> The beekeeper I worked for did something with his supers that I didn't 
> know to wonder about at the time, but it's puzzled me since: he stored his 
> supers "sticky,"

I actually don't know any commercial beekeepers in Western Canada who do not 
store their supers sticky.  Nobody I know of would go through the bother of 
taking them out to be robbed or putting them on hives to be licked out. 
That would be expensive.  Supers go direct from extracting to storage, which 
is usually bee-tight.

There are a number of advantages beyond the savings in labour and bother. 
The honey coating seems to keep the wax softer, and combs get less brittle 
over winter -- and, of course the bees are quick to go into them when they 
are put on the next spring. 

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