Lots of Honey!

I went into the hives Monday afternoon...Sept. 13 just to see at what stage the frames were in capped vs uncapped honey.  I estimated that about 75% of the frame surface throughout the left hive were capped so hopefully they will be done capping by the weekend.  The frames being capped is important because it signals that the honey within is "cured" and is at the correct moisture content.  Too much moisture causes the honey to ferment.  You want as much of the honey to be capped as possible before extracting it.

I also checked the queenless hive on the right.  It appeared that they too were filling their frames in both the hive super as well as at least one of the hive bodies with honey.  Since there is no queen to lay eggs, they are putting honey in the frames that normally would be used for brood.  After extracting the honey from this hive, I will attempt to combine these bees with the other hive.  You do so by placing their box on top of the other hive with newspaper separating them.  By the time the bees eat their way through the newspaper, the bees from both hives should have the same odor and will be accepting of each other.  That is the plan anyway.

I wonder how much newspaper should be used...a few sheets, or the Sunday edition of the Boston Globe?