# What's with these bees?



## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

It happens, is there wax on the guides.


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## BeeGora (Oct 22, 2013)

JRG13 said:


> It happens, is there wax on the guides.


Yes they are waxed. I'm waiting to see if they go back to doing it again with all new bars


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## Ryan McEachern (Dec 18, 2011)

If you could get your hands on even one old frame of drawn comb it would help a great deal to nip this in the bud, maybe ask around at your bee club?


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## Delta Bay (Dec 4, 2009)

The wedge guides should have a very deep v for best results. If they are shallow the bees can easily build the combs any way they please. Get some plain flat bars with a saw kerf down the center so you can secure foundation starter strips in with liquid wax. Strips should be 1 3/8" and run the full length of your bars. Once you have them building good comb you could go back to you wedge bars. But really if you want to make things easier on you and the bees stick with the foundation starter strips.


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## BeeGora (Oct 22, 2013)

Unfortunately, there are not that many TBH beekeepers around here. Even then, the odds would be low that one of their bars would fit my hive. I'm just going to keep checking and taking out the bad comb until they get it right.


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

Can you use some of the comb sections you took out to attach to one or more of the bars? They will never get established, and may leave if you continuously pull their comb.


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## Delta Bay (Dec 4, 2009)

Assuming you made your hive? All you need is to run off a 1\2 dozen bars that will take foundation strips. Your option now is to force them to do what you want rather than disrupt them several times. Give them the best reason to do what you want so they can get to work.


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## crmauch (Mar 3, 2016)

BeeGora said:


> Unfortunately, there are not that many TBH beekeepers around here. Even then, the odds would be low that one of their bars would fit my hive. I'm just going to keep checking and taking out the bad comb until they get it right.


I don't have bees yet, but I did see a video by McCartney Taylor, who takes comb and uses hairclips to hold comb, ziptied to the bars. That would take the existing comb they've build and put it in the direction you want. Alternatively you could "sew" the comb to bars in the correct direction (mentioned elsewhere and in Chandler's "The Barefoot Beekeeper". Once they have a guide, maybe they'll build in the right direction. I wouldn't just keep taking out comb.


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## Lostfrog (Jun 21, 2014)

You could also use blue painters tape to attach the comb straight onto the bar like a sling. The bees will remove the tape.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Perhaps turning the hive to match the direction they'd like to draw their combs would fix your problem?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

if you can get a few nice lobes of comb, attach them to some new bars the way you want them, I find that typically works well for any foundationless frames I want to start.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

When I started my first top bar hive I used the follower board as a pattern to cut already drawn langstroth frames to fit. (allow for bee space) It helped by giving the queen somewhere to lay right away plus I could stick a new bar between the two "drawn frames" and get perfectly straight new combs that way. It works.

Had to cut shims for the top bars on the lang frames. (bees could get thru, had to fix that) 
The whole process is easy with a good circular saw and a steady hand.


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## Kathleen Bourn (Oct 31, 2014)

I have wedges on my 1 1/4" top bars and I've had good luck attaching old comb with wire. I had some very light florist's wire (always using stuff I have laying around). I just drill 2 or 3 small holes through the wedge and then bring the wire through the comb about 4" down and twist it closed. For added holding power, I use a small cooking torch (Harbor Freight cheap) to melt the wax at the wedge. After a while you can snip the wire off or just leave it. They don't seem to mind it.


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