Experience making own frames

[pargyle]

Please, Pargyle, answer few question...

- how much bees consume honey to make 1 kg wax
- how many kg wax is needed to draw combs to the langstroth box without foundations

- how many frames your hives draw/year

- how much beehive has drone combs in wild nest in nature, %

This is all irrelevant Finman ... The bottom line is that my bees are healthy and free of brood disease - indeed any disease - the varroa load is within manageable limits, there has been no need to introduce varroacides of any sort into my colonies and whilst there are drones within my hives - that's what my bees want. I expect to be able to harvest some honey this year and I enjoy my beekeeping; I've successfully increased my number of hives and understood more about my bees than I did before. I am content with my beekeeping and my bees seem to appreciate the way that I look after them. I keep them in my garden so I don't need petrol money and apart from the cost of a couple of new poly hives and a few frames in the sales my beekeeping has a minimal cost.

There are photos of my hives and bees posted on here regularly - I don't think we've ever seen any of yours ?

However, when I want more from my beekeeping you will be the first person I come to for advice ...

 

[Finman]

.
Best in beekeeping is however intellectual poking. Isn't it Pargyle.

 

[pargyle]

.
Best in beekeeping is however intellectual poking. Isn't it Pargyle. When we talk about Welsh, it is only intellectual overflow.

You can poke me any time you like Finny ... keeps the mites off my back ..

 

[Finman]

You can poke me any time you like Finny ... keeps the mites off my back ..

No, I do not love you that much. Try dog's mite collar.

 

[Ely]

What is done with all the drawn comb from the previous season if colonies are given fresh foundation every year?

 

[Finman]

What is done with all the drawn comb from the previous season if colonies are given fresh foundation every year?

I melt old combs to wax and sell to foundation maker.

Lots of frames are ruined during winter. Many will be broken after extracting.
Mice. Too much drone combs. Diseases. Nosema poo after winter.

Brood frames last two years brood cycle. 2 brood boxes. Brood in super combs too and they become too dark.

 

[Hivemaker.]

2nds DN4 frames in packs of 50 can be bought for £30, is it really worth the time and hassle of sourcing the timber and making them

Yes, they are still too expensive for seconds, price needs to be nearer £6 for 50.

 

[pargyle]

I melt old combs to wax and sell to foundation maker.

Lots of frames are ruined during winter. Many will be broken after extracting.
Mice. Too much drone combs. Diseases. after winter Nosema Poo.
Brood frames last two years brood cycle. 2 brood boxes. Brood in super combs too and they become too dark.

My goodness... and there was me thinking that YOUR regime produced healthy and happy hives ?

"Too much drone combs, diseases and Nosema" ...and you always have Varroa in your hives ... best come over here and I'll show you how I do it !

And you sell your wax to foundation makers ... and expect me to buy foundation ?

 

[Finman]

My goodness... and there was me thinking that YOUR regime produced healthy and happy hives ?

"Too much drone combs, diseases and Nosema" ...and you always have Varroa in your hives ... best come over here and I'll show you how I do it !

And you sell your wax to foundation makers ... and expect me to buy foundation ?

Wait when you learn to identify diseases. Nono man.

I produce honey. Everyone can rear bees, but who can get yield?

With 2 years experience everything seems nice.

Holy intelligency, do you believe that my wax will come to Britain? It is very valuable to me.


I give wax to the foundation maker, and I get foundations £ 3/kg. You spend 15 kg honey to produce one box combs. One brood box needs two kilo wax without foundations. 5 boxes /hive.

You must use Chinese wax. Sorry.

Pargyle, everything is OK in your hives, but how you are going go get honey to be extracted. Your beekeeping style does not promise much.

.

 

[Finman]

.
Pargyle.
4 perfect, healthy hives and no surplus honey? Have you thought why?

.

 

[pargyle]

.
Pargyle.
4 perfect, healthy hives and no surplus honey? Have you thought why?

.

