Lots of brood stores to use.....best way of feeding them back to the bees?

[Goodwood]

After cutting the number of double colonies I manage and salvaging frames from winter losses i find myself with several boxes of frames full of stores.
Admittedly some look like ivy honey but many are clean, clear stores, probably a result of over zealous feeding with invert last autumn.
I am slowly using them up with splits but wonder if any forum users have any tricks for getting them back to the bees without compromising existing honey foraging and / or the exisitng supers.
Also do people sometimes write off the solid ivy frames?
Thanks in advance!

 

[REDWOOD]

Not at all, ideal for a swarm or making up a nuc


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[Fatbee]

Or keep them and integrate in the autumn for overwintering

 

[Finman]

Or keep them and integrate in the autumn for overwintering

I bet that you will regret that

I used old honey, and what a disaster by nosema!
There is some limit too, how much you can mix old stuff to new yield. You may loose some of hour good customers. New yield will get old aroma.

 

[Fatbee]

If they're capped frames why would the honey have deteriorated to trigger nosema?

 

[For want of a better word]

Put the boxes of stores under the brood box covered in a plastic sheet with a 4 inch hole in it, the box can be placed on an old solid floor or existing omf with a couple of inch dowells either side and at the back to lift it.

Place hive brood box on top of the plastic using an eke with an entrance that the bees can guard... as the box of stores is on a floor with an entrance too big to defend the bees will quickly move the stores up... however beware robbing if you keep the carnioitalliano type bees.

Clean empty brood frames are worth their weight in gold if making up nucs!

Nos da

 

[Jimy Dee]

Place the frames in a box with roof, on a hive stand, no floor required, and locate it a good distance away from your hives. It will not take the bees long to find it and they will clear the stores from the frames in a day or two and put it back in their own hives. I have often done it and provided the location is a good distance from your hives (say 100 meters) at this time of the year their should be no robbing. Transfer of disease is a risk - each beekeeper has to make their own call in this regards. You know your own hives and their health status.
Once the honey is gone, keep the drawn frames for future use.

 

[pargyle]

Place the frames in a box with roof, on a hive stand, no floor required, and locate it a good distance away from your hives. It will not take the bees long to find it and they will clear the stores from the frames in a day or two and put it back in their own hives. I have often done it and provided the location is a good distance from your hives (say 100 meters) at this time of the year their should be no robbing. Transfer of disease is a risk - each beekeeper has to make their own call in this regards. You know your own hives and their health status.
Once the honey is gone, keep the drawn frames for future use.

Sorry Jimmy ... this is a pretty silly idea - every bee in the area will find it - you will risk attracting any disease along with all the other bees.

Bees will fly up to 5k if they find a ready food source - it's really NOT a safe thing to do ... yes, it will clean the frames but the risks are pretty awful wherever you keep bees.

 

[Finman]

.
I have fed really big amounts of crystallized honey to bees. I have explained it here many times how to do it.

- but if you have too much old stuff, you will spoil new yield
- to save old stuff to next winter food is a big mistake

These advices are based on experiences.

 

[Finman]

If they're capped frames why would the honey have deteriorated to trigger nosema?

It does not trigger nosema. Nosema spores are inside the food.

And when you give old frames, cells are not all capped. There uncapped, fermented, mouldy and what ever cells. Often half of frame is capped.

 

[Eyeman]

I am slowly using them up with splits but wonder if any forum users have any tricks for getting them back to the bees without compromising existing honey foraging and / or the exisitng supers.

I decided to be ruthless this year. When I went through my overwintered booty approx 30-40% of the stores were on combs that were only fit for disposal. Should have got rid in the autumn.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Place the frames in a box with roof, on a hive stand, no floor required, and locate it a good distance away from your hives. It will not take the bees long to find it and they will clear the stores from the frames in a day or two and put it back in their own hives. I have often done it and provided the location is a good distance from your hives (say 100 meters) at this time of the year their should be no robbing. Transfer of disease is a risk - each beekeeper has to make their own call in this regards. You know your own hives and their health status.
Once the honey is gone, keep the drawn frames for future use.

Sorry Jimmy ... this is a pretty silly idea - every bee in the area will find it - you will risk attracting any disease along with all the other bees.

Bees will fly up to 5k if they find a ready food source - it's really NOT a safe thing to do ... yes, it will clean the frames but the risks are pretty awful wherever you keep bees.

Stupid rather than silly you may know your own hive's health status but not the status of others who will come and rob.
Daftness in its pure form.

 

[Goodwood]

Eyeman....yep I am coming to that conclusion for about 50% of mine too
Thanks

 

[foghornleghorn]

Place the frames in a box with roof, on a hive stand, no floor required, and locate it a good distance away from your hives. It will not take the bees long to find it and they will clear the stores from the frames in a day or two and put it back in their own hives. I have often done it and provided the location is a good distance from your hives (say 100 meters) at this time of the year their should be no robbing. Transfer of disease is a risk - each beekeeper has to make their own call in this regards. You know your own hives and their health status.
Once the honey is gone, keep the drawn frames for future use.

If the honey is granulated ivy honey they'll tear the combs apart and you'll need to stick in new foundation

 

[Finman]

If the honey is granulated ivy honey they'll tear the combs apart and you'll need to stick in new foundation

Such destroy arvice....