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Thread: drawn comb

  1. #1

    Lightbulb drawn comb

    In prep for module 1, how do you get drawn comb.

    I have done this in past years by putting a brood box with foundation on top of brood colony with 2 frames of brood inserted in middle. Is there other ways please? What about supers? How do you get the foundation drawn out?

  2. #2

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    The method you describe for getting brood foundation drawn is OK as is shook swarm, Bailey comb change, Demaree and the classic of giving a swarm frames of foundation (and feeding them). With supers add the super of foundation directly above BC + excluder during a heavy honey flow (with a super of drawn comb above it)

  3. #3
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forum Susan!

    I'm sure that these are all good answers for Module 1. However there are many ways of getting drawn comb. Much of my comb comes from adding a second brood box in mid or early spring to the top of strong colonies, rather like you but without splitting the brood nest across the boxes. The strong ones are keen to work upwards. On the rape I'm happy to get more bees and comb in preference to big honey crops. As simple as that. Also you can add single frames of foundation to the immediate outside of the spring brood nest, but do it too late and you can get drone brood rather than whole frames of worker. Murray McGregor adds frames of foundation in the early autumn to colonies on good forage or with feed on top, one at a time. At that time of year they will not be raising drones.

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    Gavin, I put frames with just starter strips in my brood boxes just to get drone comb but I am surprised that you would get drone comb on what I assume is worker foundation. Before I started using starter strips almost all my drone comb appeared on the underside of the frames. The rest appeared in damaged comb but almost never on worker foundation.

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    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Rosie, I do it much the same as you but I don't even use starter strips, just a frame with a double strand of fishing line in between two previously drawn combs.

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    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Certainly free-drawn comb when the colony is big enough in late spring tends to have a fair proportion of drone, but don't you often get some drone o the comb when they have only worker foundation at the same time? Get the same foundation drawn earlier, or in September, and it is all worker.

    Half expecting now to be outed as a purveyor of myths in Jon's talk to the UKBA next weekend ....

    G.

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    Just stick a brood box of fresh foundation over a strong colony, then feed them a gallon or two of syrup. They will guzzle on the syrup and draw out the foundation at the same time. Watch you don't stimulate swarming tho'.The comb is then taken off and distributed around colonies as needed.

  8. #8

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    You can, if you run double brood, stick foundation/starter strips in a new box in the middle of the two boxes. They draw it out so quick that if it is very warm weather it can get messy if you try pulling frames
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  9. #9

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    Thank you all the comments are helpful. Why would you want starter strips in brood frames?
    I thought they were only used in supers for selling honey comb, like Heather.

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  10. #10

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    Starter strips means more fresh wax instead of all foundation plus it allows the bees to draw out the ratio of worker to brood cells they want

    That's of course if you want to let them do that, some people prefer to determine their drone cell frames for varroa trapping.

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