freezing frames

[CBEE]

I have 4 frames partially drawn with uncapped honey in them I need to freeze. Do you wrap them in plastic wrap or tin foil or something first ? I am hoping they will give a new hive in the spring a good start

[Michael Bush]

You can warp them or not.  They will stay cleaner and more frost free if you wrap them.  You can put a whole super in the freezer.  Probably it's best to put the super in a garbage bag to keep it from getting frost all over it.

[CBEE]

Garbage bag makes sense. Thanks MB

[Kathyp]

when i froze frames last year i layered them with wax paper.  this turned out to be a good thing when they thawed and were a little drippy.

[CBEE]

Good advise kathyp. Kind of amazing how it stays in there to begin with. My wife was telling me about some new type of giant ziploc bags that may be big eough to put frames in. Gotta check them out and see.

[annette]

Please let me know if you find the giant ziplock bags, because the ones I found do not fit the medium frames.

Annette

[Cindi]

Annette, something that I used last year to seal each frame when I placed them in the freezer was a product by Glad, called "press and seal".  It worked really well and it fit a deep frame in it perfectly.  It was cool, place a piece of the plastic paper on the bottom, place the frame on it, place another piece of the plastic paper on the top, slide your fingers along the edges and it seals the plastic.  It is an excellent innovative product and is great for ANYTHING that you want to seal up that is irregular in size.  See if you can find it, I am sure it is sold in the U.S. as well as here in Canada.  Good luck, have a wonderful and great day.  Cindi

[Jerrymac]

I did some of the press and seal stuff myself. Works real good. Fits great just as Cindi says.

[randydrivesabus]

i see a possible TV ad here. bees are very popular these days.

[DennisB]

A TV ad with Bees in the kitchen using Glad press and Seal? Wonder what leftovers they are sticking in the fridge?

[CBEE]

The press and seal stuff sounds even better and probably cheaper per frame wrapping individual frames. Does honey freeze solid or does it just get really thick and stiff ?
If I find some of those gargantuan ziplocs I will let you all know.

[CBEE]

Well, I brought a med super in the house the other day and thought there were no bees in it. Silly me, the crafty little things were hiding somewhere and my wife wasnt real happy. she was circleing the wagons and diving for cover.

[annette]

OK, we have the Glad press and seal over here. Will purchase some tomorrow.

Thank you
Annette

[Mici]

sorry, i didn't read the whole topic, i assume you got your answer, now i'd like to add, just be careful, if you use the freezer for food. don't send someone else to get the meat out of the freezer, just found a few broken frames. (this applies to leaving the frames to sit in the freezer for a longer period of time with food)

[annette]

Yes,

I got the frames into the wrap this morning. I get to use the whole bottom shelf of a very large industrial size freezer. I have a sign I had made that says" Do not move these wax comb frames as they are very fragile and will break"

I think my frames are safe.

Thanks everyone for the help
Annette

[Kathyp]

i got a smaller chest freezer from costco.  i can drop entire supers into it, or many frames.  it was less that 200.00 and i think worth it.  i won't find broken comb or sticky honey in my big freezer.  when i don't have bee stuff in it, i can put extra cow in there  :-)

[Mici]

when i don't have bee stuff in it, i can put extra cow in there  :-)

that's the case with my "beekeeping freezer" but...accidents happen.

[Cindi]

Annette, an industrial sized freezer!!!!   Yeah!!!!  YOu are one lucky woman.  I need more freezers (or maybe just one great big industrial sized one).  I have an upright, a chest freezer and a small square one, and still could use another one.  Oh brother.  I have these freezers full of food.  By the time summer comes around they will be empty (hee, hee, big eating people here).  I am so glad that I don't have too many frames to freeze this year because I don't think I could find the room.  Have a wonderful and great day on our great earth.  Cindi

[Brian D. Bray]

I have 2 chest freezers in my basement.  My wife keeps both pretty much full of food in case of emergencies.  If I restacked and moved things around between freezers I could probably stack 3 medium 8 frame supers in one end of one.

I have lots of canned, frozen, cured, and otherwise preserved food items, enough to live on for several weeks if need be.  Then there's the livestock that can provide fresh eggs and meat, a garden for fresh and canned vegatables, a berry patch and an orchard for fruits, berries, and nuts.  I've got a well and an emergency generator.

I'm ready if and when we have a natural or unnatural disaster.

[Cindi]

Brian, excellent, you are prepared.  I am also prepared.  I have also dehydrated, preserved food that does not require any electricity to hold over.  My parents were big into the food storage, it was part of their religion that was big on this food storage.  I still have a bag of grain that she gave me for my 20th birthday, what an odd present, but if I would need to grind some wheat for food, I could do that.  We have a generator, but no well, we are on city water.  I have often thought that we should find out where the original well was on our property and have it functioning again, just in case.  That may be something that I need to investigate and may do it just for fun.  I would imagine the city hall has a record of this kind of stuff, maybe, I don't know for sure though.  Have a wonderful and great day.  Cindi