Feeding with Stored Supers - Top or Bottom or...?

[Philrob]

Relative Newbie, (hopefully) I'm learning from my mistakes but making different ones each year...

2022 was a phenomenal year for honey here but 'Life' happened in late August so I (foolishly) didn't extract everything as soon as I took it off the hives.
Wax moth then hatched/migrated to the full stored supers (since treated by freezing) but these were unsuitable for extraction (I had already extracted about 35kg so had (and still have) masses of honey for own use).

I'd like to use the treated supers to add more feed to my two colonies. What is the best approach?:

1. Extract, keep the honey separate from the 'good stuff' and feed using rapid feeder (surrounded by insulation to minimise heat loss)
2. Put the treated supers on the bottom.
3. Put the treated supers on the top.
4. Wait for a dry warmish day and swap out any frames they have emptied (I left plenty of stores on the hives)
5. Something else?

What do you recommend?

 

[pargyle]

If they are wax moth infested I would not risk putting the frames back in the hives ... there's no guarantee that freezing them will have killed all the eggs ...wax moth eggs are remarkably resilient. If the honey will spin out (and it may have set in the frames - so you might have to warm them up a bit to get it sufficiently liquid to spin out) then you could spin it out and keep it until they need feeding. I would strip the wax out of the frames and recover it - if there are wax moth webs in it to any extent the bees won't clean them out - they find it difficult. The least I would do is cut the affected portions of comb out as, if there's any that's web free, they can rebuild it.

I'd invest in a sulphur burner and give the frames a blast after you've pulled the honey out or boil them if you scrape all the comb out.

But .. if your bees have plenty of stores they don't need feeding and you should not be fiddling about with them at this time of the year.

It's a steep learning curve and we all learn by our mistakes ... and from the others who have made them and are brave enough to admit to them pubicly. At least you know where you went wrong ...

 

[Beedogg]

In a related question, I have quite a few frames that have been spun out but have patches of crystalised honey left in them. What's the best way of feeding them back to the bees?

 

[pargyle]

In a related question, I have quite a few frames that have been spun out but have patches of crystalised honey left in them. What's the best way of feeding them back to the bees?

At this time of the year there isn't one... if they need feeding in the spring, scratch the cappings off if they are still there and just put the super frames, a couple at a time, replacing empty of stores brood frames - if they need it they will use it. I've fed super frames with crystallised honey in them in autumn by putting them in a super on top of a board with a small hole in it - ideally with a bit of space - they have cleaned them out and taken them down into the brood frames.

You can gently wash the crystallised honey out of the frames (warm water - not hot enough to melt the wax) and feed the resultant syrup back to them but it's usually a bit of a weak solution that results and if you do it and keep it then the odds are the solution will either go mouldy or ferment .. but your super frames will be cleared ready for use. Wash it out just before you need to use it and perhaps add some sugar to bring it up to 1:1 syrup level and the bees will take it down - useful if you want them to build up some fresh brood frames early in spring.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I have quite a few frames that have been spun out but have patches of crystalised honey left in them. What's the best way of feeding them back to the bees?

with the odd patch like you describe - I wouldn't bother - just make sure they are in the first supers you put on next season and the bees will clean them out before re-storing

 

[ericbeaumont]

use the treated supers to add more feed to my two colonies

Usual time to get this done is autumn when a colony contracts, but it can work when temps. rise and the colony is strong, but before a big spring nectar flow leads to the filling rather than emptying of combs.

Trick is to put the combs outside the nest perimeter and get them to clear it (and likely use it to feed spring brood or draw comb). You'll need a 460sq sheet of thick plastic or a crownboard, an entrance block and three strips of 9mm wood to create an upper entrance; if you use a crownboard the strips can be fixed to it.

You may need to add a QX & super above the BB (or another brood box) to give space for the honey, because the last thing you want is a congested but expanding brood nest.

Here's the recipe.

 

[Philrob]

Thanks for the replies.

My wax moth is a (relatively) minor issue (nothing like some of the photos on here) a few tracks, some poo and a bit of silk in places - which I can cut out or scrape off with the uncapping tool/

From reading around - the freezing takes care of moth, larvae and pupa - but sulphur is needed to deal with the eggs. The eggs need to be dealt with.

There is a video showing how 'the recipe' works in practice - I see some woodwork in my future.

My best approach seems to be to use sulphur to kill any eggs and then wait until early spring to apply 'the recipe'

 

[pargyle]

Thanks for the replies.

My wax moth is a (relatively) minor issue (nothing like some of the photos on here) a few tracks, some poo and a bit of silk in places - which I can cut out or scrape off with the uncapping tool/

From reading around - the freezing takes care of moth, larvae and pupa - but sulphur is needed to deal with the eggs. The eggs need to be dealt with.

There is a video showing how 'the recipe' works in practice - I see some woodwork in my future.

My best approach seems to be to use sulphur to kill any eggs and then wait until early spring to apply 'the recipe'

Sounds like a good plan to me ...

 

[ericbeaumont]

unsuitable for extraction

A thought: if the honey is liquid, extract and feed back at some point. Give the extracted combs to clean as above, either below the BB or as JBM described, above a QX.