Cut comb half filled

[gar1990]

Hello, I have just finished extracting all our summer honey, this summer has been awful for honey where we are, after an amazing spring. But basically I have about 8 frames of cut comb that are half filled. What can I do with these? Is it possible to just uncap, spin out and try them again next year or will the comb collapse without any wires etc?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Hello, I have just finished extracting all our summer honey, this summer has been awful for honey where we are, after an amazing spring. But basically I have about 8 frames of cut comb that are half filled. What can I do with these? Is it possible to just uncap, spin out and try them again next year or will the comb collapse without any wires etc?

It should spin out ok they are only part filled weight wise and I presume they’re not capped fully ?
Start them slow and spin more than three times if needs be.
The only time I’ve had unwired full frames blow is when they are stupidly thick.
Don’t get your honey room to warm

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What can I do with these? Is it possible to just uncap, spin out and try them again next year or will the comb collapse without any wires etc?

they will spin out fine - you don't need wired foundation in shallow frames really - even if they were intended for extraction from the outset. If you are thinking of using them for cut comb next year though, they are better stored wet.

 

[polymath]

they will spin out fine - you don't need wired foundation in shallow frames really - even if they were intended for extraction from the outset. If you are thinking of using them for cut comb next year though, they are better stored wet.

Why better stored wet, i store all mine dry.

I would also add though do not spin at the same speed you would do wired, they often blow out you need to spin at lower speeds. I reckon i get 50% of what I put in usable as cut comb and the rest not capped so gets extracted and frames used the following year.

 

[Ian123]

Why better stored wet, i store all mine dry.

I would also add though do not spin at the same speed you would do wired, they often blow out you need to spin at lower speeds. I reckon i get 50% of what I put in usable as cut comb and the rest not capped so gets extracted and frames used the following year.

Wet combs are not preferred by wax moth, so some store wet.

 

[ericbeaumont]

try them again next year

As suggested above, extract slowly for 80%, up a bit for 15% and fast for the rest.

After one season unwired comb is strong enough to extract normally. Marks's top tip is a good one: keep the room and combs cool or unwired combs may collapse.

Unfinished Ross Rounds can't be extracted so I store these sealed until the next season. They may dribble a bit, but bees clear it up and finish the job. No reason why you couldn't do that with framed combs, but wax moth is the risk of any comb in storage. I use Bruco.

https://www.progreen.co.uk/bruco-bi...G7H-8AzXNuX4Dqwfolr9OoDOA2uBp_uUaAgkzEALw_wcB

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why better stored wet,

because they want to use them next year for cut comb, you don't want bees scrabbling all over them to clean them out now - it also helps to keep the wax 'fresh' for next season.
Never seen the point of all the faff of putting extracted supers back on the hives 'for the bees to clean up'

 

[enrico]

But you have to love the smell of fermenting honey.....

 

[Garry R]

Wet is great for storing. I store in old fridge freezers (giving a blast of freezing) and then this is great for no mice and the wax moth can't get in. Block the drain hole to stop wasps. So simple to treat with acetic acid without all the sealing of boxes. In spring I load up the supers and power wash the inside of the freezers ready for the next storage.

 

[gregior]

Cut it out and make some chunk honey?

 

[polymath]

Wet combs are not preferred by wax moth, so some store wet.

That i understand but it applies to all comb not just cut comb so wondered why it was referenced in particular to wet comb. Okay thanks.

 

[polymath]

As suggested above, extract slowly for 80%, up a bit for 15% and fast for the rest.

After one season unwired comb is strong enough to extract normally. Marks's top tip is a good one: keep the room and combs cool or unwired combs may collapse.

Unfinished Ross Rounds can't be extracted so I store these sealed until the next season. They may dribble a bit, but bees clear it up and finish the job. No reason why you couldn't do that with framed combs, but wax moth is the risk of any comb in storage. I use Bruco.

https://www.progreen.co.uk/bruco-bi...G7H-8AzXNuX4Dqwfolr9OoDOA2uBp_uUaAgkzEALw_wcB

How do you apply this, do you spray it on every frame?

