

Open feeding is a known way to spread diseases to your bees and others bees.
I’d suggest you just put them back on the same hive to clean if you want to sore then dry.

 

[fian]

Open feeding is a known way to spread diseases to your bees and others bees.
I’d suggest you just put them back on the same hive to clean if you want to sore then dry.

For that, after that moment, we proceed to control and impose the treatments. In an ideal case, your proposal is perfect, but here we live and discuss everything from the one with a couple of hives to the one with hundreds.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In an ideal case, your proposal is perfect, but here we live and discuss everything from the one with a couple of hives to the one with hundreds.

and the advice is the same for either - open feeding is a bad idea and should be avoided - whether you have one hive or one thousand

 

[fian]

and the advice is the same for either - open feeding is a bad idea and should be avoided - whether you have one hive or one thousand

One can think of controlling everything and still there are propagation vectors outside of management. It is a cost/risk decision and where I decide to put the emphasis (money).
If I carry out analyzes to prevent diseases and transfer the diseased colonies to another apiary, why would I have to consider a management that causes me an additional cost?
In life, not everything is black or white, nor is the vision of all beekeepers about their work the same.

 

[pargyle]

Open feeding is a known way to spread diseases to your bees and others bees.
I’d suggest you just put them back on the same hive to clean if you want to sore then dry.

It's not just that it can potentially sperad disease ... I accidentally (some years ago now) once left a part filled super on top of an adjacent hive when I was doing an inspection .. I got called away so I just put the crown board back on the hive I was inspecting and didn't think to cover the super. Unfortunately, what I thought was a 2 minute intervention turned into half an hour. Never again, by the time I returned .. the carnage was unbelievable, with virtually every bee in my apiary trying to get at whatever honey was in there - I suspect there were bees from other colonies there as well as there was fighting goiing on. I could not do anything about it, thousands of bees covering the super and frames - no amount of smoke would clear things up ... I tried moving the super away from the apiary ... no hope - so I put it back where it had been. Bees can smell honey from miles away and they wiil track it down in no time at all.

When it finally got dark and the bees, mostly, had returned home there were scores of dead bees around the super. It was stripped dry but at what cost ?

Schoolboy error ... avoid at all costs and certainly don't do it deliberately.