Author Topic: Comb honey. A journey of learning (Read 42038 times)

Bee North · « **Reply #80 on:** December 29, 2021, 04:03:41 pm »

Les they look great.

Thanks again...now I'm going to have to have a go.

Lesgold · « **Reply #81 on:** December 29, 2021, 04:44:14 pm »

Please do. Let us know how it goes if you do.

Cheers

Les

cao · « **Reply #82 on:** December 30, 2021, 01:16:50 am »

Lesgold just wanted to say thanks for the idea and more importantly for taking the time to documenting it. I always am interested in the construction aspect of a project and you supply plenty of good instruction. Also, this time of year it is nice to see pictures of bees being bees. Thanks again and keep the ideas coming.

Lesgold · « **Reply #83 on:** December 30, 2021, 06:49:33 pm »

It?s a pleasure cao. If it can inspire some people to play and develop some of these ideas and take them to another level, I?d be very happy. I?ve always been a visual person so I hope I haven?t bored people with the pics. and videos. It?s just the way that I learn best.

When I visit a hive containing the mini frames, I normally take a box of empties so that I can harvest and replace frames as required.

This system works really well as newly collected frames of honey are safely stored for the trip home.

Lesgold · « **Reply #84 on:** January 02, 2022, 02:22:06 am »

Hi Folks,

Well that?s about all I have to offer on this series of experiments. As I make minor changes or improve aspects of these designs, I?ll post what my changes or findings are. It?s now up to anyone who is interested to improve and develop some of these designs and take them to the next level. Hopefully any improvements will be documented for others to take advantage of. Public interest through sales has been increasing at a good rate. The most popular shapes are the mini rectangular frames followed by the squares. The rounds, although still popular, did not sell as well as the other two designs. This may change over time. I have not taken any of the wooden rounds off the hives at this stage. It will be interesting to see how the market accepts them. I gave a sample of the rectangular comb to a chef at a restaurant and asked him to give me some feedback as to its potential in a commercial kitchen setting. Will let you know what he comes up with. At the time his only comment was in relation to the frames being marked with a brand. I thought that was a good idea so I ordered a custom brand for the frames. At a cost of $50, it was a cheap investment.

Cheers for now,

Les

Lesgold · « **Reply #85 on:** January 10, 2022, 05:49:05 pm »

Hi Folks,

Just a bit of an update on the rounds comb sections. Pulled a couple of frames from a hive yesterday. (Including the frame from post #33) The rounds on top we?re foundationless with starter strips and we?re place on the hive 19 days ago. The girls were keen little workers and got the job done quickly.

Cheers

Les

Ben Framed · « **Reply #86 on:** January 20, 2022, 11:24:59 pm »

Thanks Les.... Keep the good ideas coming!!

Phillip

Lesgold · « **Reply #87 on:** January 21, 2022, 12:50:36 am »

Thanks Phillip. The flow that I thought was going to come soon is not going to happen. With all the rain that we have had, most of the buds that were due to open actually dropped off due to a flush of new growth. A walk in the bush this morning with binoculars confirmed this. I will most likely have to wait for a few months for a winter flow before new comb sections will be made. There is still the odd tree flowering here which may be enough to finish off some of the current ones off. I will finally have a bit of breathing space to rethink and adjust some of the designs if need be. The comb in bottles idea that you pointed out to me will be given a run in the next flow. I?m a bit of a tragic for trying out different or unusual ideas. I may even document it here as it still fits into this category.

Cheers

Les

Ben Framed · « **Reply #88 on:** January 21, 2022, 02:46:26 am »

Quote

The comb in bottles idea that you pointed out to me will be given a run in the next flow. I?m a bit of a tragic for trying out different or unusual ideas. I may even document it here as it still fits into this category.

That would be grand! I hope this works out for you. Actually I first heard of the comb honey in a jar from JurassicApiary and followed up by microage97. Both members here. Please keep us updated on this, As it?s winter here, my season will not begin until next Spring. I am very interested in the jar method as well and if I remember correctly, Jim134 is also interested..

Thanks,

Phillip

Lesgold · « **Reply #89 on:** January 21, 2022, 03:02:52 am »

Will do. It looks like a fool proof method to me as long as a few of the basic principles are followed. I?m already thinking about subtle changes to the way it could be done from a construction and setup perspective (to suit my workshop equipment) . The good aspect of this system is that it would only take about an hour to set up. It is so simple. The funny part about it is that we could be both experimenting with this system at the same time of year. (I should have a flow that should be in full swing during May, June and July) It will be good to compare notes. Extracting honey is not the most exciting task in the world. Having a bit of fun playing with new ideas tends to keep the motivation going.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #90 on:** January 21, 2022, 03:20:22 am »

Quote from: Lesgold on January 21, 2022, 03:02:52 am

Will do. It looks like a fool proof method to me as long as a few of the basic principles are followed. I?m already thinking about subtle changes to the way it could be done from a construction and setup perspective (to suit my workshop equipment) . The good aspect of this system is that it would only take about an hour to set up. It is so simple. The funny part about it is that we could be both experimenting with this system at the same time of year. (I should have a flow that should be in full swing during May, June and July) It will be good to compare notes. Extracting honey is not the most exciting task in the world. Having a bit of fun playing with new ideas tends to keep the motivation going.

