Putting extracted supers back on the hive

[marmite]

I extracted some honey yesterday but the frames still feel quite heavy ( maybe there is some residue rape seed, although I did extract after the rape harvest). I am going to put them back onto the hives for the bees to clean and use for their winter stores. Do I put them above or below the queen excluder or do I now remove the queen excluder completely? Is there a chance the queen could lay in these supers?

 

[Dishmop]

Personally I would use the QE to stop her laying in the supers but if the bees store more honey there and you intend to leave it on over the winter, remove the QE before winter.

 

[itma]

I extracted some honey yesterday but the frames still feel quite heavy ( maybe there is some residue rape seed, although I did extract after the rape harvest). I am going to put them back onto the hives for the bees to clean and use for their winter stores. Do I put them above or below the queen excluder or do I now remove the queen excluder completely? Is there a chance the queen could lay in these supers?

There are two schools of thought.

1/ Put the box to be scavenged under the brood box. ("Nadir" rather than "super".) Remove it either in a week or two, or around the beginning of March. No QX. The bees should move the honey from the 'wet' frames up into their 'proper' store before the winter.
Don't put lots of boxes under at the same time - that makes it hard for the bees to defend the entrance against robbers.

2/ Put it above the brood, but in such a way that the bees think it is outside their home - so that they will rob it out. (This can start robbing from other hives in the apiary, so its best to be given in the evening.)
You convince them its 'outside' their home by only allowing access through a small hole - like a ¾ blocked Porter escape hole (a scrap of plywood or such can be used as the restrictor). And you can further the impression of 'outside-ness' by putting a totally empty shallow box between the small-hole-coverboard and the box with the wet frames. Again the QX has no part to play, and should be removed, cleaned, and stored away for the winter.
The boxes are removed once the bees lose interest in them - and then they should be treated before storing away.


Some folks do just store them "wet", believing it deters wax moth. It doesn't deter the Lesser Wax Moth …
Whichever route you choose, I'd strongly suggest reducing the hive entrance with the reducer block AND then stuffing in a bit of sponge to really close it down - preventing robbing is easier than stopping it!

 

[Michael Palmer]

I have way too many supers to have the bees dry them (thousands), so I store them wet. I have placed them above the crown board...do your crown boards have an escape (feed) hole in the center? If so, place a rim or shallow empty super on the crown board and the supers on the rim. The bees will clean them out...best when the supers are separated a bit from the bees. If the supers are directly on the crown board, the bees will sometimes store late nectar flows there.

 

[La Folie]

I would go for ITMAs point 1.A single super under the bb is soon cleared and stored for winter

 

[iand]

I have way too many supers to have the bees dry them (thousands), so I store them wet. I have placed them above the crown board...do your crown boards have an escape (feed) hole in the center? If so, place a rim or shallow empty super on the crown board and the supers on the rim. The bees will clean them out...best when the supers are separated a bit from the bees. If the supers are directly on the crown board, the bees will sometimes store late nectar flows there.

I mostly store my supers wet, but if any need cleaning up a bit. I use the same method as Michael.
I don't recall a problem with wax moth in supers (in 30+ years), but then they are not used for brood rearing.

 

[itma]

…
I don't recall a problem with wax moth in supers (in 30+ years), but then they are not used for brood rearing.

The Greater Wax Moth wants brood comb only.
The Lesser Wax Moth ain't fussy. (As I indicated above,)

GWM is however both more common and more destructive.

Take a look (for example) at NBU Fact Sheet 19 https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/downloadDocument.cfm?id=206

{Greater WM} These larvae cannot ingest {I think they mean 'digest' - itma} beeswax but eat it and live on the impurities contained therein. As a result they are generally found in the brood comb or any comb containing organic matter.
…
{Lesser WM} Though larvae consume honey, pollen and wax they are not found in comb occupied by bees …

 

[marmite]

Thanks for all the advice-much appreciated. However I have another problem.
Because I finished late I put the extractor outside thinking the bees will clean it up(75 metres from the hives).There was only the minimal amount of honey left (perhaps1/4 of an inch but when I looked this morning there were a lot of bees which seemed to have drowned in the remains of the honey.(3 days later)

Why should this happen when it doesn't with the rapid feeders?

 

[YorkshireBees]

I've also never had a problem with wax month in supers. I store them wet or dry with a crown board top and bottom in an outside shed.

It's ofc another story with brood boxes!!

 

[drex]

Thanks for all the advice-much appreciated. However I have another problem.
Because I finished late I put the extractor outside thinking the bees will clean it up(75 metres from the hives).There was only the minimal amount of honey left (perhaps1/4 of an inch but when I looked this morning there were a lot of bees which seemed to have drowned in the remains of the honey.(3 days later)

Why should this happen when it doesn't with the rapid feeders?

By doing this you are "open feeding", which could start a robbing frenzy, and in theory could spread disease ( Ok, I know it was honey from your own hives). Not a good idea.

With a rapid feeder they have limited access, and somewhere to cling on to out of the honey "pool".

After I have extracted I hose my extractor down in the garden, and let the washings down the drain - not keen on Mead!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Because I finished late I put the extractor outside thinking the bees will clean it up

You silly silly person! never put kit etc' outside for the bees to 'clean' apart from encouraging robbing which could destroy a weaker colony you could be inviting disease to your apiary.
What clown told you to do that?

 

[BeeJayBee]

What clown told you to do that?

Probably the same clown who told a load of new beekeepers in my association to put jam and beer into jars to attract wasps, and then put the jars on top of and in front of their hives!