# COmb collapsed



## EvanS (Feb 27, 2015)

I would cut it out and re-attach it to the bar. I've never had this happen, but many people use masking tape to strap it to the bar, or zip tie a hair clip to the bar and clip the comb on.


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

I haven't had good luck attaching full brood comb or full honey comb with the masking tape method. It works well with lighter pollen combs or empty comb. Bees will glue it back so you can't tell which comb it was. If this comb is full of capped brood, it would be best to gently move it to the back of the hive area so it can hatch out but hopefully not allow the queen to lay more eggs in it until you can re-attach it properly. If it's uncapped brood, I'd leave it many more days until it's capped and mature to move.


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## Sunday Farmer (Nov 13, 2013)

I mean, I am not really recommending this but, if you can rubber band it into an empty frame, then good. If its just eggs, might be better not to have messed up comb. Seriously, *shakes head thinking of trying to save comb from feed boxes* keep the frames neat. If its all capped brood and you want to rubber band it, might work well


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

Soft comb without brood cocoons to keep its shape is very hard to reattach. If it's not too soft, you might try this method. I once had several new and very soft brood combs collapse. I placed them upright best I could in a plastic bucket for the bees to hatch out. Once empty of brood, small hive beetles moved in, at which point I chased out the remaining bees, pulled out the bucket, and put a lid on it.


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## trili (Jun 29, 2014)

I recently had a bear mess up my TB. Combs were intact, but detached from the bars and scattered. Someone on the TF forum suggested this:

http://www.thegardenacademy.com/BK_-_Rescue_Frames.html

It has worked really well and I was easily able to attach them all back, but I have not looked to see what the girls have done with the combs yet. I want to give them a week or two to reattach/reconstruct. I also saw a suggestion to use 2 inch strips of cloth to suspend the comb close to the bar, bees supposedly would reattach the comb and chew away the cloth. I did not try this, but it seems the simplest to try if you only have one comb down.


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

I have some of Angela Chandler's rescue bars in my hives. They work well with seasoned combs, but the wires will tear through soft, new comb. One concern that's been raised elsewhere is that galvanized and welded wire have metals in it like zinc, which many people want to avoid putting inside the hive. I've used the cardboard slings several times as well and they hold up the combs fine, although I haven't done any very heavy or soft ones yet. During the spring, the bees attached the comb within a day and chewed the cardboard away within a week, but when I used it later in the summer, they attached the comb over a couple of days and basically left the cardboard alone. I just popped it off the bar and that was it. I prefer it over the rescue bars because it's easy to use as needed. All you need are some long cardboard strips and a stapler.


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## Apismellifera (Oct 12, 2014)

I have a roll of the kinda stretchy green plant tape, I have not used it on heavy comb. It's about a half an inch wide so won't cut into the comb so badly as rubber bands or wire... It's soft but strong, just enough give so you can get a bit of tension on it to snug it up. If this came in 1" width it would be even better, but I don't think so.

Secure one end to the top of a bar (you could just loop and tie), then wind it around the comb as many times as you think you need to support the weight, working down the bar, then secure the other end of the tape to the bar.

This is the kind of job you need a third hand for. Lying the comb down is okay, but it's difficult to keep everything aligned where you want it and supported, AND wind/tie the tape.


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## ogfd15 (Aug 28, 2015)

Hi everybody! I'm brand new to beekeeping but have been doing a lot of reading on it. I have been contemplating starting a hive next spring, and then my cousin found a feral colony under his trailer. I knew it was late in the year, but they had to be moved because he's allergic and I don't think they would survive out in the open anyways. I threw together a hive made from a plastic barrel and placed the colony in it. I had planned on attaching the combs to the bars, but it wasn't working with the twine I brought along, so I just propped them up in the bottom, sort of diagonally, and left them alone hoping they would make new combs on the bars. Several days later I checked them and still nothing on the bars and they are drawing new comb on the bottom and attaching it to the follower board also. I'm thinking I'm gonna have to figure out a way to attach them. The rescue bar is nice but idk if I have the time and skill to mess with it. The masking tape sounds easy and quick. Also, I read where someone used chicken wire to cradle it and stapled it on both sides. Advice would be much appreciated!


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## trili (Jun 29, 2014)

ogfd15 said:


> I'm thinking I'm gonna have to figure out a way to attach them. The rescue bar is nice but idk if I have the time and skill to mess with it. The masking tape sounds easy and quick. Also, I read where someone used chicken wire to cradle it and stapled it on both sides. Advice would be much appreciated!


I used the rescue bars successfully, and they were pretty easy to make. I also read that a 2 inch strip of cloth could be used to suspend the comb from the bar. I tried this also but have not looked to see if it worked, but it did hold the comb on nicely. I just pinned the ends together on the top of the bar. I will look tomorrow and see if they have re-attached the comb with the cloth. that seems to me to be the easiest if it works.


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## ogfd15 (Aug 28, 2015)

trili,

Thanks for your response. I think I've narrowed it down to cloth or cardboard strips whenever I find the time to mess with it. Can you update on how well they attached the comb with the cloth strips? Also, how long has it been in place?


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

A picture is worth a thousand words.


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## joannefiddler (May 27, 2015)

ogfd15,
I am also a fairly new but have already had a comb issue. I am in Florida and we had a sudden severe storm pop up that tipped my tbh over. All the combs were still attached to the bars and I was able to get everything back into the uprighted hive. About 2 weeks later, I noticed two of the combs had detached and fallen into the belly of the hive. I used the "strips of cloth" method with thumb tacks to reattach. I took a cookie sheet out to work on and had an extra pair of hands to help. Once I got over the fear/confusion about how I was going to pick up a comb that was covered with bees, it went much better than I anticipated. By moving slowly and deliberately, the bees kept moving out of the way as I removed the comb. I already had a top bar with the ends of two strips of old pillow case material thumb tacked and laying on the cookie sheet. I laid the comb down and kind of squished the top up into the top bar a bit. Once satisfied with the position, I pulled the strips up and thumb tacked to the other side of the top bar, thus creating a two strip sling for the comb. It's been about 4 weeks since the "operation", and I'm please to report that the girls have reattached to top of the comb to the bar and seem to be happily working at eliminating the strips, one thread at a time. There is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pdwxrByaqX0 that I found quite helpful. Good luck!!


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## ogfd15 (Aug 28, 2015)

David, 

Thank you for that very good pic. I would like to make some of these up soon when I have more down time. For a quick fix with what I have on hand, I think I'm gonna do the cloth strips this time and see how that goes. 

joannefiddler, 

Thank you for the advice also. I imagine I will do something very similar in a few days. I'll try to report back on how it goes when I can.


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## ogfd15 (Aug 28, 2015)

Ok everybody, I got my combs suspended today using the cloth strips. It didn't go real well in my opinion. Their combs are thin and fragile and they were stuck to the bottom and the follower board. They were so flimsy I couldn't suspend some of them plumb because the bottom would curl. It appears they didn't have a lot of stores of nectar and no honey. I couldn't tell if there were eggs or not. I saw a few workers emerging from their cells. Overall, I don't think things are fairing well for this colony and it'd prob be a miracle if they make it through the winter. 

Later in the day, there were tons of bees hanging off the front eve and near the entrance. They were clustered instead of in a single layer. It was in the 80s today and they have limited shade, so maybe this was bearding. I'm not sure. 

My plan is to feed as much 1:1 as they'll eat for the next month, then switch to 2:1 until it gets too cool. Also, would pollen patties or sub be recommended? Does substitute work as well? 

Thanks for any and all advice!


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