Video of Simple cutout using Top Bar Hive

[Grandma_DOG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqZlOCB2NXI

These suckers tried to abscond twice. Comb was so new it ripped repeatedly.

[Highlandsfreedom]

I really enjoy your videos!! :-D

[beedad]

keep the videos coming!  maybe with soft comb you could try to wrap the comb to the top bar with cotton string.

[Grandma_DOG]

keep the videos coming!  maybe with soft comb you could try to wrap the comb to the top bar with cotton string.

I need to make another video of the aftermath of the cutouts and their interaction with the hairclips. Odd restoration by the bees, bent combs, etc.  I'm not convinced I like hairclips for cutouts. For the odd comb collapse, fine.  But I think I have to build frames for a cutout.

[luvin honey]

I've always wondered what happened to the clips afterwards :) I can't remember the specifics, but I also wondered if they got in the way of closing up the bars or if the clips were strapped in so that they hung completely below, or maybe they are small enough to avoid all the above problems? Great video!

[Cheryl]

I had really bad luck with hair clips on brand-new comb. I'll save the hair clip method for sturdy, older comb from now on. New comb does OK (not great, just ok) with the fabric sling method. The time I used that method, I could only salvage the capped brood, as the open brood was just too fragile!!!

[luvin honey]

Good to know, Cheryl. So maybe this works best for cut-outs. It seems like new hives only need to be tied up when new comb has fallen or needs to be cut down for cross-combing, etc., which would all be soft and not really conducive to the hair-clip method.

OTOH, I can fantasize about some day doing cut-outs and using clips or other methods for that :D

[Cheryl]

Sometimes the cutout is a bee-removal of a colony that has only been there a few weeks. The queen is laying, they have comb and brood and a little honey..... you'd like to take it all with you and put it in a top-bar hive, but the comb is so new and green, it's like trying to handle a bar of butter at room temperature. A hair clip goes right through it, then the comb sags and falls.

Older comb (two months or more) will usually stay sturdy, in the hair clip.

[luvin honey]

Oh, right. I guess not all swarms get caught by lucky beeks!