Giving comb back to bees

[LeaBees]

Hi, is it wise/possible to give honey comb to the bees? Have some comb from a pressed block of honeycomb and wondered if it was usable by the bees.

 

[Hachi]

It is usable however, you don't tell us of its origins. If it has been pressed so that is a hard block, I'm not sure if it will be much use as the bees will only be able to lick the surfaces clean. You could crumble it up into something similar to cappings, they will definitely work it thoroughly. Did it come from the hive you're thinking of giving it back too? If not, it is frowned upon in some quarters as it can risk spreading disease and depending when and how you "give it back" to the bees you risk inducing robbing.

 

[LeaBees]

Honeycomb came from the same apiary my nuc came from late July. By pressed, i mean just compressed to get the honey out of it. Was thinking I could put it in a container and place above crown board inside hive for them to find and use. Thoughts?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Honeycomb came from the same apiary my nuc came from late July. By pressed, i mean just compressed to get the honey out of it. Was thinking I could put it in a container and place above crown board inside hive for them to find and use. Thoughts?

doubtful they'll do anything with it. apart from clean any honey off.

 

[Hachi]

get a pair of forks and pull it apart like you would serving pulled pork. Put it a rapid feeder and remove center cone and put it above the crown board. bees will clean it up and you can make candles with the wax.