 

[ericbeaumont]

How do you apply this, do you spray it on every frame?

You can, but depends how many you have to do. Spraying on and between boxes of combs is likely to be enough. I pull out a few combs half-way, give a burst, spray all the top bars and do the next.

Mix enough for immediate use; instructions recommend 12 hours viability (better check that).

Quick burst is enough, no need to spray excessively or completely, as B.t will seek out WM eggs & larvae.

 

[Damo944]

As suggested above, extract slowly for 80%, up a bit for 15% and fast for the rest.

After one season unwired comb is strong enough to extract normally. Marks's top tip is a good one: keep the room and combs cool or unwired combs may collapse.

Unfinished Ross Rounds can't be extracted so I store these sealed until the next season. They may dribble a bit, but bees clear it up and finish the job. No reason why you couldn't do that with framed combs, but wax moth is the risk of any comb in storage. I use Bruco.

https://www.progreen.co.uk/bruco-bi...G7H-8AzXNuX4Dqwfolr9OoDOA2uBp_uUaAgkzEALw_wcB

Is this all you use for wet frame storage? Do you freeze first?

 

[ericbeaumont]

Is this all you use for wet frame storage? Do you freeze first?

Good Lord, no! I store about 300 supers & broods of comb and the cost of electricity and labour to freeze doesn't bear thinking about. The Canadian Beekeeper has thousands and uses the Canadian winter, and in season a freezer trailer (at about 4.30).

Bt. kurstaki is not cheap, but you could divide and sell it to other beekeepers. It keeps for two or three years. I use half a teaspoon (by eye) to a pint in a garden hand sprayer that has not been used for anything else.

 

[Damo944]

Good Lord, no! I store about 300 supers & broods of comb and the cost of electricity and labour to freeze doesn't bear thinking about. The Canadian Beekeeper has thousands and uses the Canadian winter, and in season a freezer trailer (at about 4.30).

Bt. kurstaki is not cheap, but you could divide and sell it to other beekeepers. It keeps for two or three years. I use half a teaspoon (by eye) to a pint in a garden hand sprayer that has not been used for anything else.

Haha I did wonder! I'll have a look at the stuff.

 

[JamezF]

B.t will seek out WM eggs & larvae

I think that might be slightly misleading, as the bacterium cannot move around of its own volition as far as I'm aware. I believe it relies on the spores sprayed onto the comb being consumed by the larvae as they eat their way through the wax, resulting in a toxin being released that damages their gut, resulting in death. I have a vague recollection from when I was looking into it as a potential anti-caterpillar measure on my brassicas that it's particularly effective against younger larvae because the lethal dose for their body mass is very small, so if you don't get every nook and cranny covered it's not that big a deal because they're still likely to eat it somewhere along the way.

(And in the end it turned out that it can't be used legally on brassicas without a licence, partially I believe because there are concerns about resistance building up should it not be used correctly. I think there's at least one documented case where this has already happened.)

James

 

[ericbeaumont]

the bacterium cannot move around of its own volition

Yes, I looked into that later (wet afternoon) and found that Btk is indeed motile, with peritrichous flagella, though the extent of motility was not defined. Discovered elsewhere that the motor, filament and hooks of the flagella enables Btk to self-propel in fluids by using specialised motors to rotate multiple helical filaments, which is quite enough long words for today.

 

[ericbeaumont]

concerns about resistance building up

Resistance has been a problem for about 6 years and documented in more than a dozen species of insect. Nearly all of these cases have been produced primarily by selection in the laboratory, but one pest, the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), has evolved resistance in open-field populations.

 

[Mamahilz]

they will spin out fine - you don't need wired foundation in shallow frames really - even if they were intended for extraction from the outset. If you are thinking of using them for cut comb next year though, they are better stored wet.