Comb Honey Hive Body Prep...
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- Опубліковано 8 тра 2020
- I like to add one comb honey super to a hive each year. It is a great seller and a nice item to have in your inventory. Join me as I explain how I prepare the frames for the hive.Thanks for joining me in my 2020 beekeeping season as I share how I maintain my beehives from winter through the following fall. My videos are not meant to be 'How To' videos, but simply me sharing my experiences in beekeeping as I learned it from my mentors, teachers, and studies.
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So glad I looked for this video. I have some shallow boxes and was wondering what to do with the frames. At least I see “how you do it”! Thanks for the tips!
You’re welcome Lisa!! Glad it gave you an idea.
@@MikeBarryBees I just am a cheapskate and have a hard time justifying Ross Rounds or other pre-fab designs. I figure bees have been doing it that way for millennia and I just need to give them the right tools and spacing.
I made some comb honey last year I do mine in squares in a wooden box thanks Mike for another great video.
I do like doing at least one box. Thanks Mark!!
Thanks Mike
Thank you Garry and my pleasure!!
Good job Mike! Nobody teaches how to do anything when it comes to comb honey hardly, thanks for sharing
I just went for it one year based on an old beekeeper’s advice via a friend. Like Nike I guess, just did it.
I’ve never done comb honey. Mike, you have a setup there to process, very nice. My mom wants comb honey, so maybe this year.
It’s worth the time to throw a super on a good hive. If it comes out catty-wompus, it’s still good, just in smaller pieces and in Rubbermaid containers. Nothing to really lose. If it doesn’t come out at all, well you just lost a little time.
Truly Enjoyed this Video Mike keep up the great work....
Thanks!
Great video
Thanks!!
Thanks Mike, it's my second year of beekeeping and next year I'm going to try some comb honey using the shallow method you describe.
Good deal. Good luck!! If mine make this year, I want to try to leave a strip of comb on the top and try foundationless next year. Good though, in my opinion, to start with foundation just to learn from.
Thanks for taking the time to show others. I have never tried comb honey but think I will now!
It’s pretty neat to do it. It’s how honey was done years and years ago before liquid was popular.
Morning Mike. Thanks for sharing. Just getting back into beekeeping after many years. And am really enjoying your informative videos during your 2020 tour. Thanks for what you do. Stay safe. Joel in Montana
Thanks for the nice comment!!
Great video Mike! I'm putting on one box this year. I really like the squares in the clear clamshell, it's a very classic presentation. Hope we all get some comb honey.
The clear clamshell is a good presentation. While the ross rounds also are a great presentation and have their selling points, you can look at the clamshell and tell that it was hand cut and right from the hive. The ross can sometimes look manufactured. But both are nice for sure.
Thank you Mike I really enjoyed this video as I'm looking to do some comb honey my self for the first time this year
Good luck! And really glad you enjoyed the video!!
Thanks for the tip on trimming thin surplus foundation. I remember back in my old "crush and strain" days, wavy wax wasn't a problem. Now that I'm using an extractor, I really want STRAIGHT fat combs. Nice tip!!
I’ve enjoyed doing the comb honey. Some years good, some not so good.
Hi Mike. Great video. I've been thinking about trying this and your information is very helpful. The honey that you're bottling.....is that from this season or last season? Can't wait to see how your comb honey turns out. I may try making it next year. I appreciate you saying the prep work is tedious. As a beginner I feel like I can barely keep my bees moving in the right direction so maybe that's a sign I better not try anything that is tedious!!! Leave that part to you more experienced keepers.
That’s last season’s honey. Still have a few gallons left. It does help to get a good handle and develop your style of beekeeping first. Then venture out. At least that’s how I felt it works for me. Get the basics and your way established, then venture out into something different each year. Good luck!!
Hi Mike , thanks mate great vlog on how you do your honey comb , man it is sure nice to eat combed honey I remember the first time I tried it when I was with an old guy who is sadly not with us anymore doing a cut he was like my mentor go to guy when I first got interested in beekeeping and I must of eaten nearly a full cone of the stuff as it was coming out of the wall good days thanks Mike and god bless mate.
Thanks Peter. Yes, something very different and ‘old school’ about it.
I use foundationless shallow frames for comb honey on 2 hives. I used your scoop method on a swarm in the middle of town last Wed. It was a crowd pleaser.
I need to try foundation less. This year is looking rough for comb honey when I went to put it on. But I placed it anyhow. Who knows. I like scooping the bees. If I have time it sure seems to keep them out of the air a lot better. Sometimes it’s juts not possible, but I like it when it is.
Good advice , don’t buy Ross round til you have bees for a couple of years.
Yep, you really need to be in tune with the flow. And I still struggle after 8 years...
Shoot another use for an old bed spring..... the list grows on and on
I tell you, that little piece of spring steel is very handy.
I use an ejector pin sharpened into a chisel point
Anything’s better than a hive tool or an awl.
You might want to try one of those roller pizza wheels to cut that wax foundation down to size.
