Bill Lord wrote:  "I just tried the monofilament fishing line wiring and I have trouble
threading it through the holes in the side of the frames and I have trouble
tying it off and getting good tension on the fishing line across the frame.
Any suggestions?"
 
Response:  I tried the monofilament route as well.  I found that if I measured pretty close, then tied the ends with a loop and a single overhand knot, thus shortening the fishing line, I could stretch the fishing line back through the holes, up over a nail pounded part way into the edge of the end bar.  Worked rea well.  My suggestion is to use a heavy test weight on the fishing line.   Bees will chew through it during a dearth.  A good nectar flow helps cover it right up with wax.
 
Bill added, "I also have trouble embedding wire - I don't like heating
it - so I have taken to running wire on both sides of the foundation sheet
in the second hole from the bottom and finishing off with a third wire in
the bottom hole.  These wires hold the foundation very well."
 
Response:  I also run wires on opposite sides of the foundation, and as I run two wires on the brood frames, it seems to be sufficient.  I don't bother to embed.  My bees seem to work around the wires without much fuss and embed the wires on their own as they build out te comb.  
 
Bill asks, "I use a simple frame wiring board from Kelly to hold the frame but would like to see a frame wiring board that employed a lever to compress the end bars inward
during wiring so that when released the wire would tension automatically.
Has anyone ever made anything like that?"
 
Response:  Yes.  Back in 1978, when I was a student at Iowa State University, Richard Trump (the instructor) had one of these gizmos.  I never saw anything like it in any catalog.  Now, I just put two nails in on the same end bar, thread my wire through two of the holes, secure one end, then pull the other end with a needle nosed pliers and wrap the wire around the other nail.
 
This works, but I cannot pull enough of the wire to get through more than two wrungs of wires on the frame.  Then I find that the middle two holes on a brood frame (with one wire on one side and the other wire on the opposite side) is really all I need, and there are only two holes on the medium and shallow frames.
 
I also find assembling and wiring frames to be tedious, but on these cold winters weekends, I find it quite relaxing to watch NFL football and tackle these frames.  Once the weather warms up, I'm way too busy to do this kind of work.
 
Grant
Jackson, MO


      

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