C:\My Documents\Bees1.avi

Branson Bee Inspection

• Category

  Autos & Vehicles

[junito1957]

first of all are you putting melted bee wax on your top bar on a straight line or on the crossbar on those frame and you should have a little bit of space between those bars the will help lot a lot that is some crazy cross combing

[sdlins56]

After a 2 years and 4 top bar hives now here is what I do. I use Chambfer molding on the bars for a guide NO WAX (the comb stays better if they attach to the bar), make sure the hive is completely level, & if I don't have a straight bar to start a new hive off I check every 4 days to make sure they get started right. Once they are on the right track you don't have to worry much about cross combing.

Thanks for you comment

[sdlins56]

Yes, If it is small comb move it straight on the bar and place it back in. You want to check it every 3-4 days until they have it going straight on thier own. Make sure your hive is completely level also.

If they have crossed any bars you will need to take it out cut it off and replace it straight on a bar. When you do that it is much easier to take it out and move to a place where the bees will not bother you.

Hope this helps mine are doing pretty good now.

[jannassary .]

OH MY GOD DISASTER MUST HAVE DEMORALIZED YOU BIG TIME??

[Shannon Wyatt]

Never mind my question about the source, I see that it was from a swarm. I'm wondering if for some reason the bees pulled it out this way do to the front entrance and that would be the comb direction on a standard Langstroth hive. Other than the crazy comb it appears that the hive is doing well. Hopefully they recovered fine from the surgey.

[Shannon Wyatt]

Oh no! How long had you gone from installing the bees to first inspection? There is a ton of comb, but there is a heavy nectar flow they could probably do that in a couple weeks. Sorry you had to deal with that, but it looks like you cleaned it up nicely. What was the source of the bees?

[sdlins56]

I brushed the bees off and took the comb to an area where I could work on them and then put them back, I did in all at the same time and yes it took a while.

Today I am going to move all of the bars to a new top bar with a screened bottom to help with hive beetles, I am hoping to move all of the cross comb that I left at one time we will see how that works out.

Thanks for your comment

[esmuychiquenque]

I like the before-and-after. I'd like even better to see what went on in the middle! Did you re-attach the combs to the top bars while they were covered with bees? If not, how did you get the combs bee-free? I'm sure there was quite a bit of brood in them, so the bees wouldn't leave voluntarily.

Did you reattach the whole hive's comb in one go, or break it up over a couple of days? That looks like an awful lot of work. Thanks for posting this video.

[GreatDarkKnight]

That was some crazy cross comb.

I built a top bar beehive and purchased some bees this summer. I noticed that they're starting to cross comb. Do you have any tips?