If you’ve been researching natural beekeeping and top bar hives on the Internet, you have probably come across some websites that suggest that you paint beeswax on the points of your top bars, in an attempt to show the bees where you want them to build their wax combs. At first glance, this may seem like a good idea, but there are some serious drawbacks to doing this.
One concern is that melting the beeswax can be dangerous, but that’s not the worst of it.
The real problem with waxing the top bars is this: the wax that is painted on will never be attached as securely as if the bees had built it directly on the bar; and what may happen next is called a “comb collapse.” The bees build a full bar of comb, fill it up with brood and pollen and honey, and then suddenly, especially in the heat of summer, the entire comb collapses – falling off the top bar and down into the hive. This makes a huge mess, causing honey to leak throughout your hive, and it may also land on the queen when it falls, killing or injuring her, and leaving you with a queen-less hive.
To prevent these problems, we suggest that you use a top bar with a very good comb guide, and then simply let the bees draw their comb directly on that comb guide. There is no need to paint wax on the bars… just let the bees do their bee thing.
Initially, however, there was a second goal behind painting wax on the top bars. And that was to put the smell of beeswax into an empty top bar hive. A brand-new, empty top bar hive contains nothing to anchor the bees; nothing to make it smell like home. So having the smell of beeswax in the hive was an attempt to solve a problem occasionally experienced by new beekeepers known as “absconding” – an event where the bees abandon the hive and fly off.
But there’s a smell that works better than melted beeswax on the top bars to prevent absconding – and that smell comes from the pheromone found in brood comb. Brood pheromone is very attractive to bees. So today, we suggest that you use a “starter kit“- a kit made up of a small piece of brood comb and a wire to attach it to the top bar, along with a small dose of lemon grass essential oil, which emulates queen pheromone. These two smells are very strong attractants for your bees, and this does a much better job of convincing your bees to stay in the hive, and preventing them from absconding.
So please, I know you read it on the Internet – but don’t paint wax on your top bars.
Let the bees take care of that!
A few corrections for you blog:
* Brood pheromone comes from the brood itself and not the brood comb.
* Lemongrass oil has components contained in Nasonov not queen pheromone
Painting a wide band of wax on top bars is perhaps a bad idea. I recommend using a piece of beeswax melted into a crayon type point, and a fine line drawn on the top bar, where you want the center of the comb to be started. Years of using this technique I have found a fine line of bees wax does not interfere with comb adhesion.
Hi Joe -
Thanks for taking an interest in Gold Star’s blog. It may be true that brood pheromone may come only from the brood itself, but I am pretty confident that brood comb is a better anchor than honey comb any day of the week - whether that’s because there are lingering pheromones or some other reason would be anybody’s guess. And I’ve heard that lemongrass oil - replicates both nasanov and queen pheromone - depends upon who you ask. Not sure if maybe it does both!
Then, regarding the painting or drawing of a line of wax - in a Gold Star top bar, there is such a steep, deep point that the drawing of a beeswax line, or painting on of beeswax in this way is proving to be unnecessary. Originally we thought it was acting as an anchor, now we don’t think that’s the case.
Thanks again…
— Christy
Please check into the legality of shipping brood comb across state lines. Transporting brood comb may transport disease with it, and this would be bad for your business record if someone were to test a comb and find foulbrood.
Hi Joe -
I saw on another list where you had some discussion with Karen Kimball on this subject. I’ve had Tony look at the comb to inspect it for disease - because obviously that was a concern of mine as well.
Thanks for caring!
Please check out our Kickstarter Campaign – to help us raise the funds needed to get our Top Bar Beekeeping 101 class online – you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456838353/plan-bee-top-bar-beekeeping-101-how-to-school-on-v
We appreciate your pledges and we will love it if you share – we’ve got a ways to go to the goal and only 10 more days to do it in!
