flow still on? uncapped honey in supers

[thenovice]

I went to harvest the last crop yesterday only to find that half of the supers were still mostly uncapped. Upon the shake test, a few drops fell out. sorted out the completely capped frames from the partially capped ones but am still left with 7 supers on the hives very heavy with honey/nectar. There are plenty woods around and the nectar is very dark so I think it is honeydew they are collecting. I have hardly any varroa drop this year so I am happy to hold off the thymol treatments for now if there is a chance they will cap it. Will they?

 

[Eyeman]

Hi
I've got at least another 2 weeks to go with the Balsam before the ivy starts to bloom.
I'm having supers with foundation being drawn and capped when I next inspect 1 week later.
If the colony is strong and healthy then let them do what they are good at.
If supers not capped then leave them on or if the colony is weak then clear them of bees and move them to a stronger colony-all things 'biosecurity' considered.

 

[thenovice]

If supers not capped then leave them on or if the colony is weak then clear them of bees and move them to a stronger colony-all things 'biosecurity' considered.

No weak colonies here . I am a combiner as I have no interest in more hives...

 

[JWF]

I'm in Herne Bay so not too far from you. My 6 colonies have all been getting forage from somewhere since the weather warmed up this last week or so - I thought the flow was over but clearly not! The forecast is warm but not hot for the rest of this week so fingers crossed for some more crop!

 

[chrisb]

plenty of forage coming in here to,

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think this was HM's post
Apologies if I'm wrong

Fortunately, it is very easy to apply supplementary drying after the honey has been removed from the hive if it is still in the combs with a large (vertical) surface area for gaseous exchange. We use a small conservatory and a low capacity dehumidifier, costing just under £100 and power consumption 210W, to dry any unsealed honey that has a high water content. The dehumidifier easily maintains the relative humidity (RH) below 50% in an well-sealed room. The equilibrium water content of honey at this RH of 50% is 15.9%, which is probably lower than can be achieved direct from the hive even in the driest parts of Britain. We find that 7 days of drying with good air circulation around the boxes of combs is sufficient to reduce the water content from 19-22% down to 17.0 - 17.5%. Temperature has a major influence on the rate of drying and something around 25°C is ideal. The yield of water in the dehumidifier is a good guide as to progress and it falls off rapidly as the drying process is nearing completion.

I hope this is helpful to those of you struggling with semi-capped supers.

 

[Jimmys Mum]

I think this was HM's post
Apologies if I'm wrong

Fortunately, it is very easy to apply supplementary drying after the honey has been removed from the hive if it is still in the combs with a large (vertical) surface area for gaseous exchange. We use a small conservatory and a low capacity dehumidifier, costing just under £100 and power consumption 210W, to dry any unsealed honey that has a high water content. The dehumidifier easily maintains the relative humidity (RH) below 50% in an well-sealed room. The equilibrium water content of honey at this RH of 50% is 15.9%, which is probably lower than can be achieved direct from the hive even in the driest parts of Britain. We find that 7 days of drying with good air circulation around the boxes of combs is sufficient to reduce the water content from 19-22% down to 17.0 - 17.5%. Temperature has a major influence on the rate of drying and something around 25°C is ideal. The yield of water in the dehumidifier is a good guide as to progress and it falls off rapidly as the drying process is nearing completion.

I hope this is helpful to those of you struggling with semi-capped supers.

This works for me, I've just 'finished off' 15 uncapped supers and extracted them yesterday. Supers are stacked up crisis crossed in a tiny weeny room that houses our pressurised hot water cylinder. The room is usually used to dry washing on a clothes horse but it conveniently houses 2 stacks of 12 supers rather nicely too with a dehumidifier perched on top. Somewhat cheaper than buying a honey drier!

 

[Erichalfbee]

How long did it take? Please

 

[Jimmys Mum]

I only left them in for 4 days, water content after this was between 17 and 18.5 in the frames with one stubborn super still measuring 19.2 on the refractometer. Would have liked to leave them a few more days but alas, a busy week ahead with non bee related stuff! So have done some calculated blending to bring my averages below the level that I am happy to jar up.

 

[beeno]

My large colonies are bringing something in possibly white clover, but I would not call it a flow. Thought I was done, but may extract some more.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I think this was HM's post
Apologies if I'm wrong

Fortunately, it is very easy to apply supplementary drying after the honey has been removed from the hive if it is still in the combs with a large (vertical) surface area for gaseous exchange. We use a small conservatory and a low capacity dehumidifier, costing just under £100 and power consumption 210W, to dry any unsealed honey that has a high water content. The dehumidifier easily maintains the relative humidity (RH) below 50% in an well-sealed room. The equilibrium water content of honey at this RH of 50% is 15.9%, which is probably lower than can be achieved direct from the hive even in the driest parts of Britain. We find that 7 days of drying with good air circulation around the boxes of combs is sufficient to reduce the water content from 19-22% down to 17.0 - 17.5%. Temperature has a major influence on the rate of drying and something around 25°C is ideal. The yield of water in the dehumidifier is a good guide as to progress and it falls off rapidly as the drying process is nearing completion.

I hope this is helpful to those of you struggling with semi-capped supers.

That quote was from Wally Shaw's piece in August's BBKA News.

CVB

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah yes....now I remember.
Thank you CVB