You are welcome! Thanks for the comment and for learning more about bees with us! We are constantly learning more and it is our pleasure to share as we discover more!
I watch all of your great videos. I love the camera operator! You are a lucky man son. Back to the bees. I want to thank you for such detailed videos on bee keeping . You have the best place for all to learn without pushing us to buy a bobble head lol 😂🤣 Keep them coming Kamon and Laurel 👍🏼💖😘
I’m a new beek and I REALLY appreciate videos like this! We were gifted a hive a little over a week ago and been into the hive a couple of times now seeing how the bees are drawing out the comb in the new box. This video explains a lot of what I am seeing so far!! Thank You!!
Kamon, I really appreciate you answering my question!! That will help a lot. I had already watched the video you had on waxing ing the frames. Good stuff.. Thanks Again..
Thank you. Laurels giggling again.. 😂. I learn something new every time I watch your videos. I'm still struggling with bees. But being disabled it's pretty much a struggle for anything..worth doing. And bees are..ADDICTIVE..? Yes I've been wary of Chinese wax. There's a little farm store here that sells mann lake stuff. Really isn't any more expensive.. for me.. as I rarely have the bees or funds to order over $100.. and I'm supporting my towns small businesses. God bless!
I got the pierco triple waxed all plastic frames last year and put them in the bottom of a demaree split and the bees drew 19 medium frames out and filled them in 2 weeks. On another hive I had an emergency and had to buy an assembled super from amazon, bees drew wonky columns. You're 100% right!
The funny thing I hear older beekeepers say is you can't learn from someone off of TH-cam that's in a different state than you,you might not be able to winter your bee's like a beekeeper from a different state, or copy everything they do exactly, but telling someone they can't learn from a guy like kamon or anyone he trusts to suggest you watch is bad advice. The knowledge they share from the years of experience for free on TH-cam when most didn't have it to learn from is unbelievable. Thank you Kamon for what you teach and for the other TH-cam beekeepers you suggest, I watch and learn from them all. The one beekeeper you mentioned in a video and made me look up has no channel, but others share. The wife and I just traveled 12 hours one way to attend his bee school for three days and it was absolutely worth every minute of our drive. Thank you more than I can ever say on TH-cam for saying the name Kent Williams,he's a wealth of knowledge and we learned so much in three days that would have taken us years to learn. We also purchased two of his mated queens 👍👍✌️
Please make more basic information video's like this. You do a great job explaining things. I'm sure it's because Laurel writes your script but in any case, it's always very informative LOL. Even for a 3rd generation beekeeper like myself, I always pick up little tidbits or am reminded of something that I've forgotten, lol! Keep up the great work!
Perfect timing bro, I went into information overload 1 ½hrs ago and it seems the more I learn the less I contain....thank you so much for refreshing what I forgot. God bless you and yours. Ps :as of this morning black locust still in bloom, blackberry opening, and was surprised to see tulip poplar already been blooming here in taft,tn
Thanks Kamon for putting this on here. I've recently moved from Kansas to Eastern Tennessee and got my first 2 (on my own) nucs. I was mentored for a year in KS, and it's a different critter here definitely. I appreciate hearing the advice from experience.
Super concise informative video I so appreciate you. It was like going back to the school all over again! I had forgotten how much I had forgot. Definitely subscribing!
Appreciate the education. I'm first year and have zero drawn medium frames. When I put the second deep box on in a few weeks, should I put a medium frame in it to get them to draw it out, and then transfer it into the first honey super once I add it? At 5:15, you demo putting a drawn medium in to get them up there and draw them out. I'm not sure how to bait them up to the first medium other than spray some syrup unless I put one in the second deep to get it drawn out.
Great information as always, Kamon! Currently my ladies have taken the wax down to plastic in spots and along the bottom of some frames and they won't drawl it now, and it's not practical for me to bring those frames in for a re-coat, so I'm going to try to rub wax into the spots of those frames with a wax stick and hope that's enough to get them to drawl it.
