feeding comb honey outside hive to get drawn comb

windfall · April 02, 2011, 09:41:57 PM

The more I read, the more I find that it might be very nice at times to have a couple of frames of drawn comb on hand. We are just starting out and have no intention of buying an extractor soon....probably never. I might be able to borrow one but....

There are also times when i will need to feed my bees and since honey is the best feed....Do people ever just uncap combs and feed them to the bees outside the hive, something like letting the bees clean "the wets"?
I could see a hobbyist just keeping a few frames in the freezer, perhaps frames you know have sugar syrup from previous feeding, then feeding them back again to get the drawn comb...to stick back in a freezer for future use.

Is this ever done?

Ollie · April 02, 2011, 11:22:21 PM

Early in the spring I put out capped honey in the comb (I have some frame that I didn't spin because they were not really filled out or had brood in), out in the sun for the bees, they get out there a clean them up, but not really fast, a little at a time, so I leave it capped and they take what they want.
I don't know if it makes them build faster...it might stimulate the queen to get laying...

organicfarmer · April 03, 2011, 02:04:07 AM

i am a little reluctant to feed that way out in the open as it may create a frenzy followed by robbing. Why not in the hive? reducing the entrance if anti-frenzy measures needed?

Love Huntington area, used to go up there for hiking on the Hump. Beautiful place you live in.

Finski · April 03, 2011, 02:43:02 AM

.
If you put a honey frames out, bees can eate only liguid honey. Crystalls will drop to ground like rubbish.
Further more bees brake the valuable comb. Perhaps you get robbers on site.

That kind of feeding does not stimutale laying.

When it is time to add new box to the hive, put one brood frame in the middle or two. Then those honey frames and then foundations. If it is second box, put it under old brood box. It is good swarming preventing too.

****
That job is allways ahead because the rest winter food should processed away.
When you notice a winter food frame (crystallized honey) put it between 2 brood frames. But do it only in warm summer when the colony grows fast.

T Beek · April 03, 2011, 01:34:39 PM

Agreed; put honey frames in a separate box inside the hive you want fed, less invitation to trouble.

thomas

Finski · April 03, 2011, 02:36:14 PM

Quote from: T Beek on April 03, 2011, 01:34:39 PM
Agreed; put honey frames in a separate box inside the hive you want fed, less invitation to trouble.

thomas

That is one way. Then spray water on the crystals that bees can lick them.

windfall · April 03, 2011, 09:18:29 PM

Is robbing likely to be an issue when the area only has 2-3 hives?...for that matter I thought open feeding was nice in that it didn't set off robbing since it is not directly associated with the hive?
If I were to feed the frame back into the hive won't they just start refilling with stores or brood at their first opportunity? In which case I don't get any drawn comb to work with later.
The waste of the crystallized honey Finski mentions would be unfortunate. I assume a comb honey cannot be heated high enough to dissolve crystals and still retain shape?

backyard warrior · April 03, 2011, 09:47:00 PM

It only takes two colonies to have one hive rob the other if it is low on stores :) Chris

JWChesnut · April 03, 2011, 10:14:44 PM

I think this is a bad idea.

In addition to robbing that is mentioned, the bees will chew the frame wax damaging the foundation. They will generate a lot of finely shredded wax and comb with damaged cells and holes. If you put the same frame in a super, the bees will tend it very nicely.

I have fed bees by soaking a drawn frame in syrup and placing the artificially filled frame in the super.

The further question should be what would be wrong with getting a inexpensive extractor. I don't understand the resistance. The cheapo plastic Chinese models are about $120. Compared to the various other costs involved in keeping bees, this is a relatively small investment. I have seen the cheap Chinese extractors used for >5 years and >10 hive hobbyists. The are fragile, but do last, and generate very useful results. You should amortize the cost of the extractor over several years, they don't cost much to own on that basis, and even less when you consider the utility and value of having gleaming jars of honey on your shelf for presents to your dentist.

T Beek · April 04, 2011, 07:20:58 AM

You beeks are awesome. This debate/discussion is healthy, informative and even polite. Thanks.

Another way to trick the colony you want fed is to place an empty super directly above inner cover with another filled with honey frames on top. This tricks bees into thinking they went outside the hive (which they techniquly did) and they will do a very nice clean up for you.

With robbing you must always remember that it only takes "a drop" to get other bees interested. And just because you only have a few hives doesn't mean there aren't others around. I no longer remember the reason for it but I was taught sometime ago to save OPEN syrup feeding for Fall and/or only in emergencies, although my bees were consumming pollen sub like crazy a couple days ago that I set right on top of their hive.

thomas

Finski · April 04, 2011, 08:26:30 AM

Quote from: JWChesnut on April 03, 2011, 10:14:44 PM

In addition to robbing that is mentioned, the bees will chew the frame wax damaging the foundation. They will generate a lot of finely shredded wax and comb with damaged cells and holes. If you put the same frame in a super, the bees will tend it very nicely.

So they do.

Bees fly here and there and waste their energy. You have honey there perhaps 2 kg, but after riot, you have -2kg

windfall · April 04, 2011, 09:33:59 AM

thanks all this is helpful.
I did not realize the bees would damage the comb, as i had read of folks putting "wets" out to be cleaned up...I guess the smaller volume of feed keeps them better behaved at the table!
It's apparent I need to do some more reading on robbing and feed strategies.....I clearly missed something or got some concepts mixed up.

As I originally stated...i am not too interested in an extractor....I don't plan on ever having many hives, and while not outrageously expensive, a couple hundred bucks matters around here...especially for a hobby.
I had not realized that you could find them as cheap as 120...but i have a whole separate set of issues with buying cheap plastic imported stuff of any kind...it solves my immediate problem but perpetuates so many others.

mostly I was looking for a low tech way to get some drawn comb. T-beek has outlined a technique that sounds like it would accomplish that without the problems you all have raised concern over.