bruising the comb

[Apiglen]

Have been going through different threads and 'brusing the comb' is a term that i have come across a couple of times (can't particularly remember where, my head doesn't work that way). New to beekeeping but I don't remember reading about this anywhere. So, what is it, how do you do it and why might you do it ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bruising the comb is when you draw the hive tool over the cappings on the honey stores to expose the honey. Especially during the early part of the season when the queen is looking for room to lay eggs an excess of stores in the brood nest might hamper her progress 'bruising' the stores will encourage the workers to empty more cells in the brood box and transfer some honey up into the supers allowing the brood area to expand.

 

[MuswellMetro]

PH on here is an exponent of Brood Manipulation and bruising sealed honeycomb to make increase or room to lay, bees are reliuctant to open sealed honey unless to eat

He may be able to explain it better than me,

sometimes bees get honey block, no room for the queen to lay, in my case it is always solid ivy honey, so briuse the capping but i find with solid ivy it is better to run the j tool point deep into the set honey and slight damage the cell walls, other wise my bees just reseal....probably my bad technique

PH what am i doing wrong

 

[drstitson]

"draw the hive tool over the cappings on the honey stores to expose the honey"

doesn't need to actually REMOVE cappings from the honey, just squish them onto the honey hence the term "bruising".

where's PH?

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

where's PH?

Mexico, sunning himself

 

[Finman]

.
If the hive is too much food, it is better to take extra off. Then give empty comb intead.
Bruising helps nothing. It is usual belief that it helps something but surely not.

Often the hive has too much space too. If colony occupye 5 frames in spring, it is better restrict the hive to 5 frame space with insulated board.

 

[oliver90owner]

Finman is right. PH says they consume it after bruising, but they cannot utilise more than the amount of brood to feed, and normal rations for the colony bees.

They are encouraged to move it due to the damaged cell walls and will most likely be brooding in those cells PDQ. Moving honey is time and energy consuming task at a time when all nurse bees would be better used in rearing brood, so as Finman says, shift it out, replace with drawn comb, preferably, and the queen's lay rate will be increased in a very short time.

RAB

 

[drstitson]

But PH hasn't advised bruising full store frames; just as part of brood rearrangement.

so - end frames of brood nest will probably have pollen on one side and honey on the other. turning that around and bruising stores gives a bit more space whilst maintaining continuity with brood nest.

By all means remove totally stuffed frames at outside of hive and add empty drawn comb (or even foundation once flow on) in the middle.

 

[Finman]

.
That comes ahead when you should mobilize the rest of winter food.
It happens in brood box so that you change the places of boxes. I do it when I put the third box. It is no use if bees must move same food several times in a tight hive.

 

[susbees]

so - end frames of brood nest will probably have pollen on one side and honey on the other. turning that around and bruising stores gives a bit more space whilst maintaining continuity with brood nest.

How does turning pollen away from the brood help? That's surely discontinuity...

 

[Hombre]

Another good reason for removing an excess of stores in the spring rather than bruising, is that they may well contain syrup. It is also a source stores frames for the making of nucs a few weeks later.