It works really good and the bees love it as long as it is fresh and it has not been drying out. They just have to be wired in to extract at a decent speed and to keep from sagging in the frame.
I have a question about using your extra be power to build comb after the flow. So if your flow ends June 15, when are you taking your supers off and replacing them with comb that needs built out? This happening around July 4 or a little bit later? How does that timing work?
I think you are confusing positive and negative with introvert and extrovert. Kamon is incredibly extroverted due to this he has a different presence on camera than Nathan.
I melt the comb I have from my hives, and melt with propane flame over plastic foundation and spread over with a pice of wood I have around, I use that shims for starting foundation also so I don’t see a problem not having the waxing flat but your advice is welcome, thanks for your videos, helps me and others, thanks again!
K,thought you were a bit fakey at first. But as times gone by your doing a service. Your early interview with Ian is fantastic, that communication with a real farmer is where we need to be. Gorilla planting of native wild flowers is where I’m at, ditches road grass. Thanks man. George H
I use honey supers as queen excluders. If you manipulate the frames right, no excluder is needed. The queen will not go past a box of honey to lay in a box above it. And she tends to lay in the center of the hive. Once the end frames have nectar in all the cells I move them to the center of the super where the queen would normally lay. If she comes up she sees nothing but nectar and goes back down. Took me a while to figure out this Stewart's Supering method! LOL
Thanks for taking the time to comment, but I would say normally she won't go beyond nectar. One time I had an incredible queen that went up to my third super just to lay, when I found her; she was lost, so I put her back down in bottom box and she moved back up to brood chamber and was on her way, always exceptions, yes
Great job Kamon!! Feeding syrup to 3 swarms right now drawing a LOT of frames!!! I always have more drawn comb each year....and still never enough!!! 😆 Take care!!!
My wife bought me a 10 frame medium with frames and foundation from Tractor Supply and I had to wax coat the foundation because there was none on there. It said on the box the foundation was wax coated but that was a lie.
QUESTION: What would you recommend if you are trying to do a super of comb honey with single brood box management? Would you have them start a regular honey super first and then put the comb honey super above that?
👋 Hi Kamon Got into some hives...Saw eggs being layed before complete comb drawn. Also noticed they were taking wax off the frames to cap brood I'm now feeding again thanks to your viedo. Only got 2 1/2 inspections in here Conesus Lake NY bc weather has been so bad. Rain and freezing nights. Looks like we may be getting a break in the weather next week.
Hello Kamon, another great video! Good to see you posting new content. It would be helpful when purchasing waxed foundation if the beekeeper knew how much wax was applied, that is how many grams, and when. I don't know that I have seen this information on frames or foundation. Will a 3# package draw comb like a swarm? If not how can a bee keeper stimulate bees to draw comb like a swam will?
A great package should draw almost as good as a swarm. A lot depends on the queen. A strong layer forces the bees to draw more to keep up. Also as you know she makes more bees and they draw more down the road. It would be nice if they put how much wax was on there foundations!
Excellent …excellent ..!!! Good job talking to the new bee ..so many beginners are overwhelmed and scared to death that anything they may do will kill the bees or make them leave ..I tell them “just use a little common sense and do not over think this “ ..maybe one day soon you can make it down to monkey foot bee club and speak to our people ..
Love your Channel very helpful new beekeeper caught a swarm last week and just caught another swarm today but I only have one Hive don't know what's going on both swarms are right outside the hive I checked the one I caught last week and there was still a ton of bees in their it wasn't from them
When I had messed up old comb with bad stuff I used to scrape plastic foundation and then Compressed air blow gun up touching the foundation and it removes really fast and then rewax, but now that I go to the bee expo I just pack my expedition to the roof lol
9 fat combs will produce the same amount of honey as 10 skinny combs. Uncapping is much easier when using 9 frames. I only know of one company selling frames I would put out without adding additional wax. But they are pricey !
