Sorting out 5yr old supers with OSR honey

[danield]

With the loss of my normal job due to the pandemic and the consequent time I now have available, I've been helping my father with his bees. Previously I've had very little to do with his bees so it's been a lot of reading up on what to do. Whilst having grown up with bees I was allergic so generally had nothing to do with them so I really am a beginner. He has been struggling for a number of years now and so I'm trying to help reduce his operation whilst at the same time trying to make what is left more manageable - reducing brood in super/feeder issues - replacing lots of broken boxes, frames, renewing comb. He now only has 15 colonies split over 3 apiaries.

I did the OSR extraction by myself in May. In the shed where he does this extraction are about 100 supers that are about 5 years old. The shed is only 3mx4m so this is taking up significant space. What is the best practice for handling this comb? Incidentally I am quite short on supers for the existing colonies. Previously my Dad has shared supers which requires less stock but this doesn't seem to be advisable by the standards today. I do have lots of new frame kits so can easily make up new frames but am reluctant to do that because it means more stock in circulation which then needs storage space/management. And of course that comb would need to be drawn.

Things I have available to me are electric Burcos, gas Dean washing coppers, 25L honey warming cabinet, solar wax extractor.

Is cutting the comb out of the supers the best thing to do given the shortage of drawn supers? Is there anyway the comb can be saved? I'm less concerned about the honey in there as I think it is probably of no value any more, but if that was useful some that would be a nice bonus. I understand that feeding it back to the bees is not acceptable as I do not know which colonies the supers came from.

All ideas appreciated to help this beginner!

 

[mbc]

I'm not sure if it's advisable or of any help but I saw photos of beekeepers in New Zealand take cart loads of supers full of Manuka honey down to streams to wash out the honey(which they didn't have a market for at the time- how things have changed!) so that the combs were empty ready for filling with clover honey, which they did have a ready export market for.

 

[masterBK]

If shallows have never had brood in them only honey and the wax moth has not had a go they will probably be fine. Nosema spores are not viable for 5 yrs although AFB ones are. If he has not had AFB then the combs will be fine. I have numerous perfectly good shallows several decades old as I only replace broken ones and those that have had brood in (they are a magnet for wax moths).

 

[danield]

If shallows have never had brood in them only honey and the wax moth has not had a go they will probably be fine. Nosema spores are not viable for 5 yrs although AFB ones are. If he has not had AFB then the combs will be fine. I have numerous perfectly good shallows several decades old as I only replace broken ones and those that have had brood in (they are a magnet for wax moths).

Interesting. Last foul brood issue was in the '80s so shouldn't be a problem now. So will the bees be able to remove the granulated honey? I've read various suggestions including some that suggest a warm soak in a water bath for a couple of minutes helps the bees clear it out. Is this still recommended? Is there any danger of the granulated honey contaminating the existing stores within the hives?

 

[theeggman]

To the forum. Full marks for stepping in to assist. You've found the correct place to get dozens of different solutions to problems but if you 'pick and/or mix' the replys and use your gut feel I'm sure you'll get there.

 

[ericbeaumont]

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/clearcombstores.html