Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Bees chewing up frames...  (Read 1583 times)

Offline AliciaH

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 769
  • Gender: Female
Bees chewing up frames...
« on: September 05, 2010, 02:55:33 pm »
I have several deep frames that I would like the bees to clean before I store them.  I've been reading the threads here about putting frames a ways from the hives and they will get cleaned, but when I've done this before (a single frame or two), the bees have also really chewed up the wax.

If I put the frames in an extra deep and prop it up so they have access top and bottom to clean it out, will having it in the deep preclude them from chewing up the wax?  Am I maybe not placing the frames far enough away and should increase the distance?

Thanks!

Offline Kathyp

  • Global Moderator
  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 20365
  • Gender: Female
Re: Bees chewing up frames...
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2010, 04:22:26 pm »
sometimes they do chew the cells open to access the honey.  they don't usually do to much damage to the structure of the cells.  do put them away from the hives.  if you get robbing started near the hives they will just continue into the occupied hives and kill each other.  i find that they do less damage when i put the hives that are for cleanup, on something that gives access to both the top and bottom of the box.  i put mine about a foot off the ground.  they have them cleaned out in one or two hours.

the damage done is not hard for them to repair next year. do not worry to much about it.
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline Two Bees

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 614
  • Gender: Male
Re: Bees chewing up frames...
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2010, 08:37:39 pm »
I had the same issue.  Agree with Kathy in that the bees are typically chewing the caps off of some cells but I have also had some damage from bees chewing some cells/frames during the frenzy even though the damage was not severe.  I guess that's why it is called a "feeding frenzy"!   :-D
"Don't know what I'd do without that boy......but I'm sure willin' to give it a try!"
J.D. Clampett commenting about Jethro Bodine.

Offline AllenF

  • Galactic Bee
  • ******
  • Posts: 8192
  • Gender: Male
Re: Bees chewing up frames...
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2010, 07:10:12 pm »
Yellow jackets will take and eat the wax.  They will cut up the frames some, but letting the bees clean up your frames is the norm. 

Offline Hethen57

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 435
  • Gender: Male
Re: Bees chewing up frames...
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2010, 01:53:38 pm »
I'm pretty sure the bees were dismantling my wax combs...there were only a handful of yellowjackets and thousands of bees.  I had to get them all off the frames this weekend before they took them down to bare plastic foundation  :shock:  I think putting them on the hives above the inner cover would be better, but when I tried that they seemed intent on expanding onto them and rebuilding, instead of cleaning, so I set them out a little ways from the hives and it was a robbing frenzy for a few days...probably not the best idea, but it worked, and now with the cool weather, everybody has settled down.

BTW - I have found compressed air from a long hose with a spray nozzle to be a lifesaver in clearing frames quickly (a tip that I read on here in a different post)  :-D
-Mike

 

anything