how and when to say "that's it"

[rgy]

How do you finally say that's it for the year.  I keep going out to the yard withthe intention of pulling all the supers off and getting the girls ready for winter but when I get intot he hives there is still uncapped honey so I leave for another week.  When do you finally just take the frames off and what do you do withthe frames of uncapped.

One hive has some frames I would like to get off but there is some brood in them so today I put a queen excluder on. so probably have two weeks before all those bees get out.

Am I just to early?  i harvested last weekend (21 aug) all the capped frames but I still have one super on each hive.  I don't want to waste the honey or the uncapped nectar so what do I do?  totally confused.

[rbinhood]

Leave it for the bee's.

[Kathyp]

it's something you get a feel for as you learn how the flows are in your area.  i just pulled all mine because i might be leaving.  there was some uncapped stuff in there so i just moved them away from the hives and let the bees rob them out. 
if i were not concerned about leaving i might have given them a few more days, as the bottom boxes are well filled, and i don't need to worry about them not having enough.

in our colder areas we need to make sure that they have stored for themselves.  you don't want to leave supers on and find that they filled the supers and didn't store enough below. 

[mikecva]

Uncapped honey has a high moisture content >17% and will not keep. Capped honey was found in tombs over 2000 years old and the honey was still useable (I do not plan on leaving mine for any 2000 years.  :lau:) After the hives are readied for winter (60-100 lbs. of stores) I would pull everything else off. If the frames are full and capped then it is yours, if not full and capped, I leave the frames out about 15-20 feet from the hives so the bees can reclaim what they will.  -Mike

[antaro]

Just sent you a msg, KathyP, on this very subject.

[Vance G]

You indeed do need to get a feel for when it is over and  that comes with experience.  I personally don't want to donate my uncapped honey to all the neighborhood colonies.  I would go to the store and turn upside down a jar of honey and watch the speed of the bubble at the top changing location.  Food and Drug administration uses 18.6% percent moisture as the threshold for honey being sufficiently saturated to store.  Most packers are going to 'blend' until they are close to that.  Now go out to your hives on a warm day and tip that unfinished super up on its side and take a finger sweep of honey off the bottom of one of those long term uncapped frames.  I bet it will run off your finger dead slow.  Then you will know by comparison that the moisture content is at least as low as the store sample.  Now I would not recommned this in June on green honey that you are anxious to harvest.  You may want to get those supers off so your bees will bring the last flows of the year and store them in the brood chambers.