That would work well! Beekeepers have so many great ideas!
I have had nothing but trouble here with the light wax, juststarterstrip and 9 frames in the box and it works very well except finding a market which may be changing as I am in it longer
Hmm, I wonder why that is? It seems to do well for me. I don't think mine will make this year due to my best hives swarming, but if it does, I think I'm going to leave a good strip across the top and let it go foundationless next time.
Don't some people but honey frames down in the brood box and scratch the capping off which makes the bees store it in the comb honey frames? Do you do anything like that or just depend on a flow.
I just rely on the flow. But there are a lot of ways to do things, so maybe so. I just look for the good flow and when they're filling supers.
I would love to try this, but the nectar flow in the later part of the year isn't super strong, really sporadic. I would have to wait until like Jan/Feb. before I can try this. by that time a lot of these hive should be super strong to do this.
I’m not sure it will be good this year here. The flow is shaping up great, but had some serious swarming, so hive are weak. But I put it on anyhow, you never know.
Thanks Mike for Vids , But to call the product - Naturall - in your shoes I'll never use that wax foundation due to the Paraffin used in it , what you do is recycle your old comb and make your natural wax foundation or buy them online , good luck
Not sure I called it natural. Not that I recall, if I did I was probably referring to the foundationless choice. Making their own foundation is the most natural, and I’m going to do that one day. Recycled comb has toxins in it too, Unless the bees are totally isolated. Many studies show traces of toxins in the comb in hives due to the pesticides and herbicides used in areas that the bees forage, thus cycling out comb every so many years. Really I think none of it is 100% pure and I like the thin surplus because I get a jump on the wax building. I don’t know that paraffin is added though. I might give them a call to see what they say about that. Thanks for watching and for the comment!!
Hey mike we have snow and in the 20s this year was as bad as yours was for swarms and what not now it just got horrible hope you have things looking up now
Wow, can’t get over the weather differences right now. Yea, my season is now in the hands of the bees and what the swarms left behind. Crazy year, but it is what it is. We’re actually in the mid 50’s every morning here, which yes, is nothing, but for us in May, quite unusual.
Ya I split and or pulled old queens to keep em from swarming hopefully they all had swarm cells and some have already swarmed now I think I have a real mess with this weather
Great information, Mike. Off topic but I was wondering what size Maxant bottling tank do you have and do you think you got the right size for your operation? I'm in the market. Thank you.
Hello Steve. I have the 16 gallon and it is perfect for my size operation. If I planned to grow bigger, then I would say no, it’s not the best size and the next size up is better. We like to average 90 to 110 gallons a year and only bottle about 15 to 30 bottles a week, so it’s good for that for me. That amount of honey gets us thru the customer base and markets that we have. The 30 gallon would be the next size. If I were 150 to 200 gallons or better, more selling time and a larger customer base, then this would most likely be too small for me.
@@MikeBarryBees Thank you for taking the time to provide such a great answer to my question! I appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing! I have been considering doing comb honey. Seems inefficient but some people have been asking me about it. How much do you sell you honey for? And how much for the comb honey? Here in CT I do $10 a lb and I sold out.
Thanks for watching. I actually think comb honey is very efficient. Not a lot of boxes of course, but for a box or two. Comb honey up your way sells for more I know, especially based on your liquid price per pound. I sell my liquid $6 to $8 per pound and comb for $12 to $14 per square (prices based on current market prices for my region). Maximum $480 per box of comb on the low end. Average medium super yields 2 to 2.5 gallons. So let's use the higher. At 11 lbs. per gallon, that's 27.5 lbs of honey yielded. At $10 per pound, well $275. If you get only 30 squares of comb out of a possible 40 (I got about 35 last year), that right there is sold for $360 at my price. So selling liquid at your price and comb at mine, that's still $85 more. And I've seen comb prices up your way, and you will get more than $12. So 1 box on a hive out of several to me is worth the effort. I would give it a shot one year and just see how it sells. If you have folks asking, that's a good thing too.
Oh, by the way, where in CT? If you're close to my kin folk, I'll have to send her your way for local honey.
@@MikeBarryBees Thanks for sharing all that great info! Sounds like I need to invest in some comb honey :) I live near Hartford CT
im still waiting for my bottleing tank i ordered it almost a month ago
Oh wow! That's kind of long for them. They're usually faster than that. I'm guessing Maxant since you have some of their stuff already. Well, as you know, it'll be worth the wait with their quality and all...
@@MikeBarryBees i actually ordered it from lappes bee supplies its a maxant tank guessing with all his crap going on thats the delay im going to call them tomorow
i have a video coming on comb honey frames i made i hope they work
They will. Just find your strongest hive when the flow is starting and they'll make you a nice box full!!
@@MikeBarryBees thanks hope my idea works let me know what you think when i get the video out , thanks
Don't some people but honey frames down in the brood box and scratch the capping off which makes the bees store it in the comb honey frames? Do you do anything like that or just depend on a flow.