greasy rabbets

[psycokeeper]

since crisco shortening is used to make grease patties has any one ever brushed crisco on the hive rabbets and on the ears of the top bar to keep them from being propolized?

would this idea be especially effective with polyhives and plastic frames to preserve the integrity of the rabbet.

[tecumseh]

at first I thought greasy rabbits...

no I have not, but it does sound like it would be a highly attractive lore for the small hive beetle. given this problem I look forward to the time a new hive has fully propolized the rabbets.

[BjornBee]

I think a grease patty in the center of the brood chamber is one thing. The bees somewhat use it and protect the patty so to speak. Having the end bar or rabbets covered or coated in criso, just seems like you would be inviting problems with ants, beeteles, and whatever else(mold?, wood damage over long periods???)

As a side note...I personally think the mainstream thoughts of beekeepers over the years in regards to propolis has been wrong. We(bee industry)strived to breed bees for low propolis production. I believe the propolis is a vital ingredient to hive health. I know psyco did not say anything about propolis beyond just trying to keep the end bars free from the stuff. And thats always nice. But when I started changing my thought process of the importance of propolis in the hive, it bothers me alot less in seeing it and dealing with it.

[honeyman46408]

FGMO will help keep propolis off end bars, I give all my new boxes 2 coats of FGMO and let it soak in, also helps with bur comb on top bars.

[AstroBee]

My personel experience is that if you're inspecting your hive more than a couple times a year then propolis isn't a real problem. A quick scrap occasionaly is usually all it takes. I scrap out my supers in the middle of winter to help with removal. I'd be a little concerned too about helping SHB in any way. They love little nooks around the end bars and crisco may just make that space more appealing.

[carbide]

Even though SHB may be a realistic concern, I've yet to see any SHB in our area. The state inspectors in our area have yet to see any SHB in our area as of the last time I talked to them. That being said, I do believe that an excessive use of crisco could definitely attract more ants and such to the hive then you'd be interested in having around.

[magnet-man]

Petroleum jelly would likely work well and not be a food source.

[psycokeeper]

well, this sparked some interesting dialog. attracting unwanted visitors was never a thought. glad i posted. i intentionally suggested crisco because it is not petroleum based and is known to be safe. i was thinking more in line of just painting a light coating on the surfaces that seem to stick the most. having read the part by Bjornbee about the proplis acting as a santitizing agent leads me to a thought for another thread on hygene. thanks everyone for your input. i am trying to understand what it is beekeepers do. it is very interesting to me. so much so i may buy some equipment if i can get reemployed soon. it has been six weeks already.

[Michael Bush]

I have used FGMO before and it does cut down on propolizing. However I see propolizing as the least of my problems, if it is indeed a problem at all.

[wayacoyote]

my problem with greasy rabbets started when we put my girlfriend's rabbit cage in a damaged chicken tractor so the rabbets could eat the grass. The door flopped open and the rabbets flew, err hopped, the coop. I've no idea where those greasy rabbets got off to..

Waya

[dickm]

It should be mentioned that one way to keep frames movable is to squeeze them tightly together from the beginning and equalize the leftover space. This is not possible with less than 10 frames and is a disadvantage of using 8 or 9 in a super.

[dickm]

OOPs

Dickm

[ December 09, 2006, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: dickm ]

[mwjohnson]

Hi pyscokeeper,
as already stated the propolis is good,and once you accept that,then it's kinda like the dandelions in your lawn. smile.gif

I bought 100 of those plastic frame rest protectors to make frame removal easier,gotta actually put them in sometime to see if they work or not.

hmmm,When I read your log-in name I figured you were a crazy beekeeper...I guess not if you don't have bees (yet),so I'm guessing you are a psychologist?