Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: SouthAussieBeekeeper on September 15, 2018, 11:38:17 pm

Title: Frames without bottoms
Post by: SouthAussieBeekeeper on September 15, 2018, 11:38:17 pm
I bought some supers with frames included. For whatever reason they don't have a bottom piece of wood connecting up the side. I'm finding that, without the bottom, the bees keep building their comb, attaching to the frames underneath. This results in a frame being stuck when going to lift it up, and it ends up breaking apart, leaving a bunch of burr comb to clean up. Since the bees are getting smoked, they all jump on this broken part of honeycomb that's oozing out, making it difficult to clean up the broken comb. In order to not kill a lot of bees, I need to slowly take apart the burr comb; a good amount of bees still die and it takes quite some time.

Has anyone else had this problem? What would you guys suggest for me to do with these frames? They might be suitable to use in the brood chamber?
Title: Re: Frames without bottoms
Post by: BeeMaster2 on September 16, 2018, 01:31:41 pm
Just use them in the bottom box. When I converted from deeps to mediums, I cut the bottoms of the  frames off. Most of the time they do not connect them to the fame below.
Jim
Title: Re: Frames without bottoms
Post by: blackforest beekeeper on September 16, 2018, 05:37:11 pm
I cut off some frames, too. I just nailed a fitting piece of wood in place making a new bottom piece.
Most of the time they won t connect, but they do it enough to be a nuisance.
Title: Re: Frames without bottoms
Post by: Acebird on September 17, 2018, 09:26:27 am
The top of the lower frame must be clean to the wood and you can't let them run out of space in the supers.  Use Jim's method for smoke which involves waiting.  Insert a hive tool in two apposing corners and slowly twist the box.  Doesn't have to be a lot to break the frames free.  I would do this at harvest time because you are going to have to clean the top bars and the bottom of the frames again before you set the box back down.  If you don't they will just reconnect the frames in a day or two.
Title: Re: Frames without bottoms
Post by: robirot on September 20, 2018, 04:57:51 am
If you want to clean them up, take a kitchen towely add a couple drops of essential oil (like oil of clove), keep it in a jar. Put it onto the hive (no smoke) and the bees will go into the box, away from the burr comb.

For the frames, lower brood box and when it's time to clean them up, ditch them, but in the lower box they don't hurt.
Title: Re: Frames without bottoms
Post by: beepro on September 25, 2018, 08:54:16 pm
To avoid any future burr comb issue I would cut out the remaining ripped burr comb off the bottom of the
frame close to the 2 side bars.  Then nail a piece of bottom bar into the 2 side bars.   You might have a lot of frames to modify.  At least
you will not have this issue again on the next hive inspection.