Newbee Question....Beekeeper for all of 49 days. I want to have a resource hive in a nuc box and I got two of them. My hive set up is 1 deep 1 med for brood and I live in NE Florida so this is what the Bee Association recommended. But Can I add waxed foundations in the bottom deep to encourage the bees to build comb without messing up my hives? How do I store that comb should they draw it? Can I take it out and put it in the NUC box without bees without it getting robbed? My Bees are not taking the 1-1 so much now, but they are bringing in lots of nectar. I am learning comb is Gold but I have a lot of foundation frames that need comb.
Great tips. I think one reason a lot of new beekeepers fail is that they do not understand the different practices between having drawn comb vs foundation. For example with swarm control a lot of books say add another box in early spring to prevent swarming but they don't explain that bees don't view foundation as space and bees will not draw comb for the queen if the temperatures are too low and there is not enough food. So the bees swarm and the new beekeepers think they did everything right but in reality the "add space advice" basically requires drawn comb.
Can you do a video on tips to keep you used comb good over winter? Bugs and hive beetles and wax moths get into mine every time unless I put in a freezer. I tried the para moth too. It’s such a pain.
I run medium supers (8-frame) and put the whole box with frames into tall kitchen trash bags and use painters tape to seal them up... of course I've run all the frames through the freezer for 48 hours first - that kills the critters (wax moth and hive beetles). Works fine and never had much problem with wax moth - unless I waited too long to bag them up once out of the freezer and that would be on me not the method. Come spring just cut off the bag and they are ready to go on the hive. Plus I always try to clean up the frames of excess bridge comb and the "ear propolis" and scrape down the frame rests too so everything is spic and span for spring honey flow! I feet it is worth the effort. Use this method for both brood comb and honey comb but be sure to separate the two types of comb and mark the content on the outside of the bag with sharpie marker and stack accordingly. Boxes are stored in an unheated but insulated garage all winter.
For the sake of discussion; Bees will draw comb on fresh wax before/better than old. With that said I plan on waxing foundation before putting it into the hive. So why not get foundation with single coat wax?
Just starting out. Got my nuc settled into a brand new hive. No pre drawn combs. 😢 I put the feed to them and I’m hoping the will begin drawing out the comb on the five empty frames they have. Any pointers? I put the nuc in the middle empty frames on outside. Cheers from Oklahoma
Thanks for explaining in detail the whole process. Just one question on making more drawn out deep frames as a beginner. It was mentioned that we take out a deep frame with brood and replace it with a new foundation frame. What do we do with the brood frame we took out, assuming we have no other hive to put it in nor there is a need to make nucs? Do we leave it in front of the hive so that bees will clean it when the brood dies and then put it in storage? Thanks again for all the info you share!!
If using wax older frames that have been sitting out for a while and have gathered dust, do you wash them out before re-waxing? Or do you just put the new coat right over?
Thank you so much! I so very much appreciate your videos. After 5 years I’m suddenly having big problems with bees drawing out comb during a flow. Figuring now after watching this it’s probably because my “new” plastic foundation that’s been hanging out in the box is just all old and brittle. Off to get some foam rollers and re-wax today! Thank you!!
Have you tried motherlode black foundation frames? Ive been using them for two years now , and figured they build comb better on them if I wax them myself. Whats your opinion on them?
I’m picking a 5 frame drawn comb with a queen (maybe 5000+ bees) to start out my first box. Could I put those frames in the middle then put three short(short super size frames) on one side of the 5 drawn comb frames and 2 on the other side. Then move those shorts to a super box once they’re drawn (along with 5 non drawn in broad box and 5 non drawn in super) ? Thanks!
I purchased BEEXTM and it smelled straight like chemicals! I had to off gas it for a few months in my hot shed and coat it heavy for the bees to draw on it.
Perfect timing, Kamon. I have a new bee yard starting on drawn comb. Would you suggest putting foundation with one drawn comb in the second box to increase my drawn comb inventory? Is this the most effective way to increase drawn comb inventory?
