OSR in brood

[lebouche]

Is it a problem if my bees store lots of OSR in the brood? Will it set hard and be useless for them or is it just that beekeepers find it hard to extract when hard rather than bees. I know that hard fondant is difficult for bees to consume...

Thanks,

 

[BeeFarmer]

Good question, I've got at least a frame of capped OSR in my brood box.

 

[YorkshireBees]

If the nectar / honey is uncapped the bees will use it for feeding the brood.
Once they cap it they will not use it unless there is a dearth of nectar and they run short of food.

In terms of OSR honey crystallising in the comb, they CAN still use it but will need a good supply of water.

Personally I would not worry about a frame or 2 of sealed stores in the brood box so long as the queen has plenty of room to lay.
During a heavy flow you can remove the stores and swap for drawn comb if you have some spare or foundation if not as the bees should have plenty of nectar coming in and in most cases have a reserve of food above them in the supers in case of a prolonged period of bad weather.