Yes I agree. Sounds good and I?m looking forward to it!!

Phillip

Lesgold · « **Reply #91 on:** January 23, 2022, 05:53:18 pm »

Time to get started on the comb in jars project. What I will do is post each small stage as the project progresses so that people who are interested can comment, make suggestions for improvement or be critical when I make dumb mistakes (I?m pretty good at that. Should actually write a book on it.)

The first step for me is to select the test hive. I have a strong hive in mind that has a Ross Rounds super on it that is ready to be removed so that problem is sorted. The bees are still bringing in nectar and are building comb so I would expect that they take to the bottles. The only job to get sorted is the construction of the jar support board.

I had a bit of a think about the jars that I could use. Mason jars with a wide opening would have been a good choice but as this is an experiment, I decided not to spend money when I could use what I already had in stock. I decided to go with a 375ml jar. This is one of the most common jars used for food and is readily available. It has a wide opening relative to the width of the container, it?s cheap to buy and is the most popular jar size for my chunk honey.

For the experiment, I will use 12 jars. I could fit more but I will keep it simple to start with. I will buy a small piece of plywood today and cut it to size. I will come back when I have the material prepared.

Lesgold · « **Reply #92 on:** January 23, 2022, 09:55:17 pm »

Just picked up the plywood from the hardware store. Cut out the base and then used an off cut to test an idea I had. I used two hole saws to cut a stepped recess hole in the plywood.

The inner diameter hole matches the internal diameter of the jar and the larger stepped hole is the same as the outside diameter of the jar. This means that the threaded section is not exposed to the bees at all.

And from the inside

Hopefully this will keep propolis and wax off the thread and also prevent the jars from sliding out of position. The test piece worked out well so I will now attempt this on the base board.

Lesgold · « **Reply #93 on:** January 24, 2022, 01:51:52 am »

A 15 minute job and the base board is drilled out.

Sat the board on an upturned lid to see how much it distorted under load. With the jars attached, it remained flat.

Added some extra weight (about 7kg) and still very little distortion.

I?m now confident that the board should remain quite flat when the jars are filled with comb and honey. The final task is to add spacers underneath to provide bee space. If the board is to sit directly on top of another super, I would make the spacers about 5mm. If the board were to sit on top of a queen excluder, I would tend to look at about 9mm. I?ll split the difference and go for 8mm. That will be tomorrows job.

Jim134 · « **Reply #94 on:** January 24, 2022, 03:38:20 am »

Are you going.. To try to bait these bees to go into the jars ? I have never tried this... The people I know who have... Use comb Foundation... They did cut a piece of foundation a little bit bigger than the opening of the jar.. They would warm the foundation up a little bit.. And fold at the least they could... To place it in the jar... As bait for the honey bees.

BEE HAPPY Jim 134

Lesgold · « **Reply #95 on:** January 24, 2022, 06:00:51 am »

Hi Jim,

Yes I will bait the jars in a couple of ways. I was thinking of trying some beeswax in the bottom of some, some foundation starter strips in others and then a few sheets of foundation filling a lot of the cavity in others. I?m interested to see how the bees react to each.

Lesgold · « **Reply #96 on:** January 24, 2022, 05:10:02 pm »

The risers were glued and stapled in place last night. Here?s the end product.

I will play with adding foundation or starter strips after breakfast. May even get it onto a hive today.

Lesgold · « **Reply #97 on:** January 24, 2022, 06:25:52 pm »

Decided to put foundation into 4 of the jars. Cut strips to just under the inside diameter of the jars and trimmed the corners.

Bent the foundation to fit it into place and then used my fingers to straighten it.

The foundation sat quite well in the jar but I decided to attach it to the base of the jar with a bit of heat.

Allowed the jar to cool and then tweaked the position of the foundation.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #98 on:** January 24, 2022, 06:57:10 pm »

Les I hope this works out, looks good to me.......

Lesgold · « **Reply #99 on:** January 24, 2022, 07:32:54 pm »

Hope so Phillip. As it is another experiment, I decided to try starter strips as well. Grabbed one of my wife?s cloths pegs and modified it to hold foundation strips in place.

Stater strips were attached using the same method as above.

Finally, 4 of the jars had a few small trimmings of foundation dropped into the bottom and they were then heated from below.

I rolled the molten wax so that a small quantity ended up moving over the centre of the jar. You may be able to see the smear of wax. Everything is now ready to pop onto a hive. Will give feedback and take a few pics from time to time to show what system the bees like the most.