Extracted honey - now what?!

[Pope Pius IX]

Hello everyone, probably a beginners question but mods can move if not!

I spent today extracting honey from the top super frames of my hive of sometimes tetchy bees. Went very well, no stings, lots of honey, but....

...having put the super frames through the extractor, many of them are now basically frames with a jumble of wax and wire on them in shapes that no self respecting colony would ever allow, even if they were sort-of weird Picasso style bees. The frames can obviously be reused and at the moment are dripping residual honey into a sieve.

My question is, what should I do with them? What should I do with the wax? Do I just rip it all out and replace with new foundation? Should I put a bit of beeswax up today in a line so they can go from that? And did I do something wrong during the extraction process, and should this really not have happened at all?!

I mean, up to a point it’s all fine because I got what I wanted...but still...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Did you trash the frames in the spinner?

 

[bobba]

Hi Pope Pius IX,

Normally after frames are extracted, they are referred to as wet frames.

If they will be used again straight away then you can just put them back in he super and pop them back on the hive.

If they are to be stored for winter, then I think most people dry them, that means to let the bees eat all the honey off. This is often done by putting them back on the hive, but above a crown board with hole. Or leaving them in the open for the bees to forage.

What I find odd about what you say is "a jumble of wax and wire". I am no pro and have only extracted 2 supers in my life. But after extracting my frames all looked in pretty good shape, bar one the blew out because I forgot it was cut comb.

I uncapped with one of those fork things. After extracting I had a few frames with large bodges that protruded into the neighboring frame's space, so trimmed them flat with a bread knife. Then I poped them back on the hive as the flow is strong atm.

How eactly did you uncap the frames?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi Pope Pius IX,

If they are to be stored for winter, then I think most people dry them, that means to let the bees eat all the honey off.

No, many store them wet - much more sensible

Or leaving them in the open for the bees to forage.

Not any sensible and responsible beekeeper!
leaving kit out in the open for bees 'to clean' is very unwise, reckless and irresponsible. It can lead to bees fighting, can trigger robbing and worse, can spread disease.

 

[bobba]

"It can lead to bees fighting, can trigger robbing and worse, can spread disease." - I should have added, this method should not be used if you have more than one hive in that location, and still with caution.

I was under the impression that dry storage was most common practice. I don't want to hijack the thread, but can you briefly explain the pros of wet storage?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have stored my supers wet for 13 years.
Getting the bees to clean them is a palaver. Quite often they start putting nectar back up there when it should be going into the brood.
I have never had wax moth while my neighbours storing dry have
Wet frames encourage pollen mites to eat the pollen which you can tip out with a sharp tap.
Bees like to clean them up and are straight into them the next season.

I’m still intrigued why OP’s frames are a tangled mess

Nobody with any sense puts wet supers out for all and sundry to rob.

 

[Pope Pius IX]

Thanks all for the advice so far. Probably best I clarify the "jumbled mess" and uncapping approach I used. This may well erode the fine respect and dignity that I no doubt command, but...

Uncapping was done using an uncapping knife (one of those ones serrated on both sides and vicious to look at.) Having watched various guides on this after the event, the only real difference is that I started uncapping at the top of the frame (having turned it 90 degrees) whereas many others seem to start at the bottom of the frame (having turned it 90 degrees). I didn't use an uncapping fork because I seemed to get the majority of the cells uncapped using the knife, and don't possess one. I probably will buy one in the future, though.

I then loaded these uncapped frames into a manual extractor and got spinning. Some of the frames withstood the spinning very well, and others didn't. I seem to have spun on some of them using too much force - when I opened the extractor to remove the frames, the wax had been forced partially through the gaps in the part of the extractor that holds the frames, and - once removed - there was a distinct lean in the comb, in that it bulged out on one side and - consequently - domed in on the other. Additionally, to get the frames that had done this out of the extractor, I needed to push the wax back through the extractor's bars, rendering the wax still more dubious.

As there's probably only 20 metres between my (single) hive and my house, I currently have 4 of the 10 supers in the extractor itself, which is indoors, so that residual honey can drip off overnight. The other six frames are currently in the freezer, as we needed to put them somewhere and that seemed a good option to reduce bees coming into the house and any eggs by any other insect being laid in them.

From reading the comments so far it seems like my options are really to insert the frames back into the hive or to put them outside the hive for the bees to clean...or perhaps to unfreeze when another super goes on (there are still two supers on the hive, one ridiculously heavy one clearly full of honey, and one I put on today.) Alternatively, I could buy some more foundation and put that into the frames, right?