Who said I have no surplus honey this year ??? Only you I think ... Next time I go into my hives I'll post some photos of some very nice fat filled combs in my supers ... bet we don't see any of yours though !!! All talk and no proof ...

 

[BeeJayBee]

Am I letting myself in for disaster by not getting wired foundation?

No, but you may be wise to wire brood frames. You can use monofilament fishing line horizontally across the frames. Plenty of information on the forum and on blogs.

You could use just a starter strip, or as much as half a sheet of foundation, per frame to get them started. They seem to incorporate the fishing line into the comb more readily than wire.

 

[Finman]

Who said I have no surplus honey this year ??? Only you I think ... Next time I go into my hives I'll post some photos of some very nice fat filled combs in my supers ... bet we don't see any of yours though !!! All talk and no proof ...

Do not let combs too fat. They are unpractical to use, and waste of bees' work.
Photos of combs in social media to prove something...

 

[Finman]

.

You could use just a starter strip, or as much as half a sheet of foundation, per frame to get them started. .

I did that when I had lack of foundations. All those frames were ruined because bees filled gaps with drone combs.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

No, but you may be wise to wire brood frames. You can use monofilament fishing line horizontally across the frames. Plenty of information on the forum and on blogs.



You could use just a starter strip, or as much as half a sheet of foundation, per frame to get them started. They seem to incorporate the fishing line into the comb more readily than wire.

I am currently drawing a super of starter strips/fishing line and it is beautiful to see the line completely disappear. At this time of year a lot of the outer frames are drone but the inner are all worker, so could be useful in brood boxes one day.

I get yelled at when I say this, but the 8:1 ratio is misleading because the bees draw a much thinner rib than the foundation is; you have to multiply the bees' rib, not Thornes', by 8 and the difference compared to drawing the walls is tiny. I just ate and chopped up my first harvest of the year, a natural deep frame (100pct worker) and (to my taste and wrist strength) you just can't do that with (unwired) foundation.

 

[Finman]

I get yelled at when I say this, but the 8:1 ratio is misleading because the bees draw a much thinner rib than the foundation is; you have to multiply the bees' rib, not Thornes', by 8 and the difference compared to drawing the walls is tiny. I just ate and chopped up my first harvest of the year, a natural deep frame (100pct worker) and (to my taste and wrist strength) you just can't do that with (unwired) foundation.

Bees use foundation wax to make cell Walls. They make foundation thinner. I do not know what is that 8:1 ratio.

How bees make thinning work, but they do. In cells when the cell tube grows, the edge is thick. And when bees build walls, they are much more thinner than edges.

Foundation is essential in recycling of old wax of hives. As sais, I pay only £ 3/ foundation kg when I give my refined wax to seller.

 

[Finman]

.
I have shown here the results of Canadian research. IT was big one and lasted 3 years.

There was compared honey yields from hives, which got

- ready combs
- foundations to draw combs
- strip to make themselves the whole combs

Results give the same if you calculate that one wax kilo needs 8 kiloa honey.

Every time, when I have shown these results, natural beekeepers have denied everything. But they have no facts to support their own claims.

But my writings are for those, who want to optimize their honey yield.

 

[Finman]

.
One bee energy thing more....

When bees are fed in autumn with 2:1 syrup, 24% is spent in storing work and in capping.

When guys put bees to move stored honey to another combs, gues how much yield will be reduced. Instead of that move the whole frames over excluder and extract ripen honey.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Here is one piece (by Seeley) that points out the high cost of rearing drones (and, implicitly, of natural comb). http://www.apidologie.org/index.php...29&url=/articles/apido/pdf/2002/01/Seeley.pdf

I certainly have a LOT of drones. The good news is that a lot of them are from my Pete Little Buckfast Q, and I can detect their genes in my colonies with 2015 Qs.

 

[Finman]

there is a research, that if a hive has 20% dronebrood, yield drops 50%. With that money you could buy as much queens from Hivemaker as you need.

To rear drones to sky. I have never met that goal.
.