After extracting, can I put the box of frames back on the stack so the bees can get leftover honey from the cells? Or will that cause robbing? I love the comb on the frames after extraction🎉
What about freezing frames with comb? This is my 2nd year. My first year was not successful due to not enough comb. Long story, but zi quickly realized the value of having stock drawn frames and comb, so I froze what I had.
So, if my old comb has sat in empty box 9 months, will it be too dry for the bees to use? How can you tell if it's too dry? I also recently heard on a David Burns video that even if old comb has some mold on it, that the bees cleaned it up & used it.
Depends, if the bees take to it and use it, let it be. If the bees don't, I would recommend scrapping it and replacing it with pure bees wax of known (good) quality.
Excellent video, Kamon. You probably want see this, but I need to ask. We had a very bad hail storm yesterday that caused significant damage south of Charlotte,NC. The flow was on and now I'm not so sure what to expect. Have you ever experience this during the flow? I'm sure blackberry, poplar, holly and others that were blooming have been beat to death.
Video about the waxing and I agree totally..my problem is that my bees do not want to go through a excluder.. why is this a problem for some bees? I had to remove all of mine.
Nice video well explained and yes there is definitely a lot to it. Just a tip though if you have to say something bad about fraud make sure to say something good about the Chinese to counteract that nesesary comment.
Learn how to easily wax or rewax your plastic foundations here - th-cam.com/video/6urrht0Falk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=TmKh8RawOFjogGNj
Five year beekeeper here, and I used to think I knew everything. I rediscovered your videos and I'm learning so much. Thanks for making these.
You are welcome! Thanks for the comment and for learning more about bees with us! We are constantly learning more and it is our pleasure to share as we discover more!
Has to be one of the best bee videos I saw, overall.
Thanks!
More beginners need to watch this - making comb is part of the process and must be paid attention to . . .
I watch all of your great videos. I love the camera operator! You are a lucky man son. Back to the bees. I want to thank you for such detailed videos on bee keeping . You have the best place for all to learn without pushing us to buy a bobble head lol 😂🤣
Keep them coming Kamon and Laurel 👍🏼💖😘
Enjoyed this Kamon. Good information.
Thanks Bruce!
Good to see you again buddy. Been missing you. Happy Beeking.
I’m a new beek and I REALLY appreciate videos like this! We were gifted a hive a little over a week ago and been into the hive a couple of times now seeing how the bees are drawing out the comb in the new box. This video explains a lot of what I am seeing so far!! Thank You!!
Kamon, I really appreciate you answering my question!! That will help a lot. I had already watched the video you had on waxing ing the frames. Good stuff.. Thanks Again..
My pleasure!! Thanks for inspiring me to make this video!
Thanks!
Thanks Glenn! See you in the next video!
Happy to see you back Kamon been a while you didn't upload 😅
Your channel is growing, 100k soon 💗
Love the name Blackberry! Makes the best honey! Maybe 100k soon but quality over quantity is what I say. We are fixing to crank it up a notch!
Holy smokes Kamon glad to see you back in action!
Thanks man we are back and ready to kick butt and take names!
Thank you. Laurels giggling again.. 😂. I learn something new every time I watch your videos. I'm still struggling with bees. But being disabled it's pretty much a struggle for anything..worth doing. And bees are..ADDICTIVE..? Yes I've been wary of Chinese wax. There's a little farm store here that sells mann lake stuff. Really isn't any more expensive.. for me.. as I rarely have the bees or funds to order over $100.. and I'm supporting my towns small businesses. God bless!
Perfect timing, Kamon! Thanks.
I got the pierco triple waxed all plastic frames last year and put them in the bottom of a demaree split and the bees drew 19 medium frames out and filled them in 2 weeks. On another hive I had an emergency and had to buy an assembled super from amazon, bees drew wonky columns. You're 100% right!
This video was SUPREMELY helpful, comb management is one of the more overlooked topics by beekeeping content creators.
Welcome back to the TH-cam world!
