# "Making" Drawn Comb



## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

Yes, but open feeding brings "all" bees in the area. Also they would be a little rough from the frenzy, and could make your hives susceptible to robbing if to close. I would keep them as is because it is not only drawn comb, but food as well. Guess it depends on what you eventually want to use the "drawn comb" for. Foundation frames or FL frames mixed in with 4 or 5 frames of honey will get all of the other frames drawn out with a quickness.


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## rolftonbees (Jul 10, 2014)

I would exchange the full combs for some empties in your hives. Setting the filled combs out for robbing has many negatives.

It invites other bees , encourages robbing and the bees might ruin the comb you need to save.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

Okay, thank you. I have found that I need drawn deep comb when the brood nest gets nectar bound and the queen needs room to lay. They would be very handy especially in late spring to help stave off swarming and buy me some time. I have tried putting foundation in and letting them draw it but they frequently ignore it, or by the time they start drawing it out it is already nectar bound. Any other ways to get drawn comb? In my very limited experience the best way is to capture a swarm which I did for the first time this year. It certainly is not a meth that they are wax makers. I had hoped to pull some drawn frames before they put anything into them but my timing was not good. J


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## Sour Kraut (Jun 17, 2012)

Fivej;I have tried putting foundation in and letting them draw it but they frequently ignore it said:


> Don't put ALL foundation on
> 
> Alternate foundation-frames in between current frames, or every third frame.
> 
> Or add another deep and put a foundation-frame in for every other frame on current deep AND the new one.


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

Next year I am going to try to "manage" my deep drawn comb by using deeps as supers. Kinda stinks to have a bunch of drawn mediums after harvesting but not the deeps I need right now. Bees aren't drawing the new foundation and are getting honey bound on the frames that are drawn. In the past month, I got half a frame each from two hives (splits) and nichts from the other hives.

I may try spraying hbh on the wax foundation and see if that helps. Supposed to work with plastic so ought to do well with wax?


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

jw
We have talked enough that you know how new I am. I wonder if you switched a couple of your mediums in and pulled a coupe of your deeps out and saved them if it would help short term. They might lay in them or fill them but it might help clogging and you could wait for a warm enough day to switch them out later. If they did draw them deep, in a brood nest they still might last forever like that. I decided for me and not for the bees to use all mediums cause I am so unorganized that I would never know what to take to the hives and now I only have to worry grabbing one thing. It is also easier to come up with 1x8 lumber then it is 1x12.
Cheers
gww


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Fivej said:


> ...Any other ways to get drawn comb? In my very limited experience the best way is to capture a swarm which I did for the first time this year..J


That's right, swarms do it best, so make a swarm. Try this on one hive and see how you like the results...

Cage the queen, using marshmellow to fill the candy tube, and move her into a box of all foundation frames. Set that box in place of the hive, and shake all the bees off of all the frames in the hive, into that box. If it is a larger hive then use two boxes of foundation. Give all the shaken frames to other hives in your yard to give them a boost or extra room.

Now you have a created swarm. They will release the queen by the end of the next day, or maybe the day after. They will draw comb fast as they need the queen to get laying again. Do this at the start of a good flow, or put on a feeder. This is one of a couple or three methods I have used to get drawn comb or to get them to give me cut comb honey comb, by putting an excluder between the two boxes when I set this all up.

Give it a try and see how it works out for you.


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

Ray, I think that is why my splits are the only hives drawing any comb at all. Not true swarms but new queens in a new location. 

gww, you're right. I will be pulling my 5 frame deeps (second story) off the nucs and making up 5 frame mediums for them this week. Hopefully give the queen some room to lay while the bees draw out the rest of the foundation in the lower box. Still going to try spraying the rest of the deep stuff with hbh.

I get a lot of pallets at work. I am going to try ripping and edge joining the runners to make wider pieces of wood for the deep bodies. Not because it will save money, cause I don't think it will, but to prove that I can make something useful from junk. Truth is, I can buy a hive body for what I pay at HD or Lowe's for a 1x12 to make one. I save the real money making the bottoms, covers, and tops from the slats of the pallets.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

Ray, I think I am going to give that a try. I just saw a presentation on youtube by Michael Palmer about making cut comb and he discussed a shook swarm method which I have actually done with the help of enjambres when I had a possible EFB hive. We did a modified shook swarm to give the hive new frames. I am thinking I can use it to make comb and as swarm "prevention". JW, I had the same idea as you and added a deep instead of a medium as a super. I think it will work, but I did it too late in the season. They drew out a few combs. So, I may do both methods this spring. J


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