On 10 Sep 2003 at 8:54, Scott L Wiegel wrote:

> But after reading the lengthy discussion on
> this list, I realized that I had quite accidentally performed an
> experiment which seems to disprove the odor alone hypothesis.
>
> The honey flow has paused where I am at and I am busy cleaning up all
> the honey supers.

   I'm just listening, Scott, on this particular discussion, and enjoying
all the back and forth.   And I want to thank you for sharing your
astute observations.  When I see a beginning beekeeper that is
watching and thinking, I say to myself, he or she has the potential
to be a very good beekeeper.

   But I did want to encourage you to find an alternative to letting
the bees rob cappings. You'll probably discover it by yourself in
time, but take it from a long term beekeeper, that it's not a good
idea to get bees robbing, ever. Once they start, they hate to stop,
and your weaker hives are at risk. When the robbing gets underway
the bees get defensive, and you get stung. Worse yet, maybe your
neighbors get stung. Beekeepers have lost good locations because
bees got to robbing and neighbors got stung. Others have
mentioned the disease risk. Your honey may be clean, but once
they start robbing, who knows where they will rob?

   What to do with wet cappings?  For non-commercial beekeepers,
a solar melter is one inexpensive possibility. The honey will be
below your wax in the mold. It will be darker but still makes nice
baking honey.  Another choice would be to wash the cappings with
a minimal amount of water, then use this (adding a little more
honey if needed) to make mead.


Dave Green   SC  USA
The Pollination Home Page:
http://pollinator.com   or http://pollinator.info

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