# Comb falling off top bar



## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

Are you cutting side attachments? Either there are side attachments or you are holding the combs wrong when you are inspecting. So I guess the question is at what point do the combs detach? When you are lifting them out of the hive or when you are looking at them?


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

My first guess would be that you're inadvertently slanting the comb while trying to look into it. I say that not because I'm accusing you of doing something wrong, but because I couldn't tell you how many times I've caught myself cracking combs that way!


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## Csturges (Apr 18, 2012)

Bush_84 said:


> Are you cutting side attachments? Either there are side attachments or you are holding the combs wrong when you are inspecting. So I guess the question is at what point do the combs detach? When you are lifting them out of the hive or when you are looking at them?


Yes I am cutting side attachments, today's comb was small, new and in the middle. Maybe I knocked it when I put it back in but I was being really careful. They have detached mostly when I put them back in the hive, looks like they have almost torn off. I have a three bar gap open when I inspect. It seems no matter what I do they come off. My mentor was even perplexed by it when he wittnessed it.


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## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

Wierd. Watch this video to make sure you are not handling the comb wrong when putting it back into the hive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ-G8qmdjI

If you are tilting the comb in the wrong plane it's easy to detach.


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

...did you wax your comb guides?

deknow


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

And further to what deknow asked - what kind of guides are you using on your bars? If they're falling off that easy in good weather, then I have to wonder what you've provided there to attach to. Is there a good, solid comb guide? Did you put something on it? Melted wax? Rubbed wax? Something else? 

Tell us more about the bar itself and how it was prepared before you put the bees in. Pictures would be helpful too if you have them.

Thanks,

Adam


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## CoyoteMoss (Oct 3, 2011)

My first year also with a top bar hive, but I will share this. Someone with more experience feel free to correct me. Before romoving a bar, also check for cross comb between bars and cut it. I've also been told when cutting side or cross comb, to cut it in the upward direction. From the bottom up toward the bar. Cutting down can stress and weaken comb.


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## taydeko (Jan 3, 2012)

A couple other factors could be the depth of the hive and the angle of the sides. If the hive is really deep, you only have a small area holding deep comb onto the bar. If your hive is a KTBH then the angle of the sides reduces the strain on the comb where it attaches, spreading the weight out over the length of the bar better, and reducing weight at the ends of the bar where it tends to be weakest. I use triangular comb guides without wax to provide the largest attachment surface area. Melted wax on the bars appears to be a weak point, so I let the bees attach directly to the wood to provide the strongest comb attachment. All of the combs on the triangular guides have been perfectly straight too.

Ted


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