But then (sorry, I'm really coming to the conclusion that I should have thought about this sooner) what can I do with all the old, mishaped, broken wax? Can I use this for something?

My thanks to all who've commented so far!

 

[drex]

Sounds like you used a tangential spinner. You should spin the first side slowly to get half the honey out, turn the frame, spin that side well to remove all the honey, turn the frame and extract the honey remaining on the first side. It is a fiddle but avoids " blown" frames

 

[Erichalfbee]

DO NOT put frames outside for the bees to clean.
If frames are trashed then you just have to re wax them.
If there is just the odd hole the bees will repair them.

 

[Pope Pius IX]

Excellent, thanks all...I'm clearly dealing with some "blown frames" - I was sure there was a technical term! So some can be rewaxed, and others can be repaired.

Sincere thanks.

 

[pargyle]

The 'schoolboy error' which virtually everyone makes when they first extract is to go at it too enthusiastically. Start very slowly and don't go full pelt on the first side - as has been said, spin some out of the first side of the frame and then turn them round. Again, start very gently .. take your time, less speed and more time will get the honey out. Turn again and spin the first side - you can probably go a little faster but new comb and frames where they have got a bit creative are more likely to be damaged by spinning at speed. The reason your comb was squashed onto the cage was the weight and centrifugal force of the weight of the honey in the cells on the inner side of the frame is quite considerable.

Tidy up the comb that is left in the frames - even half a frame of comb will be repaired by the bees next season and it's a pity to waste it. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES put frames out in the open to get bees to 'clean' them. I, like most on here, store my frames wet - put them in a super, board top and bottom, strap them tightly together so that they are bee and vermin proof. I have a plastic container in which I store mine but any vermin proof place will be fine. Some people seal them in plastic bin liners.

If you think your bees are still harvesting enough to put the supers back on the hive again, just straighten up the comb and put the super back on the hive. Still quite a flow on down here on the South coast so you may get them filled again.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I was under the impression that dry storage was most common practice. I don't want to hijack the thread, but can you briefly explain the pros of wet storage?

I think Dani has explained it well - less faff, storing wet discourages waxmoth and in the spring, the bees are back up in them like a shot.

 

[bobba]

Thanks Dani. I think I will have to start my own thread about storing supers at some point.

"what can I do with all the old, mishaped, broken wax?"

The wax can be saved. First you want to try recover as much honey as possible. The big boys have dedicated equipment for this but for us little guys its a case of leaving it in a sieve or hang it in a clean pair of tights/paint filter.

Then you want to clean the last of the honey off, I have had success putting it in a bee feeder atop a hive. Don the fat bee man (of you tube fame) puts his on an ant hill. Or you can soak in a bucket of water. I am sure there are other ways.

If you youtube "solar wax melter " you should find some good vidios on how to do the last step, that is getting it from scrpas into a nice block. You can heat in the oven to do the last step too, but they say the solar method helps bleach the wax a nice color. Some of the bee sites will exchange your wax for foundation. I advise you use it to make candles, get a little stamp, then you can pretend to be a king and put your seal on all your letters.

As for the frames damaged frames, after manually removing as much wax as possible, you can put new foundation in and start again, or leave them empty and place them in alternative places with good ones. (you may also want to look up using starter strips). This way the bees will make them from scratch and you can get some cut comb.

Some will sterilize the frames, I have seen this done with heating machines, boiling and scorching among other methods. But as you have a single hive I don't think that's something you need to worry about too much. Giving them a freeze to kill any moth eggs is probably sufficient, and if they are going straight back on the hive I would not even bother with that.

I am sure the pros will jump on and say everything I have just told you is wrong! If you do, can you please explain why? I do not mean this in a nasty way, I am still learning and value what you have to say. But if they tell you a better use for wax, then I'm afraid they are just wrong.

His Royal Highness,

King Bobba

 

[bobba]

PS, Thanks jenkinsbrynmair

 

[Jacq]

Pope pius there is a great post in the stickies section with recipes for all kinds of creams, polishes and things involving wax. I made beeswax wraps a couple of years ago and they are brilliant for storing cheese in the fridge. I added some resin to make them a bit sticky. The cheese doesn’t sweat or dry out. I made them using the hot iron method with baking parchment.