The Honey Factory

[R2elk]

How often do all ya all* remove comb?

Do you decide by color or a rotation?


*practicing my Southie speak.

I never remove it except when it has gotten too hot and melted the wax off of the foundation.

 

[duluthralphie]

I never remove it except when it has gotten too hot and melted the wax off of the foundation.

No matter how black it is?


I have been reading too much again.

 

[R2elk]

No matter how black it is?


I have been reading too much again.

I haven't had any that turned black. It has turned a really dark brown but if they are using it, why should I let it bother me?

 

[Kusanar]

Again, no first hand experience, but I did see a youtube video where a guy that deals with probably close to 100 hives for a monastery does clean them off every so often. He had a giant kettle with a valve at the bottom and he melted the wax into it, filtered it to remove all the extra bits that the bees leave behind, then he dipped his foundation back in the wax several times to build them back up and give the bees wax to use to rebuild, he was still left with quite a bit of wax at the end of that process which I believe they use for candles.

I'm not sure if this was specifically to get the extra wax for other use or if he had another reason to do this.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

My mentor said to rotate comb out of use after 5 years. I don't like to keep the really dark comb. Pesticides and mite treatment add up on the comb. I've had to also replace wax moth damaged frames too.

 

[Apis mellifera]

It is recommended to rotate combs. I use a paint pen and mark the year on each frame. In the spring I pull the 2 outside frames and push the rest out and place 2 new in the center. It may reduce the potential ill effects of disease, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemicals from foraging and mite treatments.

 

[karenerwin]

Is all of your beeswax in your dead hives ruined? If you can still use some of your built up comb, 2 packages would be the way to go. If you have to discard all of your ruined comb frames I'd go with a nuc to give them a good head start.

The comb is all good, well there are some frames with holes where I was going after small hive beetles. Then my husband accidently got over spray of Flex Seal on 5 or 6 medium frames, so I figure those are ruined. I don't think the bees can clean those up, but I'm not sure about that either.
That would be cool if I could catch a swarm!

 

[Apis mellifera]

The comb is all good, well there are some f

The comb is all good, well there are some frames with holes where I was going after small hive beetles. Then my husband accidently got over spray of Flex Seal on 5 or 6 medium frames, so I figure those are ruined. I don't think the bees can clean those up, but I'm not sure about that either.
That would be cool if I could catch a swarm!

Since you have the drawn comb, buying 2 packages would be your best bet. Feed them as much as you can to get them strong, then make 1 or 2 nucleus colonies. I personally have the best luck with 5 over 5 nucs. Those will most likely be your 2021/2022 overwinter survivors. Nucs headed into winter with first year queens mated with local drones increases your chances of success. Package queens are hit or miss. But raising a few queens from them is fine. Treat the packages with an oxalic acid drench before they have capped brood. Its cheap and very effective at giving them a good low mite start. Missouri State Beekeepers Association has a great website with lots of info, for 10 bucks it would be worth joining.

 

[duluthralphie]

I give, what is this used for why and how?

I searched and found nothing on them.

 

[jerryse]

I give, what is this used for why and how?

I searched and found nothing on them.View attachment 2516899

I found nothing on these either .