Okay, so I bought some used honey supers..

Rebecka · May 04, 2010, 01:41:10 PM

I didnt have a hive tool with me at the time and it was a super good price. Knowing that bees will just clean up existing comb, I thought I did good. Well.. maybe not so much. Some of these frames have brood, some have partly emerged bees, some are wired , some are not. So, now my imagination is going nuts. I mean, there are partly emerged bees here. Can I save these frames? Should they go to the burn pile? What about the other frames in the same box? Could I be risking transferring whatever killed these bees (rather suddenly) to my bees? Obviously I am very new to this, I just don't want to risk my bees for trying to save some bucks. I do note that the comb where the partly emerged bees are is very dark brown in color. The rest of the comb is pale by comparison and what I might call a dirty honey color. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. We did fine some queen cells. One was obviously emerged from naturally, the rest were incomplete.

Rebecka · May 04, 2010, 02:34:16 PM

I have calmed down a bit now :-D The more I look at these, the more I think the hive failed after a swarm. They guy did say he was ' scaling down" since it was more than he could keep up with. If I am correct here, should I knock out the comb that has little dead bee bodies in it?

marksmith · May 04, 2010, 02:39:01 PM

Id throw them in the freezer for a couple days. After that the bees should clean house just fine.

deknow · May 04, 2010, 02:49:29 PM

if you don't know confidently what AFB scale looks like, don't use these until you have a more experienced beekeeper take a look. i see no reason to freeze the frames, the bees will clean things up just fine (unless it's really bad).

deknow

Kathyp · May 04, 2010, 02:50:08 PM

if you are going to use them as honey supers, i'd cut out the old wax and start over. it's hard to put foundation in used frames. i'd save myself the work and let the bees redraw them. cut all but the top couple of rows of comb out. that will be the guide for the bees to use for redrawing.

if you want to use foundation, have a good knife or scraper handy so that you can clean the grooves out well. also a source of heat, like a blow dryer, will help soften some stuff before you scrape it.

Rebecka · May 04, 2010, 03:01:24 PM

I dont know if I have mentioned it yet.. but you people rock! Okay , something I just noticed that is further proof of inexperience, these arent partly emerged bees, their heads are in the cells with their butts hanging out. That seems odd to me.

marksmith · May 04, 2010, 03:05:53 PM

Heads in abdomens sticking out is a sign of starvation as I recall..

MrJeff · May 04, 2010, 03:06:18 PM

Sounds like they starved.

lenape13 · May 04, 2010, 03:11:31 PM

Yep, starvation. I had quite a few frames like that in some equipment I acquired once. For all new frames and foundation costs, I purchased new. It wasn't work the extra effort to clean them up.

VolunteerK9 · May 04, 2010, 03:23:35 PM

I hived a package on a last years dead out box and was just amazed how fast the new bees started cleaning house. They were hauling out little dead carcases within an hour if that long.

Irwin · May 04, 2010, 04:43:49 PM

The freezing would not hurt I do it to all used frames I get. If your laid off like me time is no biggie to clean them up. Saved myself 40 dollars worth of frames just sitting around drinking beer and cleaning frames and repairing them in one night OK 35 five dollars for the beer :-D

Rebecka · May 04, 2010, 05:03:34 PM

Thanks for responding to my paranoia. I hope I wont worry like this all the time!

Quote from: Irwin on May 04, 2010, 04:43:49 PM
The freezing would not hurt I do it to all used frames I get. If your laid off like me time is no biggie to clean them up. Saved myself 40 dollars worth of frames just sitting around drinking beer and cleaning frames and repairing them in one night OK 35 five dollars for the beer :-D

Too funny.. that is exactly what my husband is right now. I think we have agreed we are going to freeze all the frames. Even the ones that look near pristine.

Irwin · May 04, 2010, 05:11:26 PM

Quote from: Rebecka on May 04, 2010, 05:03:34 PM
Thanks for responding to my paranoia. I hope I wont worry like this all the time!
Quote from: Irwin on May 04, 2010, 04:43:49 PM
The freezing would not hurt I do it to all used frames I get. If your laid off like me time is no biggie to clean them up. Saved myself 40 dollars worth of frames just sitting around drinking beer and cleaning frames and repairing them in one night OK 35 five dollars for the beer :-D
Too funny.. that is exactly what my husband is right now. I think we have agreed we are going to freeze all the frames. Even the ones that look near pristine.

Good for you :cheer:

lenape13 · May 05, 2010, 12:33:07 AM

And don't forget the beers!