How to store used Super Frames / Brood Frames for next year

[john1]

Hi,
If I have some super frames and brood frames (no honey or eggs), what is the best way to store it for the following year to re-use them?
There is no honey in the super or no brood in the brood frames.
Is it enough to put them in a cardboard box and keep in a warm place?
Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

no need for keeping in a warm place - quite the opposite really. Super frames (and brood frames for that matter) are better stored 'wet' (after extraction and not given back to the bees to 'clean up') frames that have had brood in are more susceptible to waxmoth

 

[JamezF]

frames that have had brood in are more susceptible to waxmoth

I suspect ones that have had pollen in, too. (When pollen has been put in cells a super, for example.)

James

 

[Swarm]

Yes, I had a comb with a single cell of pollen and there was evidence of wax moth.

 

[Cole lynch]

Dry or wet, After freezing for 48hr to kill off wax moth larvae & eggs, I keep mine in clear stacker boxes and seal the lids with parcel tape to stop moths and leave them in a poly tunnel over winter

A cardboard box in the warm is Probly one of the worst places. I had a nucs worth of brood frames destroyed by wax moth whilst stored indoors unsealed in the box overwinter. Yuck

 

[Ely]

You can also spray the brood boxes with organic caterpillar killer like xentari to prevent wax moth

 

[jdl]

I use clear zip bags from Amazon, 1 frame per bag

 

[Macbear]

Dry or wet, After freezing for 48hr to kill off wax moth larvae & eggs, I keep mine in clear stacker boxes and seal the lids with parcel tape to stop moths and leave them in a poly tunnel over winter

A cardboard box in the warm is Probly one of the worst places. I had a nucs worth of brood frames destroyed by wax moth whilst stored indoors unsealed in the box overwinter. Yuck

Good idea. I made the mistake of storing frames in brood and super boxes with solid crownboards above and beneath the stack and each box inside a black sack. All in a sound garden shed atop railway sleepers. Somehow suffered insect damage [not wax moth], and mice managed to lift the top crownboard and had fun.

 

[Wilco]

Make a stack, burn some sulphur in it every few weeks.

Don't inhale the sulphur fumes.

 

[Garry R]

Srore wet in an old non working fridge or freezer, If working it's a bonus as a good freeze for a couple of days will knacker the eggs or caterpillars of wax moth. Perfect seal but do block the drain hole - I filled with epoxy plug. No wasps, mice or wax moth. I also do my acetic acid comb treatment in there.

 

[deemann1]

I store all my supers and brood comb wet with a couple newspaper sheets between them never had a big issue with wax moth or buy an industrial roll of clingfilm and wrap your boxes

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

You can also spray the brood boxes with organic caterpillar killer like xentari to prevent wax moth

No you can't,
Not licensed for that use.

 

[user 20297]

No you can't,
Not licensed for that use.

That doesn't seem to matter to most people here when using other non-approved treatments for other maladies.

 

[Sutty]

Last year I stored a couple of stacks of wet supers with an empty super at the top with some acetic acid in a take-away container, wrapped it in wheelie bin bags and cling film (packaging shelf at b&q), and left it until spring. Despite warnings on here I didn't see any problems with corrosion.

 

[pargyle]

No you can't,
Not licensed for that use.

But it works .... once again beekeepers hamstrung by a VMD that in the case of beekeeing is not fit for purpose.

 

[blackcloud]

Good comb is priceless but have a good look at what you are going out of your way to protect.
Are you going to need it and is it actually worth saving?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

once again beekeepers hamstrung by a VMD that in the case of beekeeing is not fit for purpose.

If only there was a national organisation, with a long provenance, representative of all beekeepers fighting our corner

 

[Curly green finger's]

Mine this winter are going to be stacked under a Dutch barn strapped up and I would say keeping them on the cool side rather than warm would be better .
Last winter I kept all my wet stored supers in a sealed shipping container.

 

[Murox]

Pragmatism, deal with things in a realistic way, rather than obeying fixed theories, ideas, or rules I know I do.

 

[hemo]

Last three years waxmoth woul dhave been quite prolific without my intervention, even though I use greenhouse glass between each stored BB.
To an extent supers are safe but any signs of pollen or brood coccoons in them make them a target as well.

One can try Xentari or Dipel DF sprayed ( Certan b401/b402 was the approved option) over the surfaces once or twice usually does the trick, I also when I have a quiet hour go thru the stack and use thin long tweezers to remove larvae that I may see.

Certan is the same bacillus type as both of the above , just they aren't approved.

If one is unprepared to keep an eye on combs then one will end up burning all and replacing the mess left by the WM.