Frames with empty pulled wax?

[J-grow]

I read on another thread titled spare equiptment ....... Jen commented on how valuable frames with empty pulled wax.

My questions are

how do you store them?

How does wax moth play into this?

When you cut the caps off of a frame and extract the honey what do you do with those sticky honey covered frames if you don't put them back in the hive?

Thanks thanx

[iddee]

1.. Tell Jen to call them drawn comb, not pulled wax. 

2.. Spray them with BT.

3.. BT stops wax moths.

4.. Set them out in the yard away from the hives for a couple hours. The bees will clean them.

[J-grow]

Got it thanks again

[apisbees]

If you know that there is lots of hives in the neighborhood belonging to other beekeepers and you want the cleaned up honey to go to your bees place the empty supers on top of the hive above an inner cover. the bees will go up and bring the honey down.

[Barbarian]

I use the Apis technique of placing combs to be cleaned above the inner cover.
To encourage the bees to move the stores from the combs, I like to reduce the hole in the inner cover to one which only allows 2 or 3 bees to get through at a time. The idea is to make the bees think that the combs are not part of the colony.

[robo]

If the comb was strictly used for honey and no brood was raised in it,  wax moths won't be an issue.   If the comb had brood raised in it, use Bt.

[Lburou]

I posted this blurb on our Club website, it fills in many of the details about BT a..  Other names for BT a.:   Certan & Xen-Tari.

THIS Cornell University explanation describes Bacillus Thuringiensis as a natural pesticide and how it works. Search amazon, ebay or use google to find a supplier. Below is a product description from an ebay ad by a European seller.

B401 a preventative treatment that controls wax moth.
B401

B401 (also known as Certan) is a preventative treatment that controls wax moth. It is a safe and environmentally friendly product based on a concentrated solution of Bacillus thuringiensis, a micro-organism. B401 is used after the honey harvest, when the frames are stored and kills young wax moth larvae. It must therefore be used before a wax moth infestation. A single application will provide 100% efficacy against wax moth right up through to the following season.
B401 comes in 120ml.

B401 should be used after the honey harvest, when the frames are stored. Protection will be effective right through to the following season.

B401 can also be used to protect decoy or empty hives.

B401 kills only young wax moth larvae and must be used as a preventative before the combs are infested.

How to use B401
Preparation
· B401 is made of spores from Bacillus thuringiensis and must be diluted in water to 5% (ie 1 volume of B401 for 19 volumes of water).
· Shake the bottle of B401 vigorously before adding the required amount to the corresponding water volume and mixing.
· Once diluted, the solution must be used the same day. Before mixing, calculate the amount of product required to treat the desired number of frames.
Quantities
For up to 100% wax moth control, apply 1.5ml of solution per 10 centimetres squared of comb, on both sides of the frame. For example, one 120ml B401 bottle will treat 50-70 Dadant brood frames or 10-15 Dadant supers or 70-100 Langstroth brood frames.

Applying B401
· Shake the bottle before use.
· Apply evenly with a sprayer over both sides of the frame.
· Allow the frames to dry in an aired room before storing.
How to store B401
B401 should be stored at a temperature between 5°C and 20°C. If stored in a cool place (under 12°C) and in its well-sealed original bottle, B401 can be kept for several years.

Safety of B401
Unlike paradichlorobenzene, which is a toxic product and forbidden in some countries for any agricultural use, B401 does not leave any residue in the wax or the honey.

B401 is harmless to bee larvae and adult bees.

Aizawai serotype 7 (present in B401) is the sole variety of Bacillus thuringiensis to give excellent results against wax moth. Some other types of Bacillus thuringiensis are toxic to humans & bees.
What is B401?
B401 is a concentrated solution of Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies aizawai, a micro-organism, harmless to man & honeybee alike.

B401 has up to 100 % efficacy against the larvae of the wax moth (Galleria mellonella).
B401 is a 100% biological product that leaves no residue in wax or honey, does not alter the taste of honey, and is environmentally friendly. B401 is suitable for organic farming in accordance with Council Regulation EEC No 2092/91 modified on 24th June 1991.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) takes many forms. The form that kills wax moths is Bt, variant aizawai.

HTH

[J-grow]

Very good stuff thanks ......... My mentor came over this morning and we pulled 16 frames of honey from the two supers and assuming my hand crank extractor arrives today on schedule I will extract the honey this evening.  My first time so I'm pretty excited!

He used to be a commercial keeper so I let him decide what frames to pull ........ They all had some uncapped cells but he said they were good so I am going with it ......

[efmesch]

If a frame is mere than 2/3 capped and there isn't fresh nectar coming in from a honey  flow, the open cells are more than likely to be ripe enough for extraction.  If you have any doubts about it's ripeness, shaking the frame firmly over the hive while held flat, is the way to test it.  If no honey shakes out, than you're okay.  If drops of honey come out from the cells, than you've got unripe honey and best think twice about using the frames for exraction.
If you don't store the empty frames in the hive, over the inner cover, and you have sprayed them with BT, it is still best to place the supers with the frames in a large plastic bag as extra insurance against  posssible moth infestations.  The moths can be very determined and if they get in and lay eggs, even though the larvae will die young, they can still cause some damage before they die.

[J-grow]

Thank you very much.  I went for it and extracted it all tonight so hopefully it is ripe!  Looks good, smells good and tastes good!  Just ask the dogs!  My flawed extracting system provided great rewards for the clean up crew.  The Frames are going back in the hives tomorrow

[efmesch]

My experience has been that the best time to put the wet frames back into the hives is toward evening--the excitement of the bees getting their gift stays inside the hive and doesn't start a fury of robbing.  By the time morning comes around, everything is quiet and normal.

[Jen]

I like that idea Ef 

[Chip Euliss]

wax moths hate light.  I store my empty comb in a building with lots natural light and don't have any moth problems.  Our harsh winter temps kill any eggs but we have plenty of wax moths in summer that come along with the migratory bees.  A deadout that goes undetected is usually a mess from moths when you do notice them.  Dead outs I find in summer can be protected by cracking the lid enough to let some light in.  Don't know how it would work if SHB were a problem here