Restoring buckled wax

[Hachi]

I left a super of freshly made frames and wax in the back of the truck and the heat has warped each frame of wax.

Is this an expensive lesson or is there a technique to get it nice and flat again???

Thanks

 

[ratcatcher]

I suppose apart from taking it out of the frames and placing under a heavy book ???

my way would be to cut it out, just leaving a 25mm starter strip for them, but thats what I do with all my supers

 

[Bosleeu]

Leave it in a hot van again, give a nice gentle blow with a hairdryer and carefully straighten it out. Worked for me, a few cells got damaged but the bees repaired that.

 

[Tom Bick]

Get two pieces of wood and push them together from both sides sandwiching the wax in between. Go over the frame a few times and it should straighten it, not perfect but a big improvement.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I left a super of freshly made frames and wax in the back of the truck and the heat has warped each frame of wax.

Is this an expensive lesson or is there a technique to get it nice and flat again???

Thanks

The expensive lesson would have been like the one I learned in my first few months of beekeeping, with pools of wax in the back of the car at the end of a journey that only took half an hour!

Tom's idea will work, or you could just push them back into shape with your hands. They should be warm enough to soften the wax again.

 

[Hachi]

Thanks for the ideas people. I've cut two very accurate pieces of kingspan (1") to fit the internal dimensions of the super frame, nick SWMBO's hair dryer given the wax a quick and gentle warm, sandwiched it between the other piece and placed a T****es flat pack super on top for about 20 minutes.

Result: Perfectly flat foundation ready to go.

Thanks

 

[burren]

Hi Ratcather.

I take it that you dont spin(by extraction) these super frames that have been started with a starter strip?

 

[Bosleeu]

Thanks for the ideas people. I've cut two very accurate pieces of kingspan (1") to fit the internal dimensions of the super frame, nick SWMBO's hair dryer given the wax a quick and gentle warm, sandwiched it between the other piece and placed a T****es flat pack super on top for about 20 minutes.

Result: Perfectly flat foundation ready to go.

Thanks

Good job!

 

[Mickyboy]

Novice here !
Is it important that the foundation is completely flat ?

 

[pargyle]

Hi Ratcather.

I take it that you dont spin(by extraction) these super frames that have been started with a starter strip?

Ahhh ... You need Tom's Foundationless Beekeeping thread ... great read for you ... might even give you a few ideas ..

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=27494&highlight=foundationless

 

[drex]

Novice here !
Is it important that the foundation is completely flat ?

It is better as if you have a bump on one frame, when the bees have built it out and are building out the next one , that one is likely to have a depression in it. In a super it makes for awkward uncapping.

 

[Mickyboy]

It is better as if you have a bump on one frame, when the bees have built it out and are building out the next one , that one is likely to have a depression in it. In a super it makes for awkward uncapping.

Thanks for making it clear

 

[Dishmop]

Novice here !
Is it important that the foundation is completely flat ?

At the moment in my observation hive the bees are building comb on a frame of new foundation... They are working on the side I cant see but I notice that the unworked side is slowly distorting in the area where they have built comb on the other side.