# Does the comb have to be white to be capped? **URL:** \ **Category:** Beekeeping - Basics\ **Created:** [August 28, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486 "2023-08-28T19:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChristineG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@ChristineG](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ChristineG)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/1 "2023-08-28T19:33:06Z")
![20230826_123025](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/e/8/e8979c503a94000c01f5737ce446d4a256dafe32.jpeg) I’m trying to understand if this honey is capped. Hopefully the picture will upload correctly. I’m new to bees and forums 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/2 "2023-08-28T19:59:01Z")
Hello and welcome to the Flow forum! 😉 White, no. Completely covered with a layer of wax, yes. Your photo shows a frame that is beautifully capped to \>99% by my estimate. Ready for harvesting right now! Just remember to open it in 20% increments, wait 10 minutes before opening the next section and allow at least 3-5 hours for the honey to completely drain. Well done, nice frame of honey there! 🤩 Just as a little bit of extra info, the white cappings are what we call “dry caps”. There is some air underneath them. The honey colored cappings are “wet caps” - no air under them. Some people have found that wet caps can cause a bit more leaking back into the hive during a harvest. Opening the frame in sections and waiting, as I described above, can help a lot with reducing this problem. There is nothing you can do to avoid wet caps - the bees make that choice when they cap the honey 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/3 "2023-08-28T20:05:47Z")
A very amateur video, if you want to see a bit more about harvesting in increments: > [@Pros/Cons of 2nd Brood Box in coastal Southern California](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/pros-cons-of-2nd-brood-box-in-coastal-southern-california/34749/17): > > This is my method: You can see a video of it in action here. Not the best video, I had never made a video before: [[First Flow Harvest] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVACeMBJlfg) ---
**Author:** ![ChristineG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@ChristineG](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/ChristineG)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/4 "2023-08-28T23:31:12Z")
Thank you! What a supportive and informative response. Much appreciated. Have a wonderful night ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/5 "2023-08-29T20:35:09Z")
That is a very generous and kind reply, thank you. People like you are what makes this forum one of the best places to be in the beekeeping world. You ask, you read, you make the effort to understand the explanation. I wish you a long and happy journey with your bees! Please consider taking the Flow super off after harvesting. In your climate, the bees will very likely do better that way. Ask if you don’t understand why, or if you have more questions. We all like to help each other on this forum! 😊 ---
**Author:** ![djaef](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/djaef/32/28081_2.png) [@djaef](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/djaef)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/6 "2023-09-04T00:48:40Z")
> [@Dawn\_SD](#): > > Just remember to open it in 20% increments, wait 10 minutes before opening the next section and allow at least 3-5 hours for the honey to completely drain. Wow Dawn, why is this? I can’t say I’ve heard that advice before. ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/7 "2023-09-04T22:37:45Z")
If you look at the link I provided above, it discusses why. Basically it is to avoid an airlock in the Flow harvesting tube, which can force honey to drip back into the hive from the frame, rather than draining outside the hive through the tube. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KieranPI](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/kieranpi/32/14091_2.png) [@KieranPI](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/KieranPI)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:52am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/does-the-comb-have-to-be-white-to-be-capped/35486/8 "2023-09-08T05:52:47Z")
3-5 hours is quite a lot longer than we would expect to see with a harvest, personally my harvests are about 20-30 minutes harvesting in 5 increments. I do cap off the honey trough once the honey slows to a trickle, as the leak back point will allow the bees to feed on this, and the quantity that slowly trickles out at that point doesn’t amount to a great deal.