The funny thing I hear older beekeepers say is you can't learn from someone off of TH-cam that's in a different state than you,you might not be able to winter your bee's like a beekeeper from a different state, or copy everything they do exactly, but telling someone they can't learn from a guy like kamon or anyone he trusts to suggest you watch is bad advice. The knowledge they share from the years of experience for free on TH-cam when most didn't have it to learn from is unbelievable. Thank you Kamon for what you teach and for the other TH-cam beekeepers you suggest, I watch and learn from them all. The one beekeeper you mentioned in a video and made me look up has no channel, but others share. The wife and I just traveled 12 hours one way to attend his bee school for three days and it was absolutely worth every minute of our drive. Thank you more than I can ever say on TH-cam for saying the name Kent Williams,he's a wealth of knowledge and we learned so much in three days that would have taken us years to learn. We also purchased two of his mated queens 👍👍✌️
Please make more basic information video's like this. You do a great job explaining things. I'm sure it's because Laurel writes your script but in any case, it's always very informative LOL. Even for a 3rd generation beekeeper like myself, I always pick up little tidbits or am reminded of something that I've forgotten, lol! Keep up the great work!
Thank you! Will do!
I've never seen Laura, but from time to time I hear her giggle .
Great Video my friend…. Drawn Comb is Gold to a bee keeper
Perfect timing bro, I went into information overload 1 ½hrs ago and it seems the more I learn the less I contain....thank you so much for refreshing what I forgot. God bless you and yours. Ps :as of this morning black locust still in bloom, blackberry opening, and was surprised to see tulip poplar already been blooming here in taft,tn
I have some new foundation to wax right now. Perfect timing Kamon! Thanks
Thanks Kamon for putting this on here. I've recently moved from Kansas to Eastern Tennessee and got my first 2 (on my own) nucs. I was mentored for a year in KS, and it's a different critter here definitely. I appreciate hearing the advice from experience.
Super concise informative video I so appreciate you. It was like going back to the school all over again! I had forgotten how much I had forgot. Definitely subscribing!
Appreciate the education. I'm first year and have zero drawn medium frames. When I put the second deep box on in a few weeks, should I put a medium frame in it to get them to draw it out, and then transfer it into the first honey super once I add it? At 5:15, you demo putting a drawn medium in to get them up there and draw them out. I'm not sure how to bait them up to the first medium other than spray some syrup unless I put one in the second deep to get it drawn out.
That you kamon. I really appreciate it. Helps me more than you know
Thanks for the great info!🐝
Wing Yong’s foundation 😂 man I love your videos you crack me up! Very informative and interesting mate. Tom (England, uk)
Great video, I’m new beekeeper, this is great knowledge. Thx
Thanks!
Great video. Thanks.
Great information! Thank You!!
Glad it was helpful!
I need to get on my comb drawing game this year.
Great information as always, Kamon! Currently my ladies have taken the wax down to plastic in spots and along the bottom of some frames and they won't drawl it now, and it's not practical for me to bring those frames in for a re-coat, so I'm going to try to rub wax into the spots of those frames with a wax stick and hope that's enough to get them to drawl it.
Yes so glad to see you Kamon! Comb is gold! Great video!! How do you feel about wired and all wax foundation?
It works really good and the bees love it as long as it is fresh and it has not been drying out. They just have to be wired in to extract at a decent speed and to keep from sagging in the frame.
I have a question about using your extra be power to build comb after the flow. So if your flow ends June 15, when are you taking your supers off and replacing them with comb that needs built out? This happening around July 4 or a little bit later? How does that timing work?
Kamon you are always so positive in your videos. Duck River could learn a lesson from you that's for sure!
Oh heck, I love Nathan’s perspective of reality.
I hope he doesn’t change a thing
Me too! He is doing an awesome job dealing with the stress and still creating content.
I love Nathan’s perspective as well. It so interesting to see the in’s and out’s and up’s and down’s of what he’s going through to build his business.
I think you are confusing positive and negative with introvert and extrovert. Kamon is incredibly extroverted due to this he has a different presence on camera than Nathan.
Thanks 4 the video. 😊 good information.
