Starve Out Questions

[Ben Framed]

I had a starve out during the big freeze. This was a thriving double. Except for lack of food. When inspected I found frames of capped brood with frozen bees all around the brood with their heads in the hollow cells. If I put this in another hive will this cause some type of bacterial infection being the dead capped brood is still a little moist?

To Simplify, will the nurse bees become ill as they remove what I would assume id half rotted dead larva by now? Will this cause a chalk brood or some other type illness?

[TheHoneyPump]

Depends on your weather conditions.  Are you into nice warm sunny days with lots of flight, so they can go out to dump the garbage?   If so, go for it.   If no, put the frames in a freezer to wait for summer like days.  The receiving colony also has to be strong. 
As for illness from cleaning. Only a problem if it is illness that killed the colony.  Always bee sure of what killed them before deploying the equipment to another colony.  Else the new bees will just suffer the same fate.

Hope that helps

[Ben Framed]

Thank you Mr Honey Pump. Yes sir that are plenty warm now. And I certain that starved. So I?m going for it. Thanks again.

[cao]

I agree with TheHoneyPump.  If the frames are over half filled with junk, I will usually cut it out.  I think it would take longer for them to clean  it up then to build new comb.  I also try not to put too many junky frames on a single strong hive at one time.  I've got plenty of drawn comb this year.  One upside is that my splits this year will not have to draw out much comb.

[Ben Framed]

Thanks Cao

[Ben Framed]

I agree with TheHoneyPump.  If the frames are over half filled with junk, I will usually cut it out.  I think it would take longer for them to clean  it up then to build new comb.  I also try not to put too many junky frames on a single strong hive at one time.  I've got plenty of drawn comb this year.  One upside is that my splits this year will not have to draw out much comb.

Sounds good. What is your method of storing comb?

[cao]

I've got a shed in my backyard that was my garden shed but now has been taken over with bee stuff.  I store most of my extra boxes in it.  It is pretty much critter proof.  During the winter and as long as it gets down to freezing every once in a while, they are just stacked in there.  Last summer with the problems I had with SHBs, I stacked them in the shed and put moth crystals on top of the stacks.  I will have to be doing that in a couple of weeks when it warms up more.  Hopefully I will be getting some of that comb back on hives soon.