Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Some cut comb.  (Read 2765 times)

Anonymous

  • Guest
Some cut comb.
« on: October 24, 2004, 09:28:34 am »
I have 3 frames with cut comb foundation that the girls only got a small part of filled and capped. The area is about the size of a small comb cutter. Since I don't really need the honey which is a better course to travel with this?
(1 cut the usable comb out and melt down the rest of the foundation and start over with new foundation. OR (2 Just let the girls have it and let them fill it up again when there is a new flow come spring.
Thanks
 :D Al

Offline beemaster

  • Site Founder
  • Administrator
  • Galactic Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 6457
  • Gender: Male
  • It is my pleasure to bring the forums to you.
    • http://www.beemaster.com
Some cut comb.
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2004, 03:48:11 pm »
Hey Al :)

You know me, I'm always for leaving anything in the hive "that I can't readily use for myself" for the bees to have - no sense having honey in a jar that I know won't be consumed, when it could be a bit more fuel for the hive to have available.

Doesn't sound like a lot and it probably would never make the difference between surviving a cold spell or not, but it is a good start for them to work on next Spring. Starting over would probably wield the same results, but giving them some foundation to build on may be surprizing rewarding.

I'm going to move my hives THIS WEEK to a more sheltered location, I'm guessing that a good wind-break (over total Westward exposure) can save me 30% on honey consumption over a long Winter. Both hives are 2 supers high and heavy, so I'm hoping that they will be ready for a Winter as long winded as the last few have been.
NJBeemaster my YOUTUBE Video Collection

Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

Anonymous

  • Guest
Some cut comb.
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2004, 12:48:48 am »
I would put it in an empty super over top of the inner cover and let the bees take it down into the hive for winter stores.

Anonymous

  • Guest
Some cut comb.
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2004, 09:01:18 am »
John, I think I am ready for winter other than finishing my nothern wind break and the one to the west. At the present time all but the weakest hive have the second  deep chock full of honey. I am not sure what all the botton deeps look like but did a total inspection about two weeks ago on a colony with a Carolioin queen. In that colony the queen was laying about three inches off the bottom bars on three frames and the rest of the frames were chock full of honey and pollen.
A month ago my strongest hive was busting at the seams with the top deep full and lots of burr comb being made and filled so I added a third deep for them. I am going to take that third deep soon and give it to my struggling weak colony to see if I can pull them thru the winter. They are so weak I believe because of being made up from a swarm with an old queen. I noticed shortly after getting them she wasn't laying well but saw supercede cells so thought I would let nature take it's course. I almost think that the old queen killed off a few of the new hatching queens before finally getting a good laying one about three weeks ago.
Thanks for the advice on what to do with the comb honey. I'm taking that advice and giving it back to the colony it came from. Wonder if I should add a queen excruder though to stop her from laying in it, Or would putting it above the intercover amount to the same thing?
 :D Al

 

anything