# permacomb fully drawn plastic frames



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Cool. I was afraid it would fall off the grid since Herbert Drapkin passed away. I have about 1,000 of them. I heated them to 200 F and wax dipped them. I like them a lot. There have been several threads, one of them running into quite a few pages, but it seems to be defunct now. I found a link but it doesn't work. It ran into hundreds and hundreds of posts...


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## mahobee (Apr 24, 2013)

How do you uncap these? would an electric plane or knife melt it?


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## ABruce (Dec 27, 2013)

Michael Bush said:


> Cool. I was afraid it would fall off the grid since Herbert Drapkin passed away. I have about 1,000 of them. I heated them to 200 F and wax dipped them. I like them a lot. There have been several threads, one of them running into quite a few pages, but it seems to be defunct now. I found a link but it doesn't work. It ran into hundreds and hundreds of posts...


Hi Micheal, 
It looks like a great idea, did you heat the plastic comb to 200 or the wax then dip the frames cold? I am thinking it may be like the flow hive frames the bees would prefer a wax smell before they would really want use them. I spent half a summer last year getting them to want to use the flow hive frames.


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## NAC89 (Jun 1, 2016)

Don't have any but interested in them also.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>How do you uncap these? would an electric plane or knife melt it?

You space them 9 frames in a 10 frame box (or 8 frames in a 10 frame box once they are drawn and used). Then uncap with a cold knife or even scrape them with a hive tool. If they cap them below the surface (which they seldom do) use a honey punch. Hackler used to be the only one available, but now most of the suppliers have them. It's a roller with sharp protrusions on it.

>It looks like a great idea, did you heat the plastic comb to 200 or the wax then dip the frames cold?

I heated the permacomb in an outdoor oven to 200 F and then wax dipped them. I tried doing it cold and the wax just clumped up in the cells.

> I am thinking it may be like the flow hive frames the bees would prefer a wax smell before they would really want use them. I spent half a summer last year getting them to want to use the flow hive frames.

Yes, it is exactly like that. But once they use them they are fine.


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## texanbelchers (Aug 4, 2014)

There have been comments about warping on the HSC deeps. Is that a problem on the mediums? That may be dependent on the plastic used.

How is the spacing if mixed with, above and/or below wood frames (Mann Lake specifically, since they all vary)?


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

I had them. They are (IMO) only good in supers. Never could get a queen to lay in them. 
Your bees will either like them or just ignore them no matter dipped or not.


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## PerryBee (Dec 3, 2007)

This ws on facebook, apparently this fellow bought the rights and equipment and has begu production again.
Matthew Kvam
17 September at 20:39 · East Burke, VT, United States

Hello from Vermont!! I just wanted to post a message and let you all know that permacomb will once again be available . No more mailing in checks and waiting ! I am a beekeeper from Vermont and have purchased the molds and contents of permacomb. We are doing our first production run of 2000 pieces in the next 2 weeks and they will be available on www.permacomb.com once we have finished the site.. Our expected launch date it oct 20th 2017.. If you have any questions or need more information please feel free to contact me [email protected]

The site is now Live and taking pre orders www.permacomb.com


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## mahobee (Apr 24, 2013)

Michael Bush said:


> >How do you uncap these? would an electric plane or knife melt it?
> 
> You space them 9 frames in a 10 frame box (or 8 frames in a 10 frame box once they are drawn and used). Then uncap with a cold knife or even scrape them with a hive tool. If they cap them below the surface (which they seldom do) use a honey punch. Hackler used to be the only one available, but now most of the suppliers have them. It's a roller with sharp protrusions on it.]
> 
> Doesn't placing a 9 frame super on a 10 frame brood box discourage them from moving up? blocked lanes?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>There have been comments about warping on the HSC deeps. Is that a problem on the mediums?

Allf of the HSC and the PermaComb sometimes bow a bit. I guess as an old carpenter I just "crown" them all the same way and don't worry about it. My bigger issue is that the PF120s are a tad short and the PermaComb is a tad long and that causes some problems. I'm often trimming the ends of the "top bars" on the PermaComb to get them in the box.

>Doesn't placing a 9 frame super on a 10 frame brood box discourage them from moving up? blocked lanes?

In my opinion, not in the least.


