Crooked comb

[mhorowit]

I installed my first package last week. I peered into the hive after three days but the cluster was too big to see any comb. Today I was determined to check to insure no crooked comb. Sure enuf comb is connected to adjacent comb. I carefully separated hive from the wall, and ran the bread knife upward between the combs, so eventually all was disconnected.i tried straightening the comb by pressing the side of the comb towards the midline. I have a two bar wide stand. Would I have been better off removing th bar from the hive body and doing my manipulation outside the hive? Mike

[mhorowit]

I installed my first package last week. I peered into the hive after three days but the cluster was too big to see any comb. Today I was determined to check to insure no crooked comb. Sure enuf comb is connected to adjacent comb. I carefully separated hive from the wall, and ran the bread knife upward between the combs, so eventually all was disconnected.i tried straightening the comb by pressing the side of the comb towards the midline. I have a two bar wide stand. Would I have been better off removing th bar from the hive body and doing my manipulation outside the hive? Mike

Yes, take the bar out of the hive and put it on that stand; you can't do careful work with your hands deep in the hive. Then brush off the bees! Now the secret...to get comb back on track,cut back along the bar to the place the comb began to turn. If you simply push the new comb back to the midline, it will just spring back. To hold it in place, simply smush the hive in place against the face of the bar. Next, i'll describe how to make a support for holding a piece of comb that has separated from the bar, using only a beer can,tin snips, a pair of pliers and a small nuclear device.

[Merlinspop]

Thumbtacks work well for holding the comb in line. The bees will reattach the comb, fix the smooshed bits, and build around the tack (I'm talking about the kind with about a quarter inch of plastic).

[mhorowit]

Thumbtacks work well for holding the comb in line. The bees will reattach the comb, fix the smooshed bits, and build around the tack (I'm talking about the kind with about a quarter inch of plastic).

Geeze... the easiest solutions.... thanks

[mrobinson]

Tip: pour the pins from the box that they came in, into a small Lock-n-Lock container or equivalent brightly colored kitchen plastic container. Then, tape a few super-duper magnets to the bottom with packing tape. The pins won't fall out of this refillable container, and the container is easy to open without " ."