My mistake ?

[Griffo]

Opened up my small stack of supers today for a quick check and was met with a mild fermenting odour. I found half a dozen had retained some honey residue which had absorbed moisture and quite a lot came out when I gave them a shake. As far as I recall, I gave them to the bees to clean up but they either did a poor job or maybe I missed them. My question is will these do any harm if used as-is or should I maybe dunk them in warm water to get rid of any fermentation residues ?

 

[enrico]

The bees will sort them out. IMHO
E

 

[Bosleeu]

The bees should clean them. You may not like to think of the fermented honey/nectar becoming part of this year's crop.

If you pop them under the BB most of it should be gone pretty soon. It should end up in the BB and the bees should still use it. You can put it under a QE if you don't want the queen to lay in it. Once clean, put them on top as usual and your crop should taste fine.

 

[MuswellMetro]

agree with enrico, i have a stack of wet supers that smell like a brewery, i expect no problems giving them to my bees to clean

you also often get patches of unripe honey on supers put back for cleanng if you leave them on too long, i find 48hrs is about right for them to clear up after extracting but above a very small opening in the crown board not direct on top of a QE

 

[bontbee]

I always used to store supers wet - I was told it was a deterrent against wax moth - it never seemed to cause any problems by supering with them, still wet and yeasty.

PS It kept the wax moth at bay for several years, (coincidence?) but wasn't failsafe I use alternative methods now!!)

 

[Amari]

agree with enrico, i have a stack of wet supers that smell like a brewery, i expect no problems giving them to my bees to clean
you also often get patches of unripe honey on supers put back for cleanng if you leave them on too long, i find 48hrs is about right for them to clear up after extracting but above a very small opening in the crown board not direct on top of a QE

Won't it make your bees tipsy?

 

[Griffo]

Thanks everybody