New Package Building Cross Comb

[SawBee]

This is my second year with hives.  I'm using all top bar hives.  Installed a new package of Buckfast bees May 15, 2010.  They have drawn 7 bars of wax and are in the process of filling them with brood and some honey.  They have connected adjacent bars with comb on 5 of the 7 bars.  I tried cutting them apart yesterday, but they started collapsing.  I attempted to fasten one section of brood and honey to a new top bar with zip ties, but the comb was too new and fragile to hold.  I closed the hive back up to take time to devise a repair strategy.

I'm considering taking all 5 the cross connected bars out of the hive in one connected group and placing them in a new top bar hive till all the brood hatch.  Then combining them back together in the original hive.

But, I'm open to other suggestions.

[Michael Bush]

Take the straigtest comb on the bar and put that at the "open" end and put the rest all the way to the front.  That way they have a straight guide for the next bar.

Then build five frames to fit.  Cut the combs and rubber band them into the frames.

[SawBee]

Take the straigtest comb on the bar and put that at the "open" end and put the rest all the way to the front.  That way they have a straight guide for the next bar.

Then build five frames to fit.  Cut the combs and rubber band them into the frames.

That sounds like a practical and workable solution.  Thanks Michael.

[Thymaridas]

I used to have a problem with cross combing in my 2 Warre hives. Check to make sure that you have the spacing right.

And now when making the top bars, I now cut some square stock on the diagonal and attach that to the bar so that the cross section looks like
  __
  \/

Put a bead of wax along the point and your bees will draw out nice straight comb. Works every time.

[SawBee]

I used to have a problem with cross combing in my 2 Warre hives. Check to make sure that you have the spacing right.

And now when making the top bars, I now cut some square stock on the diagonal and attach that to the bar so that the cross section looks like
  __
  \/

Put a bead of wax along the point and your bees will draw out nice straight comb. Works every time.

I used 1 3/8 inch wide top bars (maybe should have used 1 1/4  for brood) and I also have the V shaped extension on the bottom of the bar.   I didn't use a wax bead.  I may have to try wax  next time.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Michael Bush]

1 1/4" is, in my experience the best.  1 3/8" should work ok, but they may get off a bit, and any wider is not going to work well for brood, but may work fine for honey.