What to do with unsealed supers?

[CliffDale]

I have a couple of supers that are heavy but non of the stores are capped.

Can I extract the honey or should I leave them on longer?

Cliff

 

[Matt1971]

If you don't have a refractomitter (can't spell) to check water content spin off and feed back to your bee's.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Shake the frames over the hive. If droplets come off then they are not ready.

Invest in a refractomoter, not expensive and may save you a lot of wasted time

I dont think (and am happy to be corrected) that there is any point in spinning off to refeed - the bees will clean off a frame themselves quite happily if thats what you want

 

[viridens]

Other options are:

Take out some frames for a few days to allow them to complete and cap those that are left.

Make a large batch of mead!

 

[Chris Tel]

I'm in the same position. But to complicate matters the advice I've been given is to start treating with Apilifevar as soon as possible in which case do I leave the supers on or take them off? If I leave them on would it be best to leave above the QE or the crown board and I'm assuming the honey stores are then tainted with Thymol? If I take them off can they be preserved as is or should I extract and make mead? Or should I delay treating till capped or taken down by the bees?

 

[RosieMc]

I'm in the same position. But to complicate matters the advice I've been given is to start treating with Apilifevar as soon as possible in which case do I leave the supers on or take them off? If I leave them on would it be best to leave above the QE or the crown board and I'm assuming the honey stores are then tainted with Thymol? If I take them off can they be preserved as is or should I extract and make mead? Or should I delay treating till capped or taken down by the bees?

Same question. Or, can you take the supers off even though they are only partially capped, and store them for a while whilst the varroa treatment is in? In the meantime, feed the bees with sugar syrup?

 

[viridens]

Same question. Or, can you take the supers off even though they are only partially capped, and store them for a while whilst the varroa treatment is in? In the meantime, feed the bees with sugar syrup?

Yes, and there should be no need to feed. There will be stores in the brood box, and they will still be foraging.

Or delay treatment for a week or two if they are still bringing plenty in and are likely to complete some frames. There should still be plenty of time to treat the little buzzers.

 

[Juststarting]

If you don't have a refractomitter (can't spell) to check water content spin off and feed back to your bee's.

Just decided to invest in a refractometer so I dont have to guess or wait for it all to be capped esp as season so short here and likely to start getting too cold for varroa treatment soon.

 

[oliver90owner]

and am happy to be corrected

Completely correct. An utter waste of time and effort removing honey you know is substandard, just to feed it back. Has to be a good reason to do that trick.

Chris Tel,

the advice I've been given is to start treating with Apilifevar as soon as possible

Welcome to the forum.

How much mead are you expecting to make?

'As soon as possible' means just that - not sooner!

Do you have an excessive mite drop? Otherwise, why the rush? It is only the middle of August. It should not be 'the end of the world' if alternatives were needed.

I would not be compromising a large amount of honey by leaving them on. Further, the treatment is likely sized for the brood only (I adjust my thymol treatment according to weather and size of box).

Within an apiary I would be removing those frames which are extactable and consolidating the rest in fewer supers, leaving them on the productive stocks for completion - as long as there is a good flow.

RosieMc,

take the supers off even though they are only partially capped, and store them for a while whilst the varroa treatment is in

Store them in a cold place - a freezer, per eg?

Why feed if there is a flow or plenty of stores in the brood? Monitoring and acting appropriately is far better than doing things 'blind'.

RAB

 

[Chris Tel]

Hi Rab,
Thank you so much for the advice and all your insightful questions posed.
With regards 'how much mead am I going to make' I was only contemplating this as means of making use of uncapped honey though on the basis of your advice I think I'm going to consolidate the best frames in a single super and play it by ear with regards to how the bees are progressing in filling and capping it.
Dependent on this and mite drop I can then assess best time to start treating. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[DorsetB]

Above post is a combination of just about all the things I do each year.

- consolidate supers as required
- put supers in freezer in individual sealed plastic bags, so they can be fed later in the season or even kept until spring
- don't rush to treat at this time of year

 

[Blue Spinnaker]

I adjust my thymol treatment according to weather and size of box

Rab, would that be more strips per treatment or more treatments for a 14x12?

Thanks

 

[psafloyd]

Above post is a combination of just about all the things I do each year.

- consolidate supers as required
- put supers in freezer in individual sealed plastic bags, so they can be fed later in the season or even kept until spring
- don't rush to treat at this time of year

Just how much freezer space do you guys have? Do you run your own kind of Bejam?

 

[viridens]

Beejam? shirley that should be Niceland (where mums 'go') these days.

 

[Tom Bick]

This year I intend to make Marmalade with the few frames of uncapped honey I have.

 

[oliver90owner]

would that be more strips per treatment or more treatments for a 14x12

The mites don't take any longer to kill, but the amount I use may be reduced if, for example, the weather is very hot (kill the mites, but not the bees!).

RAB

 

[DorsetB]

Just how much freezer space do you guys have? Do you run your own kind of Bejam?

Lol, no, but we are lucky enough to have an old fridge/freezer in the garage which I am "allowed" to use one shelf of for occasionall beekeeping purposes, so either to freeze my propolis screens or keep the odd super frame, kill wax moth etc, mind you I don't think I have ever had more than 3-4 frames in the freezer.