Nakedapiarist
House Bee
- Joined
- May 13, 2015
- Messages
- 142
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Birmingham
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 2
I tried an experiment with my National hive - putting in a blank frame top bar to see if the bees would build on it directly. My plan is to set up a small glass sided box next year run along top bar principles so I get a clear view of the comb being built for time lapse and filming.
It worked great - a beautiful heart shaped section of comb was built over about ten days and the bees started to fill it with nectar. I checked it yesterday and it was nicely capped but as I was inspecting, the whole damned thing plopped off the bar - I caught it so at least it hasn't gone to waste.
But - in a normal top bar set up, how do you deal with the fragile nature of comb heavy with honey?
Am I just a clumsy oaf?
It worked great - a beautiful heart shaped section of comb was built over about ten days and the bees started to fill it with nectar. I checked it yesterday and it was nicely capped but as I was inspecting, the whole damned thing plopped off the bar - I caught it so at least it hasn't gone to waste.
But - in a normal top bar set up, how do you deal with the fragile nature of comb heavy with honey?
Am I just a clumsy oaf?