Frame Guide › Management
Uncapped Honey Super: what it looks like on the frame
Late June · a super frame, heavy in your hand. You're thinking about pulling honey.
Capped along the top, but most of the frame is still shiny open cells. Bees only cap honey once they've dried it down, so open cells mean nectar that's still too wet.
Leave it on until it's mostly capped, or test it with a refractometer
Wet honey ferments in the jar. A common rule is to wait until the frame is about 80% capped, or check with a refractometer — US Grade A honey is 18.6% moisture or less. Quick field test: hold the frame flat and give it a shake; if nectar rains out, it isn't ready.
Easy to mistake for
- Honey-Bound Brood NestStrong flow on. Bees crowding, and the queen seems to have nowhere to go.
- RobbingLate August dearth. Bees wrestling on the landing board.
Could you spot this with the lid off?
Read the Frame deals you 8 random frames. Say what you see, say what you'd do, and find out why. It's free and runs on your phone.
Drill management → Mixed round (all 32 frames) →More management
- Honey-Bound Brood NestStrong flow on. Bees crowding, and the queen seems to have nowhere to go.
- Starved ColonyLate March · they were flying in December. Now, silence.
- Normal Drone CombMay · the bottom edge of a frame from a strong, healthy hive.
- Pollen-Bound Brood NestA heavy pollen flow on, and a small colony that isn't growing.
- New Colony Drawing CombTwo weeks after you installed a package on fresh foundation.
- Moldy CombSpring · frames from a hive that died in January, left in the damp box since.
- Fall Brood NestEarly October · a strong colony, the goldenrod flow just ended.
These frames are drawn to teach the pattern, and real frames vary. From The Alleman Apiary in Middletown, PA.