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Embedding wire in frames necessary?

8K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  Brent Bean 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,

I'm a newbee and I have a question regarding the horizontal wire which is usually embedded into the foundation using a battery charger or something like that. Is this really necessary? If left on the outside won't the bees just build on top of it and thereby embed the wire themselves?

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
I use a hot water heated spur embedder, not anything like heating the wires with a battery but I only have a few hives.

It seems to me that the foundation is not always flat against the wires without embedding in some way. If the wires are even slightly above the foundation it seems it would be a pain in the butt for the bees to build the cells around it. They might just fill the space up with wax to have a smooth bottom for the cell. I don't know what they would do or how it would affect cell building. I have seen swarms that have built their comb through branches of trees. I don't think having a wire coming through the cells would be good for the growth of larvae. It happens in a few places anyway, on the foundation toward the edges. The whole process IS time consuming but after getting that far along, embedding the wires usually goes pretty fast.
 
#4 ·
Embedding is nice.......... especially against warping. Having
the bees build around the wire is fine if you've weaved the
sheet between the wires, but that is a pain. Hot weather
is your enemy on foundation......

Electrical embedding is fast, and easy. Just bee careful not
to go too long or you'll cut the sheet. Just a touch or two
will usually do.
 
#5 ·
Thank y`all. I didn`t think it through enough I guess. I would agree that the un-embedded wired could pose a problem in the larva cell. Or a whole line of cells where the wire runs would be rendered useless. I will embed. I only have a few hives anyway but I was just curious about this.
 
#9 ·
I bought a commercial embedder, never could get it to work right. I got to thinking you sould be able to do this with a soldering gun. It was a little tricky at first, you have to learn the correct speed. But I think it works really well.
You know a Weller pistol grip unit with the tip removed and two
alligator clips would give you a nice embedder, with nice trigger
control. Good suggestion shy.....
 
#8 ·
Seems to me that I have read on here where someone was using a 9 volt battery, the square one used for lanterns,to heat the wires and then using the imbeding tool.
I have been experimenting with an ac adapter with a couple of alligator clamps (1.78 )
I have the adapter set for 12 volts . The wires heat up and I run the imbeder over the wires. It seems to work pretty well so far I have only done a couple of frames "experimenting" ....Rick
 
#10 ·
Yep, I used the 6-volt, square lantern battery from Wally World. But more and more I don't bother to embed wires. Yes, bees tend to leave that strip open and undrawn, but it's not too bad considering the savings of time. Of course, if you don't have that many frames to do, then go ahead and embed.

Grant
Jackson, MO http://www.25hives.homestead.com
 
#11 ·
I tried not embedding, admittedly in non-grooved frames, and had cases of the foundation collapsing (top folding over and bridging to adjacent frames) and creating a mess in the hive - since then I've embedded using my wife's hairdryer to warm the wax and a small screwdriver to push the wire in at 2" intervals - with tight wires it embeds nicely and is quick. Wax residue left on the hairdryer gets comments.... If you have grooved frames then I'd think it's a question of how you like to spend your time....

GD
 
#13 ·
- with tight wires it embeds nicely and is quick.
GD
Thanks Gone Dutch. But how tight is tight. I use a home made contraption that compresses the sides a bit and pull the wire tight by hand. I then wrap it around a 5/8 nail a few times and drive the nail in good and hard. When I release the frame the sides straighten out and the wires come really tight. But I noticed a few weeks later that they had gotten looser. I don`t know if this is due to the wire stretching or if its slipping where I nailed it. So my question is how do you fasten the wire?

MM
 
#12 ·
Hello everyone,

I'm a newbee and I have a question regarding the horizontal wire which is usually embedded into the foundation using a battery charger or something like that. Is this really necessary? If left on the outside won't the bees just build on top of it and thereby embed the wire themselves?

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
Definately not necessary if you go with plastic snap-in foundation! :D So much easier! Of course everyone has their own opinion on this! :p
 
#17 ·
Mich. Man, are you using brass eyelets in your end bars? They keep wire from cutting in to the wood and loosing.
Walt
Yepper. Brass eyelets.

I`m going to do some experiments soon on this. I`ll tie a knot at both nails by doing 2 loops in both directions. That should eliminate all possible slipping. If they still get loose, then it`ll have to be stretching... like a new guitar string will stretch and need re tunning . If no one else ever noticed this problem, maybe I got el-cheapo wire from my supplier!! Who knows. In any case, the problem is not severe.

MM
 
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