How To Clean Honey Comb Of Wet Honey

One of the worst parts of honey extraction is the aggregating of sticky, gooey frames that remains after the process. These frames of uncapped comb, known every bit "moisture" frames, are a storage nightmare until they are cleaned of all traces of honey.

Fortunately, honey bees are more than than happy to do the chore. They lick and clean every nook and cranny and put the remaining honey back in storage. This is a great arrangement that conserves dearest and makes the apiculturist'due south life easier. Only how you deliver wet frames to the bees is important.

Information technology is pop to pile the frames into a nifty heap on the edge of the bee m and let the bees do their matter. I have seen frames piled in wheelbarrows or stacked similar woods in a bonfire. This will go your frames clean in no time, only it is not skillful practice. In my opinion, information technology is just plain irresponsible.

This system, very similar to open feeding of sugar syrup, has several negative consequences:

• Open feeding draws bees from all over. Conflicts over the nutrient source may develop into a robbing frenzy, replete with fighting and dying.

• Shared food sources are perfect for the transmission of parasites such as mites. Even if you have worked hard to keep your mites under command, you may unwittingly bring new mite stock in from somewhere else. During a nectar dearth (a popular fourth dimension for extracting) bees volition travel long distances to get to your honey drips—perhaps v miles or more.

• Honey bee pathogens, including leaner, fungi, and viruses, tin can also exist transmitted during open feeding. It's sort of similar eating your dinner from a customs trough. You could easily bring a new disease into your apiary.

• Open feeding also draws other insects, including wild bees, hover flies, wasps, and hornets. Some of these insects, such as wasps and hornets, may go for your bees likewise every bit the honey.

• Open feeding may draw other animals likewise, including raccoons, opossums, and dogs into your neighborhood. If rewarded with a sweet treat, these animals may add your apiary to their regular rounds.

• There is a real possibility that wild bees may pick up diseases or parasites from honey bees at an open up feeding station. Wild bumble bees have already contracted diseases from greenhouse bumble bees, and it appears that some wild bees may have already picked up dear bee diseases such equally chalkbrood. Cross-species affliction manual may be the single biggest risk to open feeding . . . and it'due south merely not worth it.

And so what do yous do with all those sticky frames? When they come out of the extractor, put them back in a super, and put the supers back on the hive. Sure, in that location is notwithstanding some take chances of transferring disease, merely it is much smaller than at an open feeder. And all the other problems of open up feeding are basically solved.

If you are concerned well-nigh starting a robbing frenzy at your hives, there are several things you can exercise to reduce the chances:

• Clean any honey drips from the outside of the supers.

• Reduce the hive entrances to a size commensurate with the colony size.

• Select only stiff hives for cleaning supers as they are more able to defend against robbers.

• Add the supers in the evening, near nightfall, when bees are non flying. By morning, a strong hive will have the state of affairs pretty much under control.

With a little intendance, y'all can get your frames cleaned and even so take good for you, happy bees when you are done.

Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite

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Source: https://www.honeybeesuite.com/avoid-a-honey-drip-free-for-all/

Posted by: greenbergbaccoulesty.blogspot.com

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