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More advanced beekeeping discussion forum.
 #7287  by AndrewLD
 22 May 2020, 08:33
Thank you for sharing all the good ideas. I have a dehumidifier and some clothes dryer extract tube so I am tempted to knock up a plenum to fit it, modify my chest freezer sized warmer and try this drying lark.
I have left a load of half-capped OSR on the hives in anticipation of a June gap (if there really is such a thing down here) but mainly because now the hundreds of acres of OSR has finished flowering, all they are going to be left with is what is in people's gardens etc. The hedges have s*d-all in them and there's just one field I can see of field beans, the rest is wheat :(
I have almost given up trying to extract OSR and my clearance of the utility room for extraction is a half-hearted job akin to a condemned man's walk to the gallows.....
Roger Patterson expounded his technique for putting OSR under the brood box just as suggested by Adam and I think that is going to be my approach this year. I have no outlet for my honey with the Covid19 effect on shows so why put myself out just to add to my problem next year? At least I won't have to buy syrup :D
 #7475  by MickBBKA
 29 May 2020, 03:02
Just so you know Japey, I ended up with 13 supers of set frames last year. June turned really cold before they were capped and I had the nightmare of fresh nectar on top of crystalising honey.
No choice but to cut it out, mash in a bucket and strain. Bloody nightmare.
Mine goes in a warming cabinet with a fan to reduce water content.
 #7478  by Japey Edge
 29 May 2020, 11:24
Cheers Mick,

I don't have a warming cabinet so I think my option is "if in doubt, take it off early".

I do another shake test before the frames are uncapped just to make sure.

My last batch was 18% - I tested a little bit from the extractor gate when it was going into the strainer. That included a frame or two that leaked a little during shake test.
 #7483  by stechad
 29 May 2020, 15:27
Japey Edge wrote:
29 May 2020, 11:24
Cheers Mick,

I don't have a warming cabinet so I think my option is "if in doubt, take it off early".

I do another shake test before the frames are uncapped just to make sure.

My last batch was 18% - I tested a little bit from the extractor gate when it was going into the strainer. That included a frame or two that leaked a little during shake test.
Jazz
I take my refractometer and a cocktail stick with me and test from a few frames on site.
 #7487  by Japey Edge
 29 May 2020, 18:50
Ste - do you look through the refractometer through your veil?

Might try it, not sure you've sold it mind :lol: but I see the logic in doing it that way - then you don't have a sticky unripe frame you need to renegotiate back into a hive.
 #7489  by stechad
 29 May 2020, 22:21
Japey Edge wrote:
29 May 2020, 18:50
Ste - do you look through the refractometer through your veil?

Might try it, not sure you've sold it mind :lol: but I see the logic in doing it that way - then you don't have a sticky unripe frame you need to renegotiate back into a hive.
Never tried looking thru veil, but if it's an out apiary (both an hour away) and It looks borderline it only takes 5 mins to whip the least finished super of and move away from hives for a quick check..... maybe not with a nasty hive :shock:
 #7495  by Steve 1972
 30 May 2020, 10:34
Japey Edge wrote:
29 May 2020, 18:50
Ste - do you look through the refractometer through your veil?

Might try it, not sure you've sold it mind :lol: but I see the logic in doing it that way - then you don't have a sticky unripe frame you need to renegotiate back into a hive.
I always look through the veil as i am going from hive to hive..
 #8294  by AdamD
 20 Jul 2020, 14:14
I still have some OSR honey in the comb. Some has been suplimented by other honey so when it's extracted, the OSR remains. I have some that I have put over existing supers over a crown-board with a small hole in it. In most cases, any liquid honey is removed and the ORS honey is sealed over again. What has worked best is if the OSR super goes under the brood box with a closed off floor and an entrance between the super and the brood box.
From bottom to top
  • Closed floor
    Box of honey
    Queen excluder
    entrance eke
    Brood box
    Queen excluder
    Supers, crown board roof.
The honey is brought up through the excluder to the brood box or above that. After a week or two the remaining dry OSR can then be sprayed in the comb with water and put back under the brood box to help the bees remove the rest.