Honey extraction.

[Cellectronic]

Well, I have been busy extracting the honey and some frames that came out of the extractor weigh the same as they went in at.
Yep, OSR !! Question is if I put it back in the hive will they clean it out or just add more to it ?
I am wondering whether to save it for winter and let them have it as stores or will they just turf it out ?
Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[stenibee]

had the same problem. i put mine back

 

[MeatheadSnowman]

Same here! I soaked mine in water then dried them out and gave them back!

 

[Duchy]

Oil seed rape sets too hard. Bees can't use it in the winter.

 

[enrico]

I think this is where a warming cabinet comes in useful! Old chest freezer with a thermostatically controlled greenhouse heated panel!
E

 

[steve56616]

Oil seed rape sets too hard. Bees can't use it in the winter.

Not sure if I agree as fondant is hard. I have loads of OSR honey that I cant extract so will be giving it all back. My honey harvest has been rubbish so far

 

[Teemore]

It is a hard lesson but you really do need to extract OSR honey before the bees have it completely capped. If it is capped, it will start to set in the comb. I think most beekeepers who have OSR near their apiaries have encountered this issue.

I was caught out last year as a landowner planted some sort of OSR/brassica as ground cover for game birds within foraging distance of one of my apiaries. I wasn't aware of this until I came to extract and had "several" supers that were a little hard to extract. Some were given back to the bees, some of the comb was cut out, warmed and pressed to extract the honey. Post extraction investigation identified the location of the game cover.....

I had some hives foraging directly on OSR this year and have taken off over 120lbs from three stocks. As the weather changed just as the bloom went off, I have left a couple of supers containing nectar and honey on for the bees to feed on and to give them clustering room. Those supers are rapidly being cleared of stores. Unlike previous years, that apiary is definitely suffering from the June Gap.

Even though I was removing honey as soon as it was ripe/before it was fully capped, I still had a number of frames blow out in the extractor as some of the honey was just starting to set (Mainly frames of new wax I might add). Other frames still had some partially set honey in them once removed from the extractor. The bees are currently cleaning up all the extracted frames.

 

[OhioBeeKeeper]

Hi - My understanding is if the honey is hard and solid you can try warming it as others have suggested or you can just scrape it off the frame and eat it as rock candy! Once hardened the bees don't have the chewing mandible strength to do a good clean-up. Of course that would depend on how much your honey has hardened. Depending upon your attitude towards other pollinators, an alternate solution is to hang it outside (protected from the rain) away from your hives and let the indigenous pollinators clean it up. Many in the wasp family can chew through just about anything. Personally, I do everything I can to encourage a native pollinator population. A strong bee hive is so superior, they can use the help. Good luck!