Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: heaflaw on August 09, 2009, 07:18:16 pm

Title: Fermented Honey From Hive Beetle
Post by: heaflaw on August 09, 2009, 07:18:16 pm

Small Hive Beetles just arrived in my area.  Yesterday I uncapped & extracted 12 frames (4 gallons) before I tasted it & realized I had mixed in some fermented honey, apparently caused by SHB.  After I realized it, I smelled the empty frames and 3 of them smelled fermented.  I have 5 more supers sitting in my kitchen that I won't be able to work up until Monday afternoon.
Is there a way to tell before I uncap a frame, if SHB larva are in it and it has fermented?  Should I freeze it overnight & work it up on Tuesday?  I guess I ruined all 4 gallons by mixing in some honey that was fermented.  Can I feed it back to the bees?
Any advice from you guys that have been dealing with SHB would be appreciated.

Title: Re: Fermented Honey From Hive Beetle
Post by: asprince on August 09, 2009, 07:43:57 pm

Were the fermented frames capped? Were they slimed?
If you have SHB you would be wise to extract your other five supers quickly! SHB eggs hatch in a matter if days and you could have a mess. Freezing will stop the process. It would take a lot of freezer space for 5 supers.

As for your 4 gallons, make mead or feed it back to the bees.

Steve

Title: Re: Fermented Honey From Hive Beetle
Post by: heaflaw on August 09, 2009, 08:42:11 pm

Thanks, Steve
All frames were capped.  What do you mean by slimed?  I didn't look closely, but I didn't see anything odd about the capped honey.  Should I be able to see that they contain larva?

Title: Re: Fermented Honey From Hive Beetle
Post by: sc-bee on August 10, 2009, 12:29:28 am

I have never seen it fermented from shb without larvae present. Also you would see comb teeming with adult beetles. And you will know the difference :(! At least that has been my unfortunate experience.

And as stated above slimy --- as in a coat of slime on the comb, often oozes out the bottom boards when it happens on a hive.

You said the frames where capped, could they have fermented from moisture gathering before extraction???

Title: Re: Fermented Honey From Hive Beetle
Post by: heaflaw on August 10, 2009, 01:22:22 am

I started extracting an hour after taking the supers off, so I don't see how they could have picked up moisture.  The frames that I smelled fermentation in after extracting had definitely been uncapped.  I think I just went so fast without thinking, that I must not have noticed slime or larva or whatever.