Can I rubber band capped honey comb into a frame?

[winginit]

My bees don't have enough honey; one hive has zero honey. Even if they filled their empty comb, there's not enough comb drawn to overwinter.

I'm helping Liz with her tree stump full of bees project (have to remove the bees or they will exterminate them), and was wondering if we could rubberband the comb, both to help the tree stump hive overwinter and to help our other hives.

[dpence]

I've done it, kinda a sticky mess but worked. 

[greenbtree]

I did it with the late cutout I just did, for some of the frames had honey and brood.  I have those frame supports you hang on the outside of the hive, I let the frames hang and drip there a bit before putting them in the hive.  I also did the rubberbanding on a grate (an old cold air return) so the parts of the frame wouldn't sit in honey.  Lastly when I set up the hive I set up temporarily on some 2 x 4s over bare dirt so the honey wouldn't puddle and drown bees in the bottom of the hive.  If you have screened bottom boards that wouldn't be an issue, otherwise maybe you could slide in a flat piece of hardware cloth to give the bees something else to walk on until they can deal with the dripped honey.  I seemed to be successful, I didn't get a lot of drowned bees and larva in the hive after the fact.

JC

[Kathyp]

you are probably better off extracting the honey (crush and strain) and feeding it back.  depending on where you are, it can attract critters and it sure does make a mess.  the hive is already under stress so you don't want it full of ant, etc.  you can feed it back in a jar feeder on top of the hive and reduce the entrance so that robbing, etc. is reduced.

[winginit]

you are probably better off extracting the honey (crush and strain) and feeding it back.  depending on where you are, it can attract critters and it sure does make a mess.  the hive is already under stress so you don't want it full of ant, etc.  you can feed it back in a jar feeder on top of the hive and reduce the entrance so that robbing, etc. is reduced.

How do you feed in the dead of winter?

[Kathyp]

feed it now, or feed 2:1 syrup so that they have a chance to store it.  late cutouts can be a bit of a problem for those of us who live in colder winter climates.  the bees don't have a chance to repair and store before winter.

you can put combs of honey in, but you need to keep a close eye on it.  if you have frames of capped honey that you can take from other hives, that might be better.  you can still feed back the extracted honey from the cutout.

i'm not saying don't do it, just that you will have to watch that the hive is not invaded by things after the dripping honey.....and it will drip.

[TwoHoneys]

I'm helping Liz with her tree stump full of bees project 

Bee-tree day is going to be a heck of a day (tentatively scheduled for this Friday). I think the arborist will be removing several trees in addition to our bee tree...

I wonder if you folks recommend that he cut to the top of the hive in the bee tree and then leave the trunk standing so we can work it with the comb in place. He's agreed to cut hunks out of the tree to expose the comb as we work. Or should we try laying the stump on the ground and filleting it so that we can break it wide open?

Winginit...are you bringing the red parasol?

Liz

[Kathyp]

hopefully someone who has dug out a tree will give you a good answer.  i would just remind you that a cutout takes a lot of time.  is the guy willing to hang around for 3 hours or so while you do this?  how does he feel about being stung?

[winginit]

I don't have a red parasol but I do have some ideas. Not looking good for the video camera; ours seems to be MIA and I'm still doing research on a new one.

[AllenF]

Since your bees are low on drawn comb also, I would give them the combs you have.   And feed them also so they can fill out those frames with comb.   They need all the help they can get.

[Michael Bush]

I've never had luck rubber banding honey comb unless it's old black brood comb that has been backfilled.  Otherwise it's too soft and fragile.

[L Daxon]

Look at some of JP's video in the cut-out section of this board.  He rubber bands comb in all the time.  Of course the newer the comb is the softer it may be and thus a little harder to handle.  But if you are trying to save the drawn comb so they will have some place to store the syrup you feed them, I don't know why you wouldn't try to save the comb and rubber band it in.  I'd at least try it.  They aren't going to want to draw comb out this time of year, unless you maybe do the 1:1 syrup to stimulate brood and comb drawing, but you probably don't want to stimulate brood if you aren't going to have the food stores to get them through the winter.  It is kind of a catch 22 this time of year.

[Kathyp]

saving comb is not the same as saving honey comb.  you want to save brood comb.  i have even saved empty comb when i have gotten some nice pieces.  the  honey comb is usually a mess and an invitation to critters.  it's also really heavy so it's hard to make it stay straight in the frame.  if you don't get it well secured, they'll make a mess of it.  it drips.

[hardwood]

Extract the honey from the comb and feed it back to the bees...they will draw comb if they have no where to store it. I never transfer honey comb (maybe just a little around the brood comb) as it invites unwanted visitors.

Scott

[L Daxon]

You're right, Kathy.  My bad.  I didn't read the original post close enough.  Honey comb would probably be heavy and messy.