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## Brian C (Nov 12, 2013)

Does anyone know if the cells on permacomb are angled upward like normal comb, or are the cell walls 90° for ease of manufacture?


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## DeepCreek (Jan 23, 2015)

Brian C said:


> Does anyone know if the cells on permacomb are angled upward like normal comb, or are the cell walls 90° for ease of manufacture?


It's stated right on their website that the cells are at the proper angle.


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## Jackam (Jun 3, 2013)

Looks like these frames might work out great for using Laurie's sugar block recipe in comb.


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## billabell (Apr 19, 2010)

Are they deeps, mediums or shallows. The website doesn't say (or I missed it)


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

billabell said:


> Are they deeps, mediums or shallows. The website doesn't say (or I missed it)


I’ve only seen mediums...


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

billabell said:


> Are they deeps, mediums or shallows. The website doesn't say (or I missed it)


They state they only support mediums.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

I have several supers of this stuff, and honestly I dislike it (quite a bit) for the following reasons: 1) it's heavy, 2) it warps, 3) slightly too long (resulting in 2), 4) pain to process if capped flush, 5) throws extractor out of balance, 6) has die tabs on the bottom that make scraping burr comb off a pain, 7) can't run it through uncapper. 

Positives: nearly indestructible


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## JoshuaW (Feb 2, 2015)

AstroBee said:


> I have several supers of this stuff, and honestly I dislike it (quite a bit) for the following reasons: 1) it's heavy, 2) it warps, 3) slightly too long (resulting in 2), 4) pain to process if capped flush, 5) throws extractor out of balance, 6) has die tabs on the bottom that make scraping burr comb off a pain, 7) can't run it through uncapper.
> 
> Positives: nearly indestructible


I second that! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks for posting, looks like those would be nice for the hobby keep, like me, for in the supers.


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## MikeJ (Jan 1, 2009)

Just the thought of trying to get the bees to draw a fully "drawn" plastic frame gives me a twitch - they hate plastic foundation I can only imagine how they would act if I put those in. Possibly have to duck as they threw them back at me :lookout:


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Does anyone know if the cells on permacomb are angled upward like normal comb

They are angled correctly. 

Yes, you can fill the combs with sugar and then spray with water. Or you can pack pollen dough (pollen mixed with honey) into them. You can also scrape off fat spots in the beeyard back down to the plastic if they are in your way without mangling the underlying comb. You can also dip them in warm syrup and get it to run into the cells if you the syrup is warm enough and you manipulate the combs (change the angle) to let the syrup run in. It's a little tricky doing that. A spray bottle with syrup will also spray the syrup into the combs.


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## Scottybeehoney (May 3, 2021)

mahobee said:


> How do you uncap these? would an electric plane or knife melt it?


Paint scraper, youtube it. Looks too easy.


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## Tapeguy Tech (Aug 8, 2021)

Scottybeehoney said:


> Paint scraper, youtube it. Looks too easy.


I am the guy who made most of the PermaComb videos on youtube. Does anyone know what's going on with PermaComb? I was told you could order 100 frames and they would be drop shipped from the manufacture. But now my contact is not replying and the website just keeps saying (sold out).

I love theses frames and wish to purchase more. If anyone has any they wish to sell, let me know.


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## ffrtsaxk (Jul 17, 2017)

Tapeguy Tech said:


> I am the guy who made most of the PermaComb videos on youtube. Does anyone know what's going on with PermaComb? I was told you could order 100 frames and they would be drop shipped from the manufacture. But now my contact is not replying and the website just keeps saying (sold out).
> 
> I love theses frames and wish to purchase more. If anyone has any they wish to sell, let me know.


The manufacturer they used to actually make the Permacomb drastically raised the price and since it is not the main source of income for the owner of the Permacomb brand and molds and they are busy with other things they decided to wait until next year to get their product back on the market.


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## ffrtsaxk (Jul 17, 2017)

Tapeguy Tech said:


> I am the guy who made most of the PermaComb videos on youtube. Does anyone know what's going on with PermaComb? I was told you could order 100 frames and they would be drop shipped from the manufacture. But now my contact is not replying and the website just keeps saying (sold out).
> 
> I love theses frames and wish to purchase more. If anyone has any they wish to sell, let me know.





https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1627477237448873&id=922020461327891


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