As this is my first year, I am happy just to be extracting some honey. I took two supers off my hive and was going to extract both of them with the help of a 3rd year keeper. The lower one had some brood in it so he told me to return it to the hive, which I did. After we extracted the other one, I returned it also to the hive but set it on top of the inner cover hoping the girls would clean it up. Three days later I checked it and found what appeared they were starting to refill the cells instead of cleaning them out. So I took the super off and set the frames around the back yard and watched the frenzy. Two days later the frames were completely cleaned off. Should I have left the super on? I already had a new deep super on top that was almost full of nector, some cells already capped which I was leaving on for winter.
One more question. My sister gave me almost a gal. of old honey which had crystalized. Can this be used as food somehow in the Spring instead of sugar water?
Thanx for any suggestions!
EOHenry