Lesson 142: Storing Honey Supers Over The Winter www.honeybeesonline.com 217-427-2678

Hello everyone! We’re David and Sheri Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms located in central Illinois. Today’s beekeeping lesson focuses on correctly handling your honey supers over the winter. But, before we get started, let me invite you to join Jon Zawislak and me for our next beekeeping radio program this Wednesday night, Oct. 30th, starting at 6:30 central time. It’s fun and you can ask us any beekeeping question you can think of. This week, we’ll be looking at the pros and cons of different hives such as the Langstroth, Warre and Top Bar. We’ll through in some humor. You can call in and join us live, here’s how:

The number to call is: 1-724-444-7444. This week we'll be discussing pros and cons of different types of hives. To join our show, you'll be asked to enter our SHOW ID which is: 129777 followed by the # sign. Then the automated system will ask you for your Pin number which 1 followed by the # sign. At that point, you'll be on the show with us so you can ask your questions. You will be muted unless you press * 8 on your phone and that will allow us to unmute you so you can ask your question. Call in around 10 minutes prior to broadcast, at 6:20 p.m. central time. The show starts this coming Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. central time. If you want to just listen from your computer, go to: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/129777

If you don't call in, Jon and I will make a shameful attempt to be entertaining! Help us out!! If you use a smart phone you can add the Podcast App and have our shows sent to your mobile device every time we produce a new one. Just go to iTunes and search for Hive Talk, scroll down to podcast and you'll find us there.
Or listen to our past episodes by clicking here or by copying the link below and pasting it into your internet browser. http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=129777&cmd=tc

We have added some new helpers! Leah has been added to our shipping department. Leah is engaged to our middle son, Seth who is serving as a marine in Afghanistan. I think I’ve told you before about Zach. The beekeeping year is already starting off with a blaze of interest and purchases of hives and it’s only October! This is great and we are doing our best to keep up with the overwhelming enthusiasm over our hives and Winter-Bee-Kinds.

Sheri and I have finished our beekeeping classes for 2013 and we are plotting out the calendar for 2014. People are already calling to book seats for our upcoming 2014 classes, but we need a little time to think through the schedule. Also, we are being flooded with phone calls for our packages of bees. We do not post dates or prices for our packages until Jan. Keep watching our blogs and website for updates.

As winter quickly approaches, we hope you’ve heard about our Winter-Bee-Kind board. This board provides insulation at the top of the hive to reduce the contrast of cold temperatures outside the hive and warmer temperatures inside the hive. This greatly reduces the condensation that often develops above the winter cluster and causes cold water to drip down on the bees. Plus, the board is filled with carbohydrates, protein and Honey-B-Healthy. That’s not all! The board also provides an upper vent to help reduce stale, moist air from the winter hive as well as giving the hive an exit that is closer to the cluster for the much needed winter cleansing flight. This is our third year to produce these Winter-Bee-Kind candy boards and not only is their overwhelming enthusiasm from new beekeepers wanting to purchase this product, but returning customers are buying more. To make your purchase CLICK HERE or go to: http://www.honeybeesonline.com/servlet/Categories?category=Feeders

Check out our Video on our Winter-Bee-Kind: http://youtu.be/7sDXqd4DcKc

LESSON 142: Storing Honey Supers Over Winter

By now your honey supers have been removed from your hive and I hope you had a good honey crop this year. But what’s the best way to store these supers over winter.

1. If possible, try and freeze your supers prior to storage. Wax moths and small hive beetle can lay eggs in the supers that are not noticeable to the naked eye. If you fail to freeze the supers prior to storage, under the right conditions, these eggs can hatch and your supers can be destroyed. Freezing kills all stages of egg, larva and adults. A chest freezer works nice because it can hold several full supers at a time. I usually keep the supers in the freezer for 2 days.

2. Moth balls are no longer recommended to use on honey supers. A similar product (PDB) is often considered to fumigate the supers against wax moths, but it does not kill eggs. Please read safety labels on any product you use and make a wise decision about using chemicals on your supers where honey is produced.

3. DO NOT store empty honey supers on the hive for winter. This may fool the winter cluster to move up into an empty food source. Also cluster heat will rise up and away from the cluster into the super. If you do overwinter a filled super above the cluster be sure to remove the queen excluder so the queen can go where the warm cluster goes.

4. After freezing your supers you can store them in a room which is free of mice and other pests. You can store them outside in a short column in colder climates, but be sure all cracks between and around boxes are sealed to prevent mice from making this into a high rise apartment.

Thanks for joining us today for another lesson in beekeeping and we hope these pointers were helpful. Be sure and join us tonight at 6:30 on our call in, live, radio program on beekeeping and we’d love to take your questions tonight. Our program is about various types of hives, but ask any question you want. Information on how to join our call tonight is located at the top of this lesson.

That’s all for now and thank you for joining us for another beekeeping lesson! Please let others know about these lessons and our business. We appreciate you spreading the word! 

Thank you!
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
217-427-2678 Website: www.honeybeesonline.com