Lesley Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 We were slow in sorting out one hive and the bees made free comb in the space in a super where we'd had fondant over winter. By the time we saw it it was full of honey so we left them to cap it. It was attached to the crown board so we moved it all up and supered below it. We cleared the super and were able to take it off yesterday - with some difficulty as it detached from the crown board - and have some slabs of beautiful comb which would make excellent cut comb. BUT........ it's likely to be from OSR given the amount that has been grown around here It's the first super to be capped so we haven't taken any other honey off the two main hives yet. I don't want to cut and package it to find it all crystallises when I could extract the honey instead at the moment. Is there any other way to tell if it is from OSR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 What's OSR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Oil Seed Rape - I don't know if you can tell. I have 3 supers ready to extract, but the weather has been too pants to get a clearer board on. It is definitely OSR and is probably crystallising as I type!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 8, 2012 Author Share Posted June 8, 2012 We found a short dry slot to put the clearer board on and a less heavy patch of drizzle yesterday to whip the super off Ridiculous weather! I have customers who like cut comb and I'd rather use the free comb and not have thin foundation in the middle so I think I'll put some cut pieces in the freezer which should keep it runny. I'll keep a test piece out and see if it granulates in the comb - if it does then I'll remove them from the freezer and extract the honey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJNeal Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hey Lesley, how well does honey keep in the freezer please ? our ladies have maybe pulled three/four super frames of honey in the few months we've had them, not really enough to be pulling the extractor out but I dont particularly want to leave the supers on over the winter - can I freeze the frames still capped and extract next year ( when hopefully we'll be rolling in the honey from what's got to be a sunny warm year after a short hard winter - well, fingers crossed ) many thanks DJN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Lesley. If it's OSR it would presumably been gathered in the spring and would have set rock hard by now. OSR cut comb is actually quite nice As far as freezing frames is concerned I have some uncapped stores in the freezer and will probably give them back to the bees next year (they have enough thymolised syrup, for now). I reckon you can keep capped frames without freezing but they will be OK in the freezer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Dave - I didn't get round to freezing it in the end so I can't tell you, sorry. We extracted it all and dealt with it straight away. I ate some myself at the time and it had a lovely flavour, the extracted honey ended up as a fairly soft, set honey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
