Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => HONEYBEE REMOVAL => Topic started by: Sour Kraut on July 16, 2013, 11:30:35 am

Title: Took the plunge, ordered the Bee Vac
Post by: Sour Kraut on July 16, 2013, 11:30:35 am

Have two cut-outs to do, so decided to spend the $$ and do it right

This may sound dumb, but.....

What size rubber bands to hold the combs in the frames ?



Title: Re: Took the plunge, ordered the Bee Vac
Post by: mikecva on July 16, 2013, 12:24:47 pm
Rubber bands work, I have used waxed dental floss with good results. When the bees repair the comb, I can cut the floss and easily slide it out.  -Mike
Title: Re: Took the plunge, ordered the Bee Vac
Post by: BeeMaster2 on July 16, 2013, 01:13:59 pm
I like rubber bands that are just long enough and heavy enough to hold the comb for a day or 2. When I started, I had some real heavy ones. !/2" wide. problems is that the bees have to cut them out of the hive. Takes them a while. They also have to remove them from the hive. Kind of tough with the big ones. Now I use 1/8" thick, 2" diameter bands. They are big enough to fit on my medium and deep frames and the bees can easily handle them.
Jim
Title: Re: Took the plunge, ordered the Bee Vac
Post by: Haddon on July 16, 2013, 03:07:20 pm
okay a question just for me

my wife does a mail route and all mail people rubber band your mail before they put it in the box.

My wife uses # 19 rubber band yes they have numbers those are nice they strech really long but you have to use 2 at a time over a deep for the comb to stay in but they strech the whole 19 inchs over a frame long ways you never see anyone do that but it keeps really staight comb.

http://www.amazon.com/Alliance-Sterling-Rubber-Band-Inches/dp/B008X09SZM/ref=sr_1_10?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1373997730&sr=1-10&keywords=size+19+rubber+bands (http://www.amazon.com/Alliance-Sterling-Rubber-Band-Inches/dp/B008X09SZM/ref=sr_1_10?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1373997730&sr=1-10&keywords=size+19+rubber+bands)

Right now I am using # 33 rubber bands they are strong enough to use only one over the 9 inch length on a deep frame but still strech enough to use over the 19 inch full length so I am using 33 right now and if there was something between 19 and 33 I would try it but that was the options at the office depot  http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Rubber-Bands-Size-Pack/dp/B0017D7L9C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373997682&sr=8-3&keywords=size+33+rubber+bands (http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Rubber-Bands-Size-Pack/dp/B0017D7L9C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373997682&sr=8-3&keywords=size+33+rubber+bands)

using medium frames and you might find a completely different size to use