At 12:44 AM 10/29/96 +0000, you wrote:
>>I am interested that Chris Allen thinks that letting the bees clean out the
>>cappins is a good way to spread disease.  I certainly will be more careful in
>>the future.  But, I am interested to know what the difference between
>>lettting the girls clean out cappings and letting them clean out the
>>extracted supers is.  I also stack those in the woods and let 'em go at it.
>> It that also a problem?
>
>Hi Faith:
>I wonder why you (and others, because several have mentioned it) feel the
>need the have the bees clean out the supers.  I have always understood that
>extracted comb should be stored wet with remaining honey as it keeps better
>that way.  Sure the uncapped honey picks up some moisture and ferments, but
>the bees don't seem to mind. In fact maybe they really party when I put
>those supers back on :)
>
>I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think that
>having some small amount of fermented honey in the comb when you give supers
>to the bees has any significant effect on the quality of the honey that they
>will later store in those supers.  Why risk the spread of disease?
>
>Regards, Stan
>
If it was just a question of a small amount of fermented honey, that "might"
not be a problem.  My experience here in Oregon (the wet part), is that the
supers that do not get thoroughly cleaned by the bees end up developing a
large amount of mold that slows down honey production since the bees have to
clean it first and stains the combs in some cases.  Some combs have been so
filled with mold and unsanitary looking, that I couldn't imagine eating
honey that came from those combs, so melted them down and started over.
 
Rick Grossman
7 hives (so far) and 25 years off and on
Newberg (near Portland), Oregon, USA