Storing frames with uncapped honey

[VermontHoneyBee]

I just completed my final pre winter inspection and my bees have a lot of honey for the winter.  More than they actually need.  They also had a lot of frames where the honey was uncapped (for the entire frame).  How should I store that?.  I don't want the honey but don't want to throw it out either.

Thanks in advance

[iddee]

Either leave it on the hives, or freeze it.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Vermont, just send me all your capped honey, I will be glad to store it for you.

Seriously, I freeze capped honey if I am lucky enough to have some.  Be careful, frozen wax shatters, cracks, breaks easily.  I have a mid size freezer just for honey frames.
Blessings

[TheHoneyPump]

It is difficult, near impossible, to answer your question properly without more informatino
Where in the hive is the capped and uncapped honey located?  Brood boxes or supers?  Where in the brood where in the super?  What is you winter hive configuration?  What type of climate.

[VermontHoneyBee]

The frames with uncapped honey were on the top of the hives.  I am in Vermont and out temperature now is in the 40s

[TheHoneyPump]

Sounds like the uncapped stuff is up in the super ... ?

You have have 4 choices to select from.  Select one.
1.  Remove capped honey frames from the brood chamber(s) and replace those with the uncapped honey.  A sure fix.  For the removed capped honey, extract it or freeze it for keeping.
2.  Place the uncapped honey super on top of the inner cover, leaving the centre hole open.  Remove capped frames from the super and really spread the uncapped frames apart, to an unnatural 1.5" between frames.  The bees will come up, clean out the uncapped honey and will bring it down into the nest. They will leave the capped untouched.  Weather dependent and a 50:50 chance of them doing it.
3.  Put the unused honey frames in the freezer.  Leave them there until late winter emergency feeding or for spring feeding and splits.
4.  Extract the honey from the unused frames.  Store the empties as normal.  Use the honey for yourself and friends, or save it and feed it back to the bees as emergency winter feed or spring feed.

[sc-bee]

Just curious??? You are in Vermont outside is just like a freeze correct. Could you not just put a solid board on top and store it. I have no idea just asking why worry about a freezer...since Vermont is a freezer

[blackforest beekeeper]

Maybe I didn`t get everything....
What would be the problem with keeping things as they are? Spoiled honey?

[sc-bee]

Maybe I didn`t get everything....
What would be the problem with keeping things as they are? Spoiled honey?

Agreed.... I think there is no problem leaving it on. Maybe the keeper wants to condense the size of the hive down for winter? Why, if the frames are not empty? Of course the bees heat the cluster and not the hive space. A Southern keeper here so I have no idea....

[Dallasbeek]

In Vermont i think it will freeze if left on the hive. 

[2Sox]

Sounds like the uncapped stuff is up in the super ... ?

You have have 4 choices to select from.  Select one.
1.  Remove capped honey frames from the brood chamber(s) and replace those with the uncapped honey.  A sure fix.  For the removed capped honey, extract it or freeze it for keeping.
2.  Place the uncapped honey super on top of the inner cover, leaving the centre hole open.  Remove capped frames from the super and really spread the uncapped frames apart, to an unnatural 1.5" between frames.  The bees will come up, clean out the uncapped honey and will bring it down into the nest. They will leave the capped untouched.  Weather dependent and a 50:50 chance of them doing it.
3.  Put the unused honey frames in the freezer.  Leave them there until late winter emergency feeding or for spring feeding and splits.
4.  Extract the honey from the unused frames.  Store the empties as normal.  Use the honey for yourself and friends, or save it and feed it back to the bees as emergency winter feed or spring feed.

These are really great suggestions.  I'd add one more: If you don't have a freezer, winters in Vermont will provide you with one.  Stack you boxes outdoors, make sure the bottom is sealed and top is covered.  Do what you want with them when things thaw out in spring.  But don't wait too long. 

[TheHoneyPump]

Sounds like the uncapped stuff is up in the super ... ?

You have have 4 choices to select from.  Select one.
1.  Remove capped honey frames from the brood chamber(s) and replace those with the uncapped honey.  A sure fix.  For the removed capped honey, extract it or freeze it for keeping.
2.  Place the uncapped honey super on top of the inner cover, leaving the centre hole open.  Remove capped frames from the super and really spread the uncapped frames apart, to an unnatural 1.5" between frames.  The bees will come up, clean out the uncapped honey and will bring it down into the nest. They will leave the capped untouched.  Weather dependent and a 50:50 chance of them doing it.
3.  Put the unused honey frames in the freezer.  Leave them there until late winter emergency feeding or for spring feeding and splits.
4.  Extract the honey from the unused frames.  Store the empties as normal.  Use the honey for yourself and friends, or save it and feed it back to the bees as emergency winter feed or spring feed.

These are really great suggestions.  I'd add one more: If you don't have a freezer, winters in Vermont will provide you with one.  Stack you boxes outdoors, make sure the bottom is sealed and top is covered.  Do what you want with them when things thaw out in spring.  But don't wait too long.

The OP will have to consider the climate.  Vermont has snow and winter and some freezing.  However, it may have many periods of mild temperatures and thaws over the winter and spring that result in the bugs getting into the boxes.  aka wax moth, ants, mice, and other such gremlins. Winter does not stay frozen.  It is best to store comb empty; wrap them heavily with shrink wrap along with a fumigant inside to deter the gremlins. Suppose it depends on if here we are talking about two boxes or two hundred boxes.  With a few boxes, there are alot of options.  With alot of boxes, there are few options.

[TheHoneyPump]

Maybe I didn`t get everything....
What would be the problem with keeping things as they are? Spoiled honey?

Agreed.... I think there is no problem leaving it on. Maybe the keeper wants to condense the size of the hive down for winter? Why, if the frames are not empty? Of course the bees heat the cluster and not the hive space. A Southern keeper here so I have no idea....

Honey is hygroscopic.  It absorbs moisture.  Open uncapped honey will absorb moisture from the air around it.  Cold uncapped honey, absorbs even more moisture as condensation settles on it from the air around it. For example water droplets on the outside of your cold glass of choicest beverage. Honey of high moisture will ferment and spoil, thus becoming a cause of dysentry or even poisoning to the bees if and when they consume it.  The hive internals is humid.  Cold uncapped honey kept on the hive in presence of the humidity will spoil.  Rather than the uncapped honey being a source of nourishment to the bees over the winter, it will kill them.

For these reasons you cannot store uncapped honey.  It must be sealed and frozen if you want it to keep and for it to be safe for the bees later. In other words bag the frames and put in the freezer.  If you can not or do not want to do that, the other options to consider have already been listed above. Pick one.

In northern climates the hives need to be condensed for winter or they will die from exposure, they will freeze.  The thing to to is to take off everything they do not absolutely need and make their space (volume) optimum size and manageable for the winter.  Get them down to the smallest space possible, yet a large enough space to have enough stores in it to make it to spring.  The space to stores balance is the thing that is unique and regional; the difference in beekeeping from one area to another.  Most everything else about the apis mellifera is universal.

Hope that and other comments added above help to sort out what you need to do.

[beepro]

If it is still weather permitting then swap the open honey and cap honey boxes.  Put all the cap
honey in the same box.   Put the cap honey box on top and the open honey near the brood nest.  They will either use up the
open honey for the Autumn brood rearing or collect enough to cap those as well.  If cap you will have
2 honey supers on top of the brood nest.   Enough for them to overwinter for sure.  The surplus you can
collect next Spring or use for hives expansion next season.  You can even extract one box if enough time for that.  Just let the
bees do what they are program to do!   You reap the surplus.