BBKA Forum

Hi
My bees have been feeding off the OSR ,and I have managed to get some of this off however some has crystallised and I wonder if I can just feed this back to them as I dont want to waste it .Anyone else had problems with this

It's a problem with OSR; it sets very quickly. If the honey is in the frames it can be given back - what works for me is to put a super of it under the brood box with an excluder and entrance in between so the bees take it up. From bottom to top I would have:-
Floor, closed off.
Super with part-extracted frames.
Queen excluder
25mm eke with entrance
Brood box, brood, queen.
Queen excluder
Supers
Crownboard & roof.

If after a couple of weeks there is some rock-hard honey remaining in the frames, a spray with water from a plant mister helps the bees remove the remaining honey.

OSR honey can set spoon-bendingly hard in the jar too. Once warmed enough it will then remain runny for a while.

Why not make soft set honey from it.? It's a a quality product that sells well.
Dead easy to do, you need a honey creamer like this one from Thornes.

Let your honey set in a bucket then semi melt it at 45C then use the "potatoe masher" to work the honey. You need to keep working it for a day or so at regular intervals until its a pale white colour, jar it and sell it.

Good idea!