wet honey supers

[markfitz]

hi everyone, would it be a good idea to store wet honey supers for the winter and feed back to the hives that are low on food in the spring, whats the best way to store wet honey supers and is there any danger of the honey getting contaminated thanks

[AliciaH]

Maybe it's just my luck, but if I store wet supers, they tend to get moldy over winter unless I freeze them.

If you can't freeze them, you could let the bees clean them up.  It will chew up the wax a bit, but they'll get the comb dried out for you.

[markfitz]

thanks alicia if i put it back on for the bees to clean do i place it above the crown board, and if i have a bit of capped honey on a few frames in my wet suppers will they remove and clean this for me aswell

[T Beek]

Storing wet supers is asking for trouble IMO.  Place your wet frames above the inner cover (crown board) inside an empty super to prevent robbing.  This method fools bees into believing they are leaving the hive to forage.  If you have a light colony its a perfect way to help them out. 

It won't take them long to clean up those frames which will then be ready to store.  When storing, use screen, bottom and top, to prevent moths from entering.

t

[mikecva]

I sit mine back in for cleaning one or two at a time, under the inner cover, for 24-36 hours (depending on how good I was during extracting.) Then I move the supers outside the hive, standing on end on the outer cover for final cleaning and drying (~24 hours)

 I then store the supers on plastic 6-8 high, put 3-4 table spoons of moth crystals ***NOT moth balls*** on a paper plate on the top super and cover the stack with plastic and a board (to make almost air tight) - let the supers air out for a week before reusing in the spring.   -Mike

[markfitz]

thanks everyone