Honey not capped - Ask Extension
Why would one of my hives not have capped honey yet? I have 2 hives next to each other, when I went to harvest honey on the first weekend of September...
Knowledgebase
Honey not capped #812884
Asked October 02, 2022, 11:04 AM EDT
Why would one of my hives not have capped honey yet? I have 2 hives next to each other, when I went to harvest honey on the first weekend of September one hive had about 90% of the honey capped and the other hive had almost nothing capped. I waited 2 weeks and checked and again checked this weekend, October 1, and still very little is capped. This is only my third season harvesting honey and I've never seen this before. This is a very strong and healthy seeming colony, my last mite check I only found one mite.
Also, how late can I harvest the honey? I have already assumed that I won't be getting any honey from this colony this year.
Thanks,
Andrew
Midland County Michigan
Expert Response
Hi Andrew-
It is pretty common that hives in the same yard can have totally different outcomes. When it is related to productivity / honey, it is usually something that affects the brood and work force, like a disease or a queen issue. Perhaps the colony had a supercedure midsummer, or another issue.
You have a few options with uncapped honey. First - the bees maybe would have had time to dry it off pretty well, but not to completely cap it. If you shake the frame hard, and not a lot of nectar comes out, you can likely extract it and use it. It is good to check with a refractometer to confirm before you store it or sell it. You can also try to feed it back to the bees - you can put it above an inner cover, and see if they will bring it down, or as a last resort, set up a robbing station.
It is pretty common that hives in the same yard can have totally different outcomes. When it is related to productivity / honey, it is usually something that affects the brood and work force, like a disease or a queen issue. Perhaps the colony had a supercedure midsummer, or another issue.
You have a few options with uncapped honey. First - the bees maybe would have had time to dry it off pretty well, but not to completely cap it. If you shake the frame hard, and not a lot of nectar comes out, you can likely extract it and use it. It is good to check with a refractometer to confirm before you store it or sell it. You can also try to feed it back to the bees - you can put it above an inner cover, and see if they will bring it down, or as a last resort, set up a robbing station.
