We are in South Australia, end of summer, temperate climate, and a ‘slow’ year for honey in our area. We have not harvested any honey, and we’ve had this one hive since May 2016.
Two things:
One, is this normal to have the bees expanding out the comb in the flow frames like in photo one?
Two, looking in the end super window, photo 2, honey is leaking into 3 channels, is this normal? The wires seem tight enough.
photo 1
photo 2
For the leaked honey, take the round cap out and clean off any wax/propolis. Also clean the little gap where the tongue of the extraction tube would go. That way the bees can get to the honey, provided you have the hive at the recommended angle.
I had honey leaking there occasionally.
Maybe your cells in the frame’s Centre were full and the bees expand the space? Only way to find out is to pull out a frame at a time and look. I suggest you ensure your flow frames are all in the closed position while they are out. Sometimes a few cells can still be open. Just insert the flow key into the top slot and turn.
To me it looks as if you could have a fair bit of honey in your frames, just not near the window. Good luck!
I’m not sure about normal but mine do it as well and I just figure its more space for them to store honey. My frames seem to be evenly and correctly spaced and there’s no problem during harvest so I think its OK.[quote=“WillungaRange, post:1, topic:10226”]
Two, looking in the end super window, photo 2, honey is leaking into 3 channels, is this normal? The wires seem tight enough.
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See my original post here: Honey leaking into trough while frames in closed position.
including a response from Cedar.
Short answer is, its all OK, in the scheme of things its just a tiny bit of honey that have dripped through. You should loosen your end caps and check for propolis blockage to ensure the drips of honey can drip through for the bees to clean up.
Thanks for that link!
