As mentioned by others, I tried the plastic syringe but it plugged up right away. In the past I've used a metal turkey baster, but it's too sloppy, dripping all over the place. The paintbrush seems to be a pretty good middle ground. How do you get collapsed brood? Logically the combs hang, so everything is in tension, which is why the wires should help support the weight of combs. Still, when you go to clean out that frame and recycle the wax, the wires are a huge pain!
Trent Smith nah. The bees will build their main comb off the frame top bar and have it secure before it gets too heavy. Now if the strip isn’t secure and then it gets warm and the bees beard off it, then it can collapse before they get it reinforced.
Personally I hate strings or wires of any sort. Either solid plastic that can be scraped clean, or nothing but wax that can be easily cut out. That’s my preference.
I'm aware you can get away with less. But as I've seen lately, they follow the worker brood pattern until the foundation ran out, and then they switched to drone brood. That's likely just a spring issue. I'm still trying to find the optimal length for me, but I think it varies with the seasons. Thanks for your input!
Tom Brueggen Hey, if they want drones let um. More drones the better! I've noticed that for my top bars they only draw out about 2.5 drone combs (about 7500 cells on my combs) in spring then I move them to the end of the brood area and that allows them to draw only worker brood just because they still have the drone comb in the hive. Then in the fall I remove that comb because they have filled it with honey. Starts over the next spring :) More drones the more diverse population we have. Granted your bees will probably never see mine :)
Kitsapbeek I tend to do the same in my Lang hives. I don't remove it because it's drone comb. I just move it up or to the outer edges for them fill up with honey. But I really wanted them to pull more worker brood just so I could make splits and get a faster spring buildup on the hives. I'm not opposed to drones, but they don't exactly help a small nuc get stronger :)
Indeed! I'm glad you mentioned that as that is what I do now. I ordered some 10 lbs last spring I think. Or maybe it was 25#, I can't recall. Anyway, a lot, and it works great! Thanks for watching!
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Great idea the paintbrush. I've always used wired foundations to avoid collapsing brood
As mentioned by others, I tried the plastic syringe but it plugged up right away. In the past I've used a metal turkey baster, but it's too sloppy, dripping all over the place. The paintbrush seems to be a pretty good middle ground.
How do you get collapsed brood? Logically the combs hang, so everything is in tension, which is why the wires should help support the weight of combs. Still, when you go to clean out that frame and recycle the wax, the wires are a huge pain!
Thanks for the link to the new info. Great videos.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video. Do you ever have a problem with the wax falling out of the frame when it gets heavy with brood, bees and honey?
Trent Smith nah. The bees will build their main comb off the frame top bar and have it secure before it gets too heavy. Now if the strip isn’t secure and then it gets warm and the bees beard off it, then it can collapse before they get it reinforced.
Any thoughts on using fishing line as some suggest?
Personally I hate strings or wires of any sort. Either solid plastic that can be scraped clean, or nothing but wax that can be easily cut out. That’s my preference.
You only need about a 3/4 inch strip across the top to convince them to build, that's what I use for my HTBH and I am yet to have an issue.
I'm aware you can get away with less. But as I've seen lately, they follow the worker brood pattern until the foundation ran out, and then they switched to drone brood. That's likely just a spring issue. I'm still trying to find the optimal length for me, but I think it varies with the seasons. Thanks for your input!
Tom Brueggen
Hey, if they want drones let um. More drones the better! I've noticed that for my top bars they only draw out about 2.5 drone combs (about 7500 cells on my combs) in spring then I move them to the end of the brood area and that allows them to draw only worker brood just because they still have the drone comb in the hive. Then in the fall I remove that comb because they have filled it with honey. Starts over the next spring :) More drones the more diverse population we have. Granted your bees will probably never see mine :)
Kitsapbeek
I tend to do the same in my Lang hives. I don't remove it because it's drone comb. I just move it up or to the outer edges for them fill up with honey. But I really wanted them to pull more worker brood just so I could make splits and get a faster spring buildup on the hives. I'm not opposed to drones, but they don't exactly help a small nuc get stronger :)
Good cost breakdown
Good idea with the paintbrush. I use plastic pipettes, they cost about $3 for a hundred and are reusable.
Another option is to use "Medium Brood Foundation" at Mann Lake which doesn't have wires....
Indeed! I'm glad you mentioned that as that is what I do now. I ordered some 10 lbs last spring I think. Or maybe it was 25#, I can't recall. Anyway, a lot, and it works great! Thanks for watching!