Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: drmwarden on May 04, 2005, 12:35:56 pm

Title: should comb be replaced?
Post by: drmwarden on May 04, 2005, 12:35:56 pm

I wasn't sure from part of Finsy's response to my last question.  Some of my hive body frames are several years old and the comb is dark brown.  Will the queen use this for laying eggs?  Should I periodically be removing the old comb from the frames and installing new foundations?  It seems wasteful to make the bees start from scratch, but if that's what works best I will do it.

Title: should comb be replaced?
Post by: leominsterbeeman on May 04, 2005, 12:59:54 pm

More theories on  this.   I have seen queens use old comb -- the pattern gets a little spotty becuase the cells get puilt up for old bee parts the more use they get.  

A good rule of thumb is tp replace two frames in each deep each year with new.  

or when the comb is no longer translucent.

Do I follow my own rule of thumb - No.

Title: should comb be replaced?
Post by: SherryL on May 04, 2005, 02:54:32 pm

I thought I read something at one time about queens prefering dark comb to new - or am I confusing that with something else?

sherry

Title: should comb be replaced?
Post by: Robo on May 04, 2005, 03:32:12 pm

I never use color as an indication when culling comb.  The bees are a better judge of comb acceptability than I.  As long as there is not an extensive amount of drone comb,  I leave it alone.  The older/darker comb is much stronger and less prone to damage when manipulated.