Dee Lusby wrote:

 > Why? We were taught that leaving them wet if stored was
 > better, and to also freeze first and then stack, taping any
 > open cracks up.

I spoke about what I was taught when I started beekeeping. Some still do
allow their bees to clean out the supers in the open. I no longer do.

I now do just what you posted, but not in that order. In July/August I
extract the summer honey and put the extracted supers back on the hive
over the inner cover. When I extract in September, I stack the supers in
my barn and make sure no holes are available for robbing (duct tape
works well). Since we get a good freeze in late September, there is
little worry about wax moth, also they are honey supers with no brood
cells, the real attractor for wax moths.

bob darrell wrote:

>  The honey Judge at a recent meeting of the Dufferin
> Beekeepers Association gave as his reason, for not storing supers
> wet, that the crystallized honey in the supers would lead to early
> crystallization of next years crop.

I have never had a problem with crystallization of the crop I take of in
the summer having started with last year's wet supers. Summer honey in
our area keeps for a year or more without crystallization, but fall
honey will be solid in a couple of months. (I did some tests just to see
how long each would last.) My guess is that it is not the wet super but
fall honey.

For those who may be confused about my recent tag line "now a certified
experienced beekeeper therefore qualified to give bad advice" I am not a
Master Beekeeper. Just certified :)

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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