freezing honey.....

[SteveSC]

I'm going to take some honey off some hives this week-end coming.  I have more supers full of honey than I or the bees can use.  I have double brood boxes on each of the hives and they'll have plenty for the winter.  We have moderate to light winters here.

Can I freeze entire supers of honey to use next spring for swarms and \ or splits....?  Will the honey thaw out and still be usable for the bees..?  I've never seen this discussed.  Thanks.

Steve SC

[amymcg]

Perfectly fine if you have a freezer big enough  

[Brian D. Bray]

I am told that freezing honey will not cause it to sugar until after it is thawed.  I've never tried it.  However, if you decide to freeze the frames with honey in them remember to thaw them out to room temperature before installing them into the hive.  Inducing cold into the brood chamber or wintering cluster as this will kill the bees or induce chill or chalkbrood.

[leominsterbeeman]

I have frozen some comb honey for the Bee-O-Pac and it is fine.  It does not crystalize.   It will if you refrigerate it crystalize - the slow cooling process is more likely for crystalization than freezing.

You could do with with a whole super.  Just make sure that the cold air can get to all of the frames.  If there are warm zones in the hive body, it will take longer for the lower temp to get to the honey and it may crystalize.   Maybe freeze 5 frames at a time.

Why not extract it and put it in a bucket?

[BEE C]

If you freeze honey in buckets will it return to a liquid form then when its thawed?  I was curious about the freezing of frames to keep them free from wax moth and molding pollen.  So this is good then?

[Brian D. Bray]

Freezing frames to kill parasites found in the comb (wax moth and varroa mite) is an acceptable practice.  The use of drone comb utilizes the process extensively.  Just remember that any comb (regardless of what it contains) must be returned to ambiant temperatures prior to insertion in the hive or the cold can cause other disease problems to arise.