I melt the comb I have from my hives, and melt with propane flame over plastic foundation and spread over with a pice of wood I have around, I use that shims for starting foundation also so I don’t see a problem not having the waxing flat but your advice is welcome, thanks for your videos, helps me and others, thanks again!
Great video full of tips!
K,thought you were a bit fakey at first. But as times gone by your doing a service. Your early interview with Ian is fantastic, that communication with a real farmer is where we need to be. Gorilla planting of native wild flowers is where I’m at, ditches road grass. Thanks man. George H
What wood do you make the hives from?
White pine and Tennessee cypress
I use honey supers as queen excluders. If you manipulate the frames right, no excluder is needed. The queen will not go past a box of honey to lay in a box above it. And she tends to lay in the center of the hive. Once the end frames have nectar in all the cells I move them to the center of the super where the queen would normally lay. If she comes up she sees nothing but nectar and goes back down. Took me a while to figure out this Stewart's Supering method! LOL
Thanks for taking the time to comment, but I would say normally she won't go beyond nectar. One time I had an incredible queen that went up to my third super just to lay, when I found her; she was lost, so I put her back down in bottom box and she moved back up to brood chamber and was on her way, always exceptions, yes
Great job Kamon!! Feeding syrup to 3 swarms right now drawing a LOT of frames!!! I always have more drawn comb each year....and still never enough!!! 😆 Take care!!!
I paint a good coat of wax on my plastic foundation and it makes a huge difference.
My wife bought me a 10 frame medium with frames and foundation from Tractor Supply and I had to wax coat the foundation because there was none on there. It said on the box the foundation was wax coated but that was a lie.
A very good video, I really appreciated the info ! Thanks !
In denmark we still use full wax foundation. How many times and i reuse drawn up if i keep them from moths. ❤
Kaman, I really these videos. Its nothing new to me but I enjoy this type of education
QUESTION: What would you recommend if you are trying to do a super of comb honey with single brood box management? Would you have them start a regular honey super first and then put the comb honey super above that?
👋 Hi Kamon Got into some hives...Saw eggs being layed before complete comb drawn. Also noticed they were taking wax off the frames to cap brood I'm now feeding again thanks to your viedo. Only got 2 1/2 inspections in here Conesus Lake NY bc weather has been so bad. Rain and freezing nights. Looks like we may be getting a break in the weather next week.
Thank you for all the info
You bet!
Hello Kamon, another great video! Good to see you posting new content.
It would be helpful when purchasing waxed foundation if the beekeeper knew how much wax was applied, that is how many grams, and when. I don't know that I have seen this information on frames or foundation.
Will a 3# package draw comb like a swarm? If not how can a bee keeper stimulate bees to draw comb like a swam will?
A great package should draw almost as good as a swarm. A lot depends on the queen. A strong layer forces the bees to draw more to keep up. Also as you know she makes more bees and they draw more down the road.
It would be nice if they put how much wax was on there foundations!
Excellent …excellent ..!!! Good job talking to the new bee ..so many beginners are overwhelmed and scared to death that anything they may do will kill the bees or make them leave ..I tell them “just use a little common sense and do not over think this “ ..maybe one day soon you can make it down to monkey foot bee club and speak to our people ..
Love your Channel very helpful new beekeeper caught a swarm last week and just caught another swarm today but I only have one Hive don't know what's going on both swarms are right outside the hive I checked the one I caught last week and there was still a ton of bees in their it wasn't from them
Good information, thank you!
You bet!
How do I keep them from getting destroyed by all manner of of things while in storage?
Sounds like a video!
Good way to clean foundations
Scrape them, soak in a tub, then pressure wash. Tim Huffman has a good video on this
When I had messed up old comb with bad stuff I used to scrape plastic foundation and then Compressed air blow gun up touching the foundation and it removes really fast and then rewax, but now that I go to the bee expo I just pack my expedition to the roof lol
Very informative and interesting, thank you, from the UK
Glad it was helpful
Awesome video! Thank you
Glad you liked it!
