Hi all-every time I come here and seek advice it’s always the best. So I have a a little problem. I was inspecting today and I hadn’t been down in the lower box for a while so there was quite a bit of propolis in between the frames. When I went to lift one up the top bar detached from the black foundation. So I nicely put it back and figured I wasn’t going to be looking at that one today. Has anyone had this happen? And if so, is this a “spring “ problem that maybe I can address then? Or should try and fix any frames that are having issues. (Not really sure how I’d go about that-this is a double deep hive still very full). Thanks in advance.
Hi Amy, it’s something that can be easily fixed while in the hive. All you need is some screws about 35mil long, & not too thick. Drill a clearance hole in the top bar only, nice & straight. That will assure that the screw stays straight, as well as it will only bight into the side bar, pulling it up tight to the top bar. You might want to do every frame, in case they all have that problem. Don’t over tighten the screws. You don’t want them to strip the thread you create in the wood.
2 Likes
Correction: Bite, not “bight”.
I have never had to do what I’ve suggested, so therefore I don’t know how the bees will react to the drill. Use plenty of smoke to drive bees away from where you want to work, & keep the smoker handy in case the bees react to the drill.