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Author Topic: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?  (Read 1223 times)

Offline Chuckfu

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What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« on: February 14, 2023, 10:46:35 pm »
Hello.

My bees came with wax foundation that the bees wouldn't touch, and I was gettng no comb drawn. Someone told me that pure, all-wax foundation was the way to go, as they would draw it much faster, so I bought some. I wired it as instructed, but most of it sagged in-between the wires. Thankfully, the bees DID draw it out, but it made rippled, wavy comb.
I learned to wax the plastic foundation, and the bees drew some out nicely, and others became abstract art.
But in those early days, I was just glad to get any kind of comb.
Fast forward a couple of years. Last year, my bees made tons of nice, flat comb, both on wired wax and plastic foundation. I have most of the wonky stuff down in the brood boxes, but it's kind of a mess.
So what do YOU do with wonky stuff? Put it in swarm traps? Use it in splits and nuc boxes? Melt it down and re-use the frames?
Comb is so valuable to new beekepers, that I hesitate to destroy it. Would it be unethical to put it in splits that I trade or sell, just so it doesn't go to waste? The bees seem to like it just fine.

Chuck

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2023, 11:41:23 pm »
Hello Chuck, welcome to Beemaster!  I suppose it is a personal choice as the remedy for  wonky comb. For me it is melt it. 😊
« Last Edit: February 15, 2023, 12:03:16 am by Ben Framed »
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2023, 12:03:59 am »
I had the same experience starting out, since I don't use any foundation and I never have, so I've definitely seen my fair share of terribly drawn comb.  Since I crush and strain to harvest honey, I actually move cross-connected or wonky comb UP into the supers.  That way it's not a hassle to manage in the brood box, and once they've filled it up with honey, I remove it during harvest, and it's out of my life forever.  :grin:  Unless you've cleared it with the buyer first, I wouldn't put it in nucs you are selling.  As a consumer, I wouldn't want poorly drawn comb in a nuc I purchased, and that would be especially unfair to a beginner.   
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2023, 08:28:58 am »
Chuck,
Welcome to Beemaster.
I use old comb for swarm traps. I put one old drawn frame up against one side of the box and fill the box with empty frames that have waxed wood strips in the top slot.
If the wax is white or yellow I will melt it down in the solar wax melter.
Jim Altmiller
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Offline AustinB

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2023, 09:35:56 am »
Welcome to Beemaster Chuck. All of the above, I use it for swarm traps, melt it down to re-coat plasticell frames or just melt it and filter it into blocks for future use.
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Offline yes2matt

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2023, 06:09:38 am »
I'm like 'member, no foundation in the brood nest. The way to get combs drawn straight is to put a blank between two straight combs. If you put a blank beside a wonky comb the bees will draw the new one to match and now you've got more wonky comb.

So I "fix" it with my fingers. If I can't fix it, it goes to the outermost position in the box til they've done with it then it gets cut out and melted down.

I don't think I'd sell it if I wanted to maintain a reputation as a top-tier provider. The new beek is going to have their mentor help install and the mentor will talk to her friends about what she found in the box.

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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2023, 07:09:21 am »
Also you can cut comb loose and put a rubber band around it to keep it in the middle of the frame.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2023, 10:32:56 am »
Also you can cut comb loose and put a rubber band around it to keep it in the middle of the frame.
Oh I do that all the time, I should have mentioned it before.  Rubber bands are the foundationless beekeeper's best friend.  :grin:
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline AustinB

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2023, 11:33:53 am »

Oh I do that all the time, I should have mentioned it before.  Rubber bands are the foundationless beekeeper's best friend.  :grin:
[/quote]

And the removal guys best friend! I use them all the time to reunite brood and honey after removals
The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Proverbs 20:7

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proberbs 16:24

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2023, 12:02:20 pm »
I use rubber bands during a cutout to reunite brood after removals also. I try to stay with the straightest comb as possible but sometimes that is not so much an option. In that case the cutout comb will need to be cut into smaller pieces of comb, then reunited to make a straight run in a frame. The # 64 size rubber bands are my go to...

Wonky comb is something I try to avoid. Annoying is the word for me when it comes to wonky comb. If I have a irk in beekeeping, wonky comb is it! lol
:wink:

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2023, 12:13:20 pm »
Also you can cut comb loose and put a rubber band around it to keep it in the middle of the frame.
Oh I do that all the time, I should have mentioned it before.  Rubber bands are the foundationless beekeeper's best friend. :grin:

Along with skewers as taught to me by Paus.

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline 2Sox

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #11 on: February 17, 2023, 09:52:26 am »
Also you can cut comb loose and put a rubber band around it to keep it in the middle of the frame.

My sentiments exactly.  Sometimes you open a hive and see absolutely crazy stuff.  Why cut it off? Just do as Michael suggests here. Trim it and rubber band it back into the frame.  You?ll find you have very little waste. If it?s full of honey I crush it it into my uncapping tank and let it drain. If the frame was a brood frame full of honey, I uncap it, straighten it out, rubber band it, let it drain into my tank, and then put it back into the hive a little later.  If there is brood and honey on the frame, I do the same but just be careful not to harm the brood.

The point is to put a STRAIGHT comb back into the hive. I learned from Michael Bush years ago that you can?t HOPE that the bees will build straight.  One wonky comb will beget a whole box of wonky comb.
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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2023, 11:44:15 am »
>The # 64 size rubber bands are my go to...

I find it difficult to find ANY rubber bands, let alone a particular size...  Mostly I use Dee Lusby's "swarm ketching frames" for cutouts.  But I do use rubber bands to hold existing combs in when I have to straighten them because I cut as little as I can to get them straight.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Offline 2Sox

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2023, 05:59:22 pm »
>The # 64 size rubber bands are my go to...

I find it difficult to find ANY rubber bands, let alone a particular size...  Mostly I use Dee Lusby's "swarm ketching frames" for cutouts.  But I do use rubber bands to hold existing combs in when I have to straighten them because I cut as little as I can to get them straight.

Staples, Office Depot. Even Amazon. For mediums #33 is the size.
"Good will is the desire to have something else stronger and more beautiful for this desire makes oneself stronger and more beautiful." - Eli Siegel, American educator, poet, founder of Aesthetic Realism

Offline The15thMember

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Re: What do YOU do with "Wonky" comb?
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2023, 06:17:52 pm »
>The # 64 size rubber bands are my go to...

I find it difficult to find ANY rubber bands, let alone a particular size...  Mostly I use Dee Lusby's "swarm ketching frames" for cutouts.  But I do use rubber bands to hold existing combs in when I have to straighten them because I cut as little as I can to get them straight.
>The # 64 size rubber bands are my go to...

I find it difficult to find ANY rubber bands, let alone a particular size...  Mostly I use Dee Lusby's "swarm ketching frames" for cutouts.  But I do use rubber bands to hold existing combs in when I have to straighten them because I cut as little as I can to get them straight.

Staples, Office Depot. Even Amazon. For mediums #33 is the size.
Do you not have a Walmart, Michael?  I just get the cheapest full-sized plain tan ones in the office aisle. 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.