# Attaching comb to top bar (or anything for that matter)



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Patbeek has had the best idea I have ever seen for a tob bar


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## ralittlefield (Apr 25, 2011)

Never seen it done, but perhaps you could thread some fishing line up through it from bottom to top (also crossing from front to back) and use it to attach to top bar.


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## ralittlefield (Apr 25, 2011)

Harley Craig said:


> Patbeek has had the best idea I have ever seen for a tob bar
> View attachment 22624


I like this better than my suggestion!


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## Sky (Jul 7, 2015)

ralittlefield said:


> I like this better than my suggestion!


i like this idea a lot too - I need to make a few of those - looks very handy. 

in the past I have "spot welded" comb to a top bar with melted way (use a soldering iron and a chunk of wax then drip it where you need.) its not really pretty.... only use enough to keep the comb in place - in a few days the bees will have finished laughing at your welding job and repaired it properly and filled in any spaces ....

Sky.


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I use titebond 3 to glue the comb right to a top bar


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

rwurster said:


> I use titebond 3 to glue the comb right to a top bar


I do too, it works very well.

The hardware cloth looks like a good idea but it requires a lot of prep time per frame.

I have tried just about every thing. It all comes down to time. Even made those split frames that fold on comb (what a excess amount of time to assemble). 

If it's a cutout and the comb has larva/honey, rubber bands are about the quickest and easies. Especially when your in the field cutting comb with mad bee flying everywhere. Preposition two rubber band next to each end bar of the empty frame.

If it's empty comb for swarm traps then titebond 3 works like a charm.


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## bchains (Mar 22, 2015)

FlowerPlanter said:


> I do too, it works very well.
> 
> If it's empty comb for swarm traps then titebond 3 works like a charm.


Thanks, everyone. Will try titebond 3 since it IS for swarm traps!


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

FlowerPlanter said:


> I do too, it works very well.
> 
> The hardware cloth looks like a good idea but it requires a lot of prep time per frame.
> 
> ...



how well does rubberbands work on a TBH for cutouts? glue for swarm traps is an excellent idea though!


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

Titebond works very well for attaching empty comb to the bottom of a top bar. I've had the comb actually break but a starter strip of it will always stay stuck to the bottom of the bar so its still a win situation. I just got tired of melting wax and trying to stick the comb or rubber bands where if you had a thin piece of comb it would sit on top of the bottom bar. I just flip a frame upside down, glue it and sometimes use rubber bands to keep it where I need it until the glue dries. Then the bees wax over the glue when they repair the comb. It actually works very well in my experience for attaching comb that has nothing in it i.e. no brood, pollen, or honey. Titebond III is also safe for indirect food contact.


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## TonyD (Aug 31, 2019)

bchains said:


> Hi all, is there any way to melt, stick, or otherwise attach a piece of comb to a topbar or anything else without any other side or bottom support --- just a chunk of comb hanging from a piece of wood? I know about rubber bands, wire, and the usual ways to get a piece into a frame and those won't work for this application.
> 
> Thanks for any sage advise!
> bryan


My 2 cents-
Old thread I know, but I did find a solution I like. YouTube link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asYwcWxWGv4
Long video so short version is Ladies Plastic Hair Clip...the ones that look like a queen bee trap. Fast, reusable, cheap and works.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Patbeek has not been around long enough to have come up with that hanger. I have been using it for 20 years.


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## TonyD (Aug 31, 2019)

odfrank said:


> Patbeek has not been around long enough to have come up with that hanger. I have been using it for 20 years.


So...Works? Or do you find the wire fencing better (or some other method)?


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

I think this winter I will make a half dozen of these to have available. Since going foundationless I have already broke out an entire comb from its frame. It was in a deadout and I was trying to see how much WM damage there was on a very hot day when the whole thing plopped out. This is way better than rubber bands, which I always have in my pocket.


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## little_john (Aug 4, 2014)

During my brief time with Top Bar hives I also used the method shown in the above photographs, and found it worked fine with empty comb, but not quite so well if the comb was loaded-up. So - using the same basic principle, I simply multiplied the number of support-spikes, which then adequately supported a fully laden comb.

Using the same type of square mesh, I fixed a sheet of it to one side of a Top Bar with an inch or so of clearance at the sides and bottom, then identified a number of 'domino-dots' on the mesh sheet where the wires crossed. Each of these 'crossing-points' was clipped, such that four wires remained which were no longer connected to each other. These wires were then bent inwards to provide support-spikes in the same manner as shown in the photograph. The use of a 'domino-6' configuration for example, would then provide 24 support-spikes, spread fairly equally over the face of the comb.

I found that tilting the spikes upwards a few degrees helped keep the comb in place. Although I also used the same type of square mesh, I'm sure that chicken-wire would do the same job if appropriate care was taken.
LJ


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