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Author Topic: Used combs storage question  (Read 2740 times)

Offline ic3blue

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Used combs storage question
« on: April 13, 2022, 11:09:10 pm »
I feel really lucky that I can harvested honey from my first swarmed captured hive - until now, I already harvested 2x ideal boxes (1x in the summer and 1x in the autumn). The bees still have plenty of honey (setup now: 2x deep 10 frames and 1x ideal super) .

After the last honey harvest, I freeze the 10x ideal frames in the freezer. Question: How long can I keep the frames in the freezer? can I keep it until the next spring?

Thank you

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Used combs storage question
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2022, 12:28:00 am »
Question: How long can I keep the frames in the freezer? can I keep it until the next spring?
Absolutely, they will keep till next spring in the freezer.  They would keep literally forever in the freezer and would still keep even if the freezer stopped working.  :grin:  If you are referring to frames full of honey, as long as it's capped and kept away from pests, honey will keep essentially indefinitely.  If you are referring to the empty combs you have left over after extraction, they don't need to be frozen long-term.  If the combs have been rinsed out or cleaned up by the bees so they are free of honey, they can be stored in your extra boxes until you need them in the spring.  Just be sure that the stack of equipment is sealed up well enough that no insects, mice, or other pests can get to the comb.  I personally store drawn blanks in my stacked-up extra equipment and store combs that have even a little bit of stores, honey or pollen, in plastic bins.             
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