Do you extract honey from frames that have been brooded in?

[Sutty]

Frames that have been brooded in will contain pupal cases, and under them some larval faeces.
Are you happy to extract from brooded frames or are you concerned about possible contamination. Possibly any contamination could be considered to be sealed in and so not a problem.
It's not something I've done, or needed to do, but I'll be uniting several double-brood hives and suspect I'll have some deep frames full of honey, some of which will have been used for brood. So curious what the general feeling is!

 

[Dodge]

Only do it when I have a brood box that has accidentally been filled. I would not worry about larvae faeces; from an insect that lives in a controlled environment I.e. the box and its sealed in the cocoon. The bees have drunk water, walked over goodness knows what and where and they absolutely refuse to wipe their 6 feet when entering the hive.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Frames that have been brooded in will contain pupal cases, and under them some larval faeces.

the bees clean up the cells before storing honey in them. So that statement has little resemblance to the facts.
Many beekeepers/farmers work without queen excluders at all and their honey has been proven to be fine.

 

[Sutty]

the bees clean up the cells before storing honey in them. So that statement has little resemblance to the facts.
Many beekeepers/farmers work without queen excluders at all and their honey has been proven to be fine.

My understanding is that they leave the pupal skins in place - which you see when you render brood combs. As the larvae defecate prior to pupation the faeces would be at the bottom of the cell under the pupal skin.

 

[pargyle]

My understanding is that they leave the pupal skins in place - which you see when you render brood combs. As the larvae defecate prior to pupation the faeces would be at the bottom of the cell under the pupal skin.

Well I'm sorry you are wrong - bees are the cleanest organisms on the planet, the last thing they will do is leave any detritus in cells when they clean them after brood has been in there ... I run without queen excluders and the queen will sometimes lay up in the first super in the early spring build up but once the initial build up is complete they clean the cells out, fill them with honey and the queen drops back down into the brood box. It's not a problem ... justy over cautious anthropomorphic nonsense... the bees are cleaner than most humans.

 

[Sutty]

Well I'm sorry you are wrong - bees are the cleanest organisms on the planet, the last thing they will do is leave any detritus in cells when they clean them after brood has been in there ... I run without queen excluders and the queen will sometimes lay up in the first super in the early spring build up but once the initial build up is complete they clean the cells out, fill them with honey and the queen drops back down into the brood box. It's not a problem ... justy over cautious anthropomorphic nonsense... the bees are cleaner than most humans.

No need to be sorry - I'd be very happy to be wrong! (Again).
Nothing I have read in multiple books says that they remove pupal skins though. I've certainly not seen any hive debris that looks like them.
Even if they don't remove them it doesn't mean there's a problem though!

 

[user 20297]

Whether or not there is a deposit of larval poo left under each shed pupal case, there can't be much of it and it is, after all, a form of waste indirectly produced entirely from honey/nectar and pollen in the first place.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Nothing I have read in multiple books says that they remove pupal skins though. I've certainly not seen any hive debris that looks like them.

do you think they remove them whole? as anything else, it's probably chewed to bits first.

 

[Sutty]

do you think they remove them whole? as anything else, it's probably chewed to bits first.

I've seen books saying that the cells get progressively smaller - but I've only occasionally seen miniature bees so it may not be true!
There are definitely pupal skins left in brood comb though...

 

[North End Bees]

Re larval poop, lots of people enjoy honeydew honey which also comes out of the back end of an insect!

Or more accurately, out of the back end of one then the top end of another!

 

[user 819]

Only extract from Brood frames if no brood is actually still laid up.
The brood cells will be scrupiously cleaned out and polished with propolis between brood cycles.

 

[North End Bees]

Only extract from Brood frames if no brood is actually still laid up.

Does anybody extract from frames that still have brood actually laid up?!

 

[Ian123]

Does anybody extract from frames that still have brood actually laid up?!

Lol…….. there will be a market some place I’m sure.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Does anybody extract from frames that still have brood actually laid up?!

Extra protein to go with the honey
syrup

 

[Sutty]

They do say we should be eating insects! Fried brood anyone??

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Lol…….. there will be a market some place I’m sure.

it is a thing in quite a few countries

 

[Ely]

I extract from them. I don't use excluders either. The colony would soon run out of space if they didn't clean out cells before re-use. What a nightmare that would be for the beekeeper.

 

[blackcloud]

There is a lot of interest in insect protein based food and locusts swarms being a major problem in some continents its got to the stage of product like burgers offered in shops.

Just look up the brood cycle of the fig wasp
Think twice about eating that fruit.....

 

[user 20297]

At the point of extraction the honey may come out of pure, virgin wax, but upto that point it could have been in almost any and several cells in the hive.

 

[blackcloud]

As per Dodge-not forgetting the insecticide and diesel particulate that gets traipsed in of course.
Back in the mid 80's you would even factor in some radioactivity from Ukraine.
A good conclusion would be ignorance is bliss.