— Christy
I have been using foudationless frames in 10 frame deep and medium boxes. I have never waxed comb guides for this very reason. The bees know how to attach it well at the top and sides without help. Have never had a comb drop. The problem I have seen is empty boxes added to the top are often ignored. I discovered the solution this year. New boxes can be added at the bottom, treating it like a warre hive and harvesting from the top or adding empty mediums between drawn boxes. They will fill in that void quickly. Jim
Good job!
Please check out our Kickstarter Campaign – to help us raise the funds needed to get our Top Bar Beekeeping 101 class online – you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456838353/plan-bee-top-bar-beekeeping-101-how-to-school-on-v
We appreciate your pledges and we will love it if you share – we’ve got a ways to go to the goal and only 10 more days to do it in!
— Christy
My honeybees did NOT get the message. They built out their own comb just fine I on a waxed top bar.
Bees do as bees please!
Good for you!
Please check out our Kickstarter Campaign – to help us raise the funds needed to get our Top Bar Beekeeping 101 class online – you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456838353/plan-bee-top-bar-beekeeping-101-how-to-school-on-v
We appreciate your pledges and we will love it if you share – we’ve got a ways to go to the goal and only 10 more days to do it in!
— Christy
I keep reading to “fix” comb that is running off the bar “right away”. My whole hive (with the exception of the last few bars at the end) is cross combed. Most combs cross 3 bars. I have not read/heard yet, what I’m supposed to do to “fix” them. It’s fall and I’m not gunna mess with the brood end right now. Whenever I start to try to work it out, I just make a mess of torn n borken comb. I’ve taken 3-4 bars out of the back/honey end, switched ends or what ever to try to get them parrolell and on the bars. The last 2-3, I either bent the comb to the bar and tied it with string. The last 2 were totally removed and tied back on straight with string. If they run with that, I’m hoping to work my way backwards next spring/summer by removing a few bars of the mess at a time, and switching it out with straight comb alternated with empty bars. Can you help, point me to helpfull reading, or other encouragement? RCL
Yes that’s the way to do it… Take a look at this video on repairing cross-comb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdwxrByaqX0
Also – Please know that we are running a Kickstarter Campaign – to help us raise the funds needed to get our Top Bar Beekeeping 101 class online – you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456838353/plan-bee-top-bar-beekeeping-101-how-to-school-on-v
We appreciate your pledges and we will love it if you share – we’ve got a ways to go to the goal and only 10 more days to do it in!
— Christy
Be thankful for your work that you have put in this. really interesting information.
I appreciate that…
Also – Please know that we are running a Kickstarter Campaign – to help us raise the funds needed to get our Top Bar Beekeeping 101 class online – you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456838353/plan-bee-top-bar-beekeeping-101-how-to-school-on-v
We appreciate your pledges and we will love it if you share – we’ve got a ways to go to the goal and only 10 more days to do it in!
enjoyed your website and the article in the “bee culture” magazine, one thing you forgot to mention is the orientation of the hive, I always tell my “newbee students” that bees want their comb north and south, If you try and house a swarm in a TB hive the is not the right direction, they will leave, also if you leave out or space in Langstroth hive that is NOT N & S, they will build comb 90 degrees, thanks, and enjoy your bees, we can learn from them.
Thank you!
Also – Please know that we are running a Kickstarter Campaign – to help us raise the funds needed to get our Top Bar Beekeeping 101 class online – you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456838353/plan-bee-top-bar-beekeeping-101-how-to-school-on-v
We appreciate your pledges and we will love it if you share – we’ve got a ways to go to the goal and only 10 more days to do it in!
Hi Wayne — Thanks!
I don’t have any data that really supports the N/S idea. We’ve wondered for ages, but I’ve got hives at all angles and most of them build straight. Why do we think they want the comb to run North and South?
I also try to get people who call me about cross-combing issues to discuss this and to change it if they can, but still - no data that adds up to much…
You need to take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the net.
I’m going to highly recommend this web site!
Your website was invaluable for me. Thanks!
That was clever! I’ll be checking back.
are you running a kickstarter campaign?
I was, but it more or less fell on its face. Watch for us to come back though - the goal is to create the Weekend Intensive Class that I teach so people can watch it online.