Natural comb, new beginnings

[ooptec]

Bee bud of mine in Florida has tried the starter strips in std. Dadent med. frames in his lang hive and said he loved it.

He could either harvest as cut comb honey and sell at a premium or he has uncapped them, spun in a regular extractor and says they came out in as good as shape as his foundation combs did.

[Robo]

I think it would work okay. If you were going to do this ,perhaps use a small cell starter strip. I think Robo uses coroplast as a starter strip.(Plastic cardboard like they use for political signs)!
See ya in chat JP!

http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=13296.msg93462#msg93462

[DayValleyDahlias]

Cindi, Jody...it is my right shoulder  :'(

Joseph, awesome photos!

So far the bees I have are drawing straight..yay

[Cindi]

Cindi, Jody...it is my right shoulder  :'(

Joseph, awesome photos!

So far the bees I have are drawing straight..yay

I wonder if it is Jody's left shoulder too?  Beautiful day in this great life.  Cindi

[JP]

I think it would work okay. If you were going to do this ,perhaps use a small cell starter strip. I think Robo uses coroplast as a starter strip.(Plastic cardboard like they use for political signs)!
See ya in chat JP!

http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=13296.msg93462#msg93462

Hey Rob, I have been using plasticell to make strips from as I have a bunch of it and the bees are drawing it fine. I also have a bunch of the colorplast signs. Do you secure the strips or do they secure themselves by friction and a good push?

I like the wire idea, almost to the bottom right?


...JP

[Robo]

Do you secure the strips or do they secure themselves by friction and a good push?

I use grooved top bars and the coroplast strips slide in nicely, but not tight enough to hold them.  I use my air staple and just put one staple horizontally thru the top bar to hold the strip until they start building.  Works great, the coroplast is stiff enough and strong enough that the staples don't tear thru.  No issues with strips falling out like with foundation

I like the wire idea, almost to the bottom right?

Ya, it's extra work, but the added strength is worth it.  I hate dealing with comb falling out. 

[JP]

Do you secure the strips or do they secure themselves by friction and a good push?

I use grooved top bars and the coroplast strips slide in nicely, but not tight enough to hold them.  I use my air staple and just put one staple horizontally thru the top bar to hold the strip until they start building.  Works great, the coroplast is stiff enough and strong enough that the staples don't tear thru.  No issues with strips falling out like with foundation

I like the wire idea, almost to the bottom right?

Ya, it's extra work, but the added strength is worth it.  I hate dealing with comb falling out. 

I've been securing the plasticell in the groove top with my brad gun, so slippage hasn't been an issue. Think I'll start wiring though so I can be more like you! I wanna be more like you Rob! :-D Take the compliment, take the compliment! ;)


...JP

[Ross]

You don't need anything more than a popcicle stick or two to get them started, just a center guide of some type.  All of my frames are beveled on the tablesaw before assembly.  Just rip one side on a 45 degree angle and break the wedge out of the other side.  The bees do the rest.  Like the middle frame pictured.  It's much quicker than adding strips...

And you get nice clean wax....


That's all I have done for 5 years now.  Bees are healthy and productive.  The bees draw cells depending on what they need at the moment.  Usually they draw some drone first because they don't have any.  I just slide it to the outside.  After that they draw worker for the brood nest or larger for honey storage.  You can extract it if it's attached on 3 sides.  Soft new comb needs to harden a bit.

[annette]

I have been doing the starter strips using the small cell foundation from Dadant. I melt them in using beeswax following Linda's website on using the wax tube fastener.

They have drawn them all out straight and strong on all 3 sides. Many ways to work this.

Annette

[sc-bee]

I followed someones advice. Just broke the wedge loose turned in down (like a popscicle stick) and nailed. Only did a few but they eventually drew them out fine. Was a bad year here last year for drawing comb and I did not feed.