I’ve coated with foam rollers and they fall apart. What kind of rollers are you using?
9 fat combs will produce the same amount of honey as 10 skinny combs. Uncapping is much easier when using 9 frames. I only know of one company selling frames I would put out without adding additional wax. But they are pricey !
Who is it? Premier?
@@jbnnm657 Triple wax. Acorn has another good one though !
@jbnnm657 I use Premier and have had zero issues with bees drawing comb. I do order the double or triple waxed though.
Will checker boarding new and old comb encourage drawing out comb
Newbee Question....Beekeeper for all of 49 days. I want to have a resource hive in a nuc box and I got two of them. My hive set up is 1 deep 1 med for brood and I live in NE Florida so this is what the Bee Association recommended. But Can I add waxed foundations in the bottom deep to encourage the bees to build comb without messing up my hives? How do I store that comb should they draw it? Can I take it out and put it in the NUC box without bees without it getting robbed? My Bees are not taking the 1-1 so much now, but they are bringing in lots of nectar. I am learning comb is Gold but I have a lot of foundation frames that need comb.
What are you feeding the bees after the flow to help them build more comb? sugar syrup 1:1?
Great tips. I think one reason a lot of new beekeepers fail is that they do not understand the different practices between having drawn comb vs foundation. For example with swarm control a lot of books say add another box in early spring to prevent swarming but they don't explain that bees don't view foundation as space and bees will not draw comb for the queen if the temperatures are too low and there is not enough food. So the bees swarm and the new beekeepers think they did everything right but in reality the "add space advice" basically requires drawn comb.
Can you do a video on tips to keep you used comb good over winter? Bugs and hive beetles and wax moths get into mine every time unless I put in a freezer. I tried the para moth too. It’s such a pain.
I run medium supers (8-frame) and put the whole box with frames into tall kitchen trash bags and use painters tape to seal them up... of course I've run all the frames through the freezer for 48 hours first - that kills the critters (wax moth and hive beetles). Works fine and never had much problem with wax moth - unless I waited too long to bag them up once out of the freezer and that would be on me not the method. Come spring just cut off the bag and they are ready to go on the hive. Plus I always try to clean up the frames of excess bridge comb and the "ear propolis" and scrape down the frame rests too so everything is spic and span for spring honey flow! I feet it is worth the effort. Use this method for both brood comb and honey comb but be sure to separate the two types of comb and mark the content on the outside of the bag with sharpie marker and stack accordingly. Boxes are stored in an unheated but insulated garage all winter.
I use old freezers that are not turned on but have a tight seal
I wish I would have found your video before ordering supplies.
Nice info on the comb draw ...so could I put 2 nucs side by side or keep them apart for a few days thks
For the sake of discussion;
Bees will draw comb on fresh wax before/better than old. With that said I plan on waxing foundation before putting it into the hive. So why not get foundation with single coat wax?
Just starting out.
Got my nuc settled into a brand new hive. No pre drawn combs. 😢
I put the feed to them and I’m hoping the will begin drawing out the comb on the five empty frames they have.
Any pointers? I put the nuc in the middle empty frames on outside. Cheers from Oklahoma
As always great information ✅️👍🍺🍺🍻
Thanks for explaining in detail the whole process. Just one question on making more drawn out deep frames as a beginner. It was mentioned that we take out a deep frame with brood and replace it with a new foundation frame. What do we do with the brood frame we took out, assuming we have no other hive to put it in nor there is a need to make nucs? Do we leave it in front of the hive so that bees will clean it when the brood dies and then put it in storage? Thanks again for all the info you share!!
If using wax older frames that have been sitting out for a while and have gathered dust, do you wash them out before re-waxing? Or do you just put the new coat right over?
Hi Angela! If it is very light dust I just go right over it! If not, use a strong blower or water to get it off
Thank you so much! I so very much appreciate your videos. After 5 years I’m suddenly having big problems with bees drawing out comb during a flow. Figuring now after watching this it’s probably because my “new” plastic foundation that’s been hanging out in the box is just all old and brittle. Off to get some foam rollers and re-wax today!
