Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: colbees on May 28, 2012, 07:40:53 PM

Title: capped
Post by: colbees on May 28, 2012, 07:40:53 PM
i noticed (week 4) that the honey is being capped, what exactly is the capped honey for?
Title: Re: capped
Post by: FRAMEshift on May 28, 2012, 08:52:11 PM
When the honey is capped it means the bees feel they have an excess of stores above what they will need in the immediate future.  If you are still feeding syrup, you can stop.  The bees will use that capped honey later in the year, perhaps during a dearth or in the winter.  Capped honey is a good sign that the hive is prosperous.
Title: Re: capped
Post by: BeeMaster2 on May 28, 2012, 09:09:15 PM
That and it also means that the honey is ready to be harvested. Bees won't cap the honey until it below 18.5 % water content. Once it is ready they cap it to protect it.
Jim
Title: Re: capped
Post by: AllenF on May 29, 2012, 11:50:51 AM
Capped honey is money in the bank.   All you have now is to extract it.