bees won't cap honey

[tig]

hi all,

     we've been having a major honey flow but my bees don't want to cap the honey.  they've been filling all the drawn comb with honey and i've given them time to cap it, but when i check the boxes the honey isn't capped.  since all of the combs are just about filled, i add some more empty drawn combs which they fill up within 3 days, but the previous filled combs just sit there without being capped!  anyone know whats causing this?

[Understudy]

Moisture content. The bees will not cap off the honey until most of the water from the honey cells have been removed. if they haven't capped it it is because it is not ready. I find that very common when dealing with cabbage palm blooms.


Sincerely,
Brendhan

[tig]

any idea how long it will take them to remove moisture?  i have like 2 supers of honey which isn't ripened and i don't fancy putting on more supers and get a bunch of unripened honey.

[Understudy]

I really couldn't hazard a guess. Sometimes it is fast sometimes they never cap it.
The bees do what they want to do not always what we want them to do.
Unless there is a requirement in your area. You can always pull the frames of uncapped honey and do an extraction. It isn't bad honey it just isn't capped. The moisture content may be a little higher. That is about it.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[TwT]

a lot of times weather and temperature plays a big part when the bee's capping honey, moisture has to be evaporated to their choice,  just give them time, they will cap it when its ready........

[tig]

thanks for the reply twt and understudy.  im toying with the idea of extracting it and subject the honey to a dehumidifier to remove the moisture.  i think maybe because the flow is strong the bees are too busy gathering and storing it rather than ripening it.  funny because i have 2 sites and this only happens in one site.  the other site is just starting the honeyflow and they are capping the honey immediately.

[Jerrymac]

Is there a difference in the humidity at the different sights?

[tig]

i don't think so.  they are less than 15 miles apart and both are medium elevation. but the kind of honey they produce is very different in taste and color.

[Brian D. Bray]

In a strong honey flow it is not uncommon to have 4 supers (sometimes more) of honey being cured at the same time and uncapped.  The bees will continue to process it until it's ripe--that is until the water content is around 17-18%, then they will cap it.  As long as you continue to provide space for them to drawn and fill comb the bees will keep working and begin to cap the honey. 
Wet weather will also slow down the evaporation process.