Thank you!!
@@angelasbeestuff You are very welcome!
Kamon if your foundation is dusty can they be hosed down. How about wax comb.
Hose it down and add a coat is what I do. If it is fresh with just a little dust it may not need a wax coat
Have you tried motherlode black foundation frames? Ive been using them for two years now , and figured they build comb better on them if I wax them myself. Whats your opinion on them?
I have used their stuff and it works pretty well. I just don't like anyones full plastic frames. I do like Motherlodes foundation.
Love your jacket
I like how you didn't forget the 3rd year questions....That's when Beekeepers have it all figured out anyway right? :P
Kamon, Looks like the black deep foundation in the frame is warped? Got good bee space?
Getting them to draw the wax is one thing, how do you get them to not store the syrup they are supposed to be using to draw out foundation?
I’m picking a 5 frame drawn comb with a queen (maybe 5000+ bees) to start out my first box. Could I put those frames in the middle then put three short(short super size frames) on one side of the 5 drawn comb frames and 2 on the other side. Then move those shorts to a super box once they’re drawn (along with 5 non drawn in broad box and 5 non drawn in super) ? Thanks!
I purchased BEEXTM and it smelled straight like chemicals! I had to off gas it for a few months in my hot shed and coat it heavy for the bees to draw on it.
Perfect timing, Kamon. I have a new bee yard starting on drawn comb. Would you suggest putting foundation with one drawn comb in the second box to increase my drawn comb inventory? Is this the most effective way to increase drawn comb inventory?
That is exactly what I would do.
How do you store all the extra comb for the winter?
Having back-up combs for sure a great idea but... how on earth do you keep the blooming wax moth out??😢
I would freeze the frames for a couple days then store them in an insect proof container.
I have my Amazon app open what is a good wax?
I would love to hear Kamons thought on BtA on super combs
Comb storage?
How do you store your combs? I am constantly losing comb to wax moths.
After extracting, can I put the box of frames back on the stack so the bees can get leftover honey from the cells? Or will that cause robbing? I love the comb on the frames after extraction🎉
What about freezing frames with comb? This is my 2nd year. My first year was not successful due to not enough comb. Long story, but zi quickly realized the value of having stock drawn frames and comb, so I froze what I had.
Freezing is the best way to preserve it if you have the space! Happy beekeeping!
So, if my old comb has sat in empty box 9 months, will it be too dry for the bees to use?
How can you tell if it's too dry?
I also recently heard on a David Burns video that even if old comb has some mold on it, that the bees cleaned it up & used it.
What should I do if I have China wax mixed in with my bees wax and rolled on my foundation
Depends, if the bees take to it and use it, let it be. If the bees don't, I would recommend scrapping it and replacing it with pure bees wax of known (good) quality.
Excellent video, Kamon. You probably want see this, but I need to ask. We had a very bad hail storm yesterday that caused significant damage south of Charlotte,NC. The flow was on and now I'm not so sure what to expect. Have you ever experience this during the flow? I'm sure blackberry, poplar, holly and others that were blooming have been beat to death.
love hearing the occasional frog in the background.
I have some foundation from Dadant. The bees hate it. 😅
Video about the waxing and I agree totally..my problem is that my bees do not want to go through a excluder.. why is this a problem for some bees? I had to remove all of mine.
Wheres Jimmy? We need him back too
Eating all the profits! We will have to get him back on!
Nice video well explained and yes there is definitely a lot to it. Just a tip though if you have to say something bad about fraud make sure to say something good about the Chinese to counteract that nesesary comment.
Ehhhh they make good food?
@@kamonreynolds haha
I'm comb poor right now. I need to try and build comb after the honey harvest this year so this is great info. Thanks for the video K & L.
Thanks Dave good luck!
its now august....is it too late to add boxes and hope they will draw out new comb, I'm in north Louisiana
ROLL TIDE !!