# comb attached to multiple frames.



## oldenglish (Oct 22, 2008)

I did a two week inspection today, they are drawing comb out nicely but at the ends the are attaching to the next frame. I tried cutting it to push it back in line but the comb is heavy and loaded with nectar, and started to collapse so I stopped. Anyone got any ideas ?


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

You have to allow for a certain amount of this kind of behaviour in a TBH. If it is only a little overlap at the ends, just leave it alone - once the comb hardens off you can re-shape it a little if necessary. The main thing is to ensure you don't have serious cross-comb, as this can quickly make inspections impossible.


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## oldenglish (Oct 22, 2008)

I am going to leave it to age a little, then I will try to set it right. I would guess that each bar is attaching to the bar in front on the right and the bar behind on the left, about an inch or so each end.


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## peletier (May 5, 2007)

I had a situation like this. I left it alone because it seemed to be the "core" of the brood nest...lots of new bees were produced in that undisturbed area.


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

I was wondering how long the top bar is? I've read that the longer the bar is the more likely that this will happen; The theory is that the curvature adds strength. Adrian.


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## oldenglish (Oct 22, 2008)

Adrian Quiney WI said:


> I was wondering how long the top bar is? I've read that the longer the bar is the more likely that this will happen; The theory is that the curvature adds strength. Adrian.


Mine run about 17" with 15" usable


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## oldenglish (Oct 22, 2008)

I went in last night and trimmed and fixed the worst offenders, at least as best as I could. As they expand I will try to do a better job in managing them


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## Abha (Apr 18, 2009)

*You are not alone in this*



oldenglish said:


> *I did a two week inspection today, they are drawing comb out nicely but at the ends the are attaching to the next frame. I tried cutting it to push it back in line but the comb is heavy and loaded with nectar, and started to collapse so I stopped. Anyone got any ideas ?*


Same problem here too. 

In nature, bees would not care if they build their nest for your convenience by neatly hanging their combs off each individual top bar--they just build it. But a beekeeper wants it so the hive can be opened up and some things can be harvested or managed.

I also made the mistake of leaving some space between the bars at one end of the hive--I am learning: NEVER do that as they will build comb that spans the gap.

*Michael Bush* (who is a moderator here and has both hive types) told me via email to go in and cut the combs off that were going haywire and string them to the bar on a makeshift frame. He said if you don't, you could end up with a hive that was impossible to get into. I did some of that today--it was very very messy and I had a number of collapsed combs. We used our smoker per his instructions to keep the bees from going nutz and attacking us, but I still felt like godzilla. It must seem so to the bees too.

I made slings but they were not as elegant as yours are. I have no idea if what I did will work. This past week has been very intense--I moved one hive from Morton, WA to Bothell and then today I tried to straighten some of it out. I discovered it is very time consuming and I didn't get to finish clearing up the first hive. My boyfriend is calling me "The Bee Beast".

I still have a second hive to check out--I do not know what is going on in that one that I more recently moved.

I will know next week when I have time to check it.

Abha


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## Heidi533 (Jul 17, 2008)

I just did a one week inspection on my TBH and the bees are drawing out beautiful comb. But it's across four bars. It looks like 2-3 sections of comb in fact.

How would I make a sling or frame of sorts so that I can move the comb and reattach it? Any help would really be appreciated as this is my first time beekeeping and I don't want to let this get so out of hand that I can't fix it.

Thanks in advance.

Heidi


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## Robee (Dec 9, 2007)

Heidi, did you use starter strips? If is is brand new comb and still very tiny, you may want to remove it. If the comb is large you may consider making a few cut out frames like this. http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Beecolonyinthecementary005.jpg
Robee


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## Heidi533 (Jul 17, 2008)

Robee said:


> Heidi, did you use starter strips? If is is brand new comb and still very tiny, you may want to remove it. If the comb is large you may consider making a few cut out frames like this. http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Beecolonyinthecementary005.jpg
> Robee


Robee-I have wooden strips down the center of the bars, but did not use any wax to start out. Is that what you were asking?

Thank you for the picture. The combs are not very long big yet, I'm just concerned about destroying brood in a new colony.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Minimum, you need at least a straight comb at the end where they are drawing new comb. You can get that with comb tied into a frame of some sort. But it's best to get it all straightened out as soon as you can. Crooked comb leads to more crooked comb. The next comb will line up with the last one.


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## Heidi533 (Jul 17, 2008)

Michael Bush said:


> Minimum, you need at least a straight comb at the end where they are drawing new comb. You can get that with comb tied into a frame of some sort. But it's best to get it all straightened out as soon as you can. Crooked comb leads to more crooked comb. The next comb will line up with the last one.


How does one go about removing the crooked comb and then how do I tie it to the bar? Thanks for the info, your site has been a wealth of information the past year and a half while researching.


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