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Author Topic: Stacking unused equipment over hive?  (Read 1456 times)

Offline Playapixie

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Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« on: April 13, 2016, 02:26:32 pm »
Hi. I have two nucs arriving this weekend to replace the hives that didn't survive winter. I have a lot of equipment (boxes and frames and quite a few frames of honey) that I don't have room to store, and am planning to stack them on top of the hives and rotate them down as needed. I have extra inner covers to separate the working hive from the extra equipment.

Should I plug the holes in the inner covers to prevent the bees from moving up into the boxes that I don't intend to give them yet? Or is there any harm in letting them have access to the upper stack?

Thanks!
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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2016, 02:28:58 pm »
Some of this will depends on issues like small hive beetles and wax moths.  They may take over the combs that are not in the main hive or cannot be patrolled by the bees.  If you can, the ideal solution is to freeze them until you are ready to put them on, then let them thaw and put them on the colony.
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Offline Playapixie

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2016, 03:39:27 pm »
Thanks.  I may be naive, but I haven't seen any signs of wax moth or small hive beetle (or actually any pests) in the combs yet, and they've been outside in the hives all winter.  Combs appear undamaged except some mold in places.  Unfortunately I don't have space for a freezer for comb.  :-(


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Offline tjc1

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2016, 07:44:15 pm »
Over the fall I would take three or four frames at a time (all that would fit), put them in the freezer for a couple of days in a plastic trash bag. Then take them out and let them sit for a day to return to room temp so they don't get condensation on them. Then bag them 10 to a bag in white compactor trash bags (heavy duty), and store them that way. If you don't freeze them first, you are likely to end up with wax moth. Of course, if they've been well frozen outside over the winter, you could bag them up now before any of the pests become active, and probably be all right until you can feed them back onto the hives.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2016, 09:59:02 pm »
Dawn,
Luckily for us the Wax moths and SHB die in cold weather only the ones in a warm hive are protected. So don't think that your equipment is immune from them. If it has been real cold up till now and they have been outside you can probably bag them up now and bee ok. By real cold I mean below freezing.
The wax mothe and SHB probably not moved back into the area or have not hatched yet if they have a warm place to survive.
Jim
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Offline Playapixie

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2016, 09:28:37 pm »
I was hoping to be able to store all of those extra frames safely on top of the hives until the new nucs were ready for them, but that sounds like it won't work due to pests, and not enough bees to cover/protect the frames.

OK, so I took the leap and found a steal on a chest freezer on Craigslist today, so now I'm ready to freeze a lot of the the frames for storage. 

Question: A lot of my frames are wet with condensation, some have quite a bit of uncapped nectar, and some have areas of damp mold.  I have tried staggering the hives on all of the warm dry days, but there haven't been many of those yet this year here in Seattle.  Can I freeze these wet frames, and thaw them when the bees are strong enough to clean/manage them?  I'm kind of in a bind.  If I con't freeze them, pests will move in.  If I freeze them, I'm freezing wet and in some places moldy stuff.  But who knows how long it will be before we have weather that could dry them here.

I get that the bees can clean up all the old combs including mold when the hives are strong, but that won't be a while for my two new nucs coming on Saturday. 


Dawn Bustanoby
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Online cao

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2016, 12:01:28 am »
Just freeze them.  They'll will be fine.  Just keep in mind when beeswax is frozen it is very brittle.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2016, 12:08:39 am »
Dawn,
Since you have a freezer just for your supers, just put them in there and use it to store them. They will bee fine as long as they are frozen. Store them upright and in a plastic bag.
My neighbor just reminded me that I had 10 frames in his freezer from last fall. I took them put them on my work bench over night and yesterday I gave them to a strong hive. They were in the same shape as when they went in the freezer.
Jim
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Offline jalentour

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Re: Stacking unused equipment over hive?
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2016, 01:18:53 am »
Dawn,
Cao is right, tale care of the wax.  The bees will take care of the rest.

 

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