PasiekaOlek · Małopolskie, PL · Honey · Aug 14, 2026
Last supers are 60-70% capped — shake test the rest, extract for bakery honey, or just feed back?
Małopolskie, 5th season, twelve hives. Main extraction is done but I've got six shallow supers where the outer frames are only 60-70% capped and the flow here is over. Options as I see them:
1. Shake test the uncapped frames — hold horizontal, sharp downward shake, and if nothing rains out, extract with the rest.
2. Extract everything but keep the uncapped-frame honey separate, refractometer it, and if it's over 20% sell it as bakery honey or feed it to the mead bucket.
3. Stick the whole lot back on the hives above the inner cover and let the bees rob it down for winter stores.
My refractometer says the capped stuff is at 17.5%. What do people actually do with these end-of-season stragglers? I don't have a warming room to dry supers down.
The shake test is legitimate and I use it every season: nectar that shakes out is unripe, honey that holds through a hard shake is nearly always under 18.5% even uncapped. But test frame by frame, not super by super — one wet frame can push a whole batch over. If the shaken frames hold, extract them with everything else and let the refractometer be the final judge on the blended bucket.
LavenderSophie · Aug 14, 2026
For the frames that DO shake out nectar: feed-back is the tidy answer. Above the inner cover, evening placement, entrance reduced, and they'll have it stripped and stored in days. Free winter feed and dry drawn comb back for next year. Don't feed back during the day in a dearth unless you enjoy robbing.
CorkBeeRon · Aug 14, 2026
One more option for genuinely wet extracted honey since you've no warming room: use it yourself and gift it, just keep it in the fridge and label it for prompt use. High-moisture honey ferments at room temp but it's grand for months refrigerated. The mead bucket is the classic answer for a reason though.
PasiekaOlek · Aug 15, 2026
Went through all six supers tonight with the shake test. 14 frames held solid — extracting those tomorrow. 9 rained nectar, going back on the three lightest hives this evening as feed. Blended sample from the extracted lot: 18.1%. Happy with that. Thanks all.