Hi, i havent harvested honey in a year, wanted to make sure bees had ample source of honey over the winter. In trying to recently harvest honey it was a low yield but there appears to be a lot of older capped honey in multiple frames that remain capped after turning the key to open the frames… Not sure as to what I should do? Remove frames and clean in warm water or some other alternative. Would be great to save the honey but not sure how?
Hi Mike, was your super on the hive for the past year or in storage? Your profile only says California and there are a few possible climate scenarios in your state 
- if you have a cold enough winter season for the bees to spend most of the time clustered, they might not have been able to defend the space from possible pests.
Yes, the caps generally remain on the cells when you open a frame. The bees sense that the honey is no longer under them and will eventually remove them. Then they’ll either move and consume the honey or keep adding to it if there’s a good nectar flow right now.
I don’t see a need to clean the frames yourself unless you think there might be pest debris or eggs in them. You want the cells to stay waxed up for the most part. If pests left drippings or eggs then hot water and a brush might be enough, but some folks here have disassembled their cruddy-looking frames and used a pressure washer. There is also a strain of Bacillus thuringensis called ‘aizawai’ that is safe for bees but will kill newly hatched wax moth larvae. I spray my frames that have comb on them whenever they have to be stored off of the hive.
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Hi Eva, in southern california desert climate. It does range from upper 30’s F to 70’s during winter, just not a ton of flowers hence not wanting to harvest the honey in the Fall. No parasites, no moths, no ants…healthy bees. Not sure for best remedy?
Sorry the Super has been on the hive and not in storage.
You probably didn’t get a full harvest because of propolis and likely crystallization of the honey. I would not leave the super on the hive after September, because after about 4 months in the frame, you are risking crystallization for most nectar sources.
Removing crystallized honey is challenging. You can’t spin it out, and you can’t melt it out either. You could try uncapping it and letting the bees use it as feed, but they may not do that at this time of year. Your remaining choice is to soak the frames in very warm water (less than 70°C to prevent damage to the Flow frames). It would help to carefully uncap it first, so that the water can get to the honey. You can do this with hive tool or even better an uncapping fork. You will need to be very careful not to damage the plastic of the frames.
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Thank you Dawn, No good Deed goes unpunished 
I thought by leaving the honey for them to have a supply of food for the winter would be ok. I may have created this situation. Sounds like I will need to wash the frames carefully. Does not sound like there is much of a work around. Leaving it as is does not sound like it will resolve itself. I am assuming a number of people would be experiencing similar situation with their flowhive frames.
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You might try liquefying the honey in the frames - maybe putting it in a closed bin in the sun will re-liquefy it and you can harvest it.
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Leaving honey on the hive for colder moths is definitely a good deed - It’s just that Flow frames are more like mechanical parts than honey comb. Plus, you risk forcing the colony to abandon the queen (assuming you left the queen excluder on) as they move up - which can lead to her death if it gets too cold.
If I were you I’d try putting the Flow super with just the frames with remaining honey in them on top of the hive, above the inner cover. This way, it functions like a feeder and the workers can clean up & move the honey down into the brood nest. Check on it after a day or two and you might be in luck.
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Leave it as is in the frame because when it gets hot that frame and honey will be more manageable. The bees will clean it out then you can take it out run it in some hot water and work the frames until your channels all align. Or if he bees don’t touch it when it’s hot you can try to harvest it as it will be easier when the temperature is up. Right now it’s to cold even in CA.
Thank you very much, I appreciate the insight and have some ideas of do’s and dont’s and will learn in the process of how to remedy this situation. Thank you
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