wintering question

[Zoot]

Is it feasable to keep frames that are full of uncapped honey in a hive arrangement for winter stores? My past experience is that even when the bees bring in abundant stores in September (from foraging or feeding) they don't seem to get around to capping a lot of it.

[Brian D. Bray]

If the super is kept on the hive, yes.  If you remove the super from the hive you would need to freeze the frames in order to keep it from fermenting or being invaded by parasites.  I've left on supers that weren't totally capped over the winter, sometimes what was left was a little vinegary.

[SteveSC]

Brian...   I have some capped honey in frames from last yr. that I just found. It wasn't frozen - it's been in the barn all yr..  If that honey has fermented ( and how can you tell if it has ) can I still feed it back to the bees or is that not a good idea.  Thanks.

[Robo]

If it is capped, it most likely will not ferment.  If it did ferment it would be oozing and you would smell it.  Chances are there is nothing wrong with it. If other insects or rodents haven't had a it, it is still good for human consumption.