# stuck frames



## Quazi (Jul 10, 2017)

Hi, new to all of this. first year with bees,
I have two warre hives set up. they seem to be doing great. I have three frame boxes for each as they were doing so well
Issue is this, they have comb from the bottom of the bar to the top of the bar in the frame underneath. so the comb is stuck and I am not able to left them up to inspect with out the comb ripping in half.
what to do? get a big ole sharp knife and try to separate the comb?

thanks


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

I'm not a Warre enthusiast but when everything is being stuck that thoroughly together, it suggests to me that your bee space is way off. Bees glue together everything that is too small and build comb everyplace there is too much space. So if you don't want to keep dealing with this kind of problem, break out your tape measure and figure out what needs adjusting. Meantime, yes, cut the frames apart with a good strong knife or your hive tool and scrape off the excess. Ideal bee space is 3/8".

Good luck with your new project! 

HTH

Rusty


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Quazy
In the old days and still in japan they used piano wire and put it between the boxes and sawed the frame lose with it before moving a box. I bet strong fishing line would work well and aslo hav herd of those just sticking a bread or kitchen knife between the boxes. I also read that if you don't add the boxes untill the top one is compleetley drawn out that the bees will round the bottom of the comb and then when you add the next box, they will not attach to the top bars. Member jcollen (I hope I have that correct) has a recent topic post on his new hive with pictures and in the warre section member Banard H (and I know I have this wrong and too short) has a picture totorial also.

I would not have the guts to let them fully finish a box cause I would be afraid of swarming before I added the next box. I do have a warre and intend to have some fishing line around. Go to youtube and look up harvesting from a japanise hive and you can watch how it is done.
Cheers
gww


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## Jlockhart29 (Apr 29, 2016)

I have 2 full frame Warres and like Rusty said I would check my bee space. Not a lot you can do now bUT so this problem doesn't get worse. Did you build your frames like I did. One hive is drawing out its 4th box standard Warre size and the other the 3ed box deep Lang depth and no problem exept maybe a little bur. My Carnies do have an annoying habit a building comb horizontally as one thick block into the next frame as they build out. Just genetic trait of this queen. My Russian Italians couldn't be more perfect if drawn on plastic foundation.


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## Toddo (May 21, 2016)

If I understand the situation correctly, what you're saying is that your comb is not being drawn inside of frames, just top bars (as is typical for a Warre hive). So when they draw the comb, they naturally attach the comb to the sides and bottom of the box. This is normal for a Warre hive and one of the reasons it is considered more "hands off" - because it's not as easy to inspect the comb.

In this case, if you need to separate one box from another, you could use a thin metal wire to cut the comb of the upper box from the top bars of the lower box. Be sure to run the wire so that you're holding it perpendicular to the comb, to potentially avoid bending one comb into the next. Or a knife would do, if you have one long enough. To pull out a piece of comb, you'd also have to cut it down the sides (they do make special tools for this) and you'd have to be real careful lifting out the comb to not break it.

For this reason, Warre hives are not the best for doing a lot of inspecting on a comb-by-comb basis. That's why they're considered more "hands off". Personally, with my Warre hive I'm not inspecting it at the comb-by-comb level. I'm just letting the bees do their thing and see how it turns out!

If you want to inspect individual combs to see brood, spot the queen, etc, then you should really get a hive with frames (such as Langstroth). I'll be doing that myself, soon.


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