Viewer mail

Steven in Tennessee writes:

When you start a new colony of bees, do you ever use a nuc or package?

I'm starting a colony in the spring and will be getting 2 nucs from a local beekeeper associated with the university of Tennessee.

When I start these nucs they will be on foundation, can I place the starter strip frames around those and it be ok?

Thanks. Any info on this topic would be great.

—Steven

Kirk replies:



For the newbees out there who are wondering what a nuc is, here's the definition.

Kirk also mentions that you can join The Backwards Beekeepers group on Yahoo.

And here's our video on how to make starter strips:

Foundationless success in Canada

Check out Phillip, who blogs about beekeeping (among other things) from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada—he's finding success as a Backwards Beekeeper in a place with a very short summer indeed.

The foundationless frames are working. YES! This is what it’s all about it. This was the big moment of truth — and they did it. The bees had no problem building comb from foundationless frames...

Next summer when we can hopefully harvest some honey, we’ll go with foundationless frames for the honey supers too.

That way when the honey is capped and good to go, we’ll just cut the comb right out of the frames and extract it by following the crush-and-strain method.

I’m feeling encouraged by what we’ve seen today. I’d love to be the first successful Backwards Beekeeper in Newfoundland.

Natural Foundationless Comb (Phillip on Mud Songs)

Viewer mail

Derek in Utah writes:

Hi,

I am a first-year backyard beekeeper. I ordered my beginning beekeeping material about a month ago. Since that time, I was introduced to the backwards beekeeping method; I like it. I have already prepared my starter strips (got some beeswax from a friend who is practicing the backwards beekeeping method).

My question is this, when installing my package bees, do I need to worry about the bees taking to the starter strips? Should I have a couple frames with foundation placed in the hive just in case? I'm a little nervous about installing my bees without any drawn out comb. My friend gave me one fully drawn out frame of honey comb, I plan on putting that in the bottom box when I install my bees.

What do you think? In your experience, do package bees generally take to the starter strips without any drawn out frames? My bees arrive on the 24th, so please help me!

Thanks,

Derek M.

Here's Kirk's reply:



If you're wondering what starter strips are, find out here.

Kirkobeeo: How to make starter strips

Kirk sent this tutorial on how to make starter strips for your bees.

Get a piece of 1x3 pine. Mark a 16 inch length of the strip with a pencil.

Arrange the piece of pine in the sink, let the water run on it while you are getting set up. If the board is wet, this lets the wax release easily and come off the board. Wet the board each time you make a strip.

Get a pot and some clean beeswax. When it is melted, turn off the burner. Try to have the wax as cool as you can. This makes it set faster on the pine board. DON"T OVERHEAT THE WAX—it could catch on fire or be too hot to work with.

Brush the wax on the pine board. Take your time and do multiple coats.

If you lay the board flat it will go on nice and flat.

Peel off the strip with a butter knife or a putty knife. You will see steam come off when you peel. If you are making more, put a piece of pine in the sink again and run water on it.

Now laying the board flat you can take a knife and carefully cut the wax strip in half, making sure you don't hurt yourself.

Now place the wax starter strip in the slot of each frame's top bar. Take your brush and brush some wax into the slot until you have enough to hold the starter strip in place. Be careful with the wax when it is hot.

These wax strips really help the bees draw straight comb. Cardboard strips coated with wax are also very good. Get these ready for spring.

good luck

kirkobeeo.

This video shows an alternate method for making starter strips.

Backwards Beekeepers TV premiere: How To Make Starter Strips

Here's our first episode of Backwards Beekeepers TV!

Starter strips are the Backwards Beekeepers' alternative to the wax foundation traditionally used in beehive frames; the wax sheets sold commercially usually come from hives that use chemicals and fungicides. Letting your bees draw their own comb also means that they'll build cells that are the size they want, not the size you tell them to build. This means you get bees that are slightly smaller (just like in the wild) and better able to resist mites and other problems.

Take it away, Kirk: