# Real Honey Comb Pen



## clapiana (Jun 10, 2011)

Turners,

Here is a picture of a pen i turned out of some extra honey comb frames i have from my bee yard.  The comb is fully extruded food grade plastic filled with yellow silmair41 PR.   When new I coat the frames with real wax which improves the bees 'taking to it".    it was a challenge to come up with the process to make it which is similar in effort to turning a coffee bean blank


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## rizaydog (Jun 10, 2011)

Great work Craig.  I like this one.


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## Finatic (Jun 10, 2011)

Awesome!


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## Drstrangefart (Jun 10, 2011)

Too cool.


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## Padre (Jun 10, 2011)

That is so cool!


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## Katsin (Jun 10, 2011)

Looks great.


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## turkly281 (Jun 10, 2011)

Sweet!!


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## JohnU (Jun 10, 2011)

Looks great Craig.  I cast some paper wasp comb in clear Pr and was going to paint the hole yellow to get the bee hive look but never got to it yet.  I like the look of yours.


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## PaulDoug (Jun 10, 2011)

Very nice work, looks good.


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## clapiana (Jun 10, 2011)

Wasp paper haha that is a thought but they are mean my 'girls' are friendly.  i might have to wear my white 'armor' if going after those mean puppies!


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## workinforwood (Jun 10, 2011)

Looks excellent! I cast wasp nests anytime I find ones thick enough to do so. I sold a few dozen blanks a few years ago. I let them grow and in the fall the wasps leave. Problem is that they often don't get thick enough for a large pen, but then I've taken some of the shallower ones and inset them into wood so it was like worthless wood hives, and that's cool too.


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## JohnU (Jun 10, 2011)

clapiana said:


> Wasp paper haha that is a thought but they are mean my 'girls' are friendly



Lol, yes they are, probably why I don't have many.   I wait til winter and then take the nest before the squirrel destroy them.  I think you have the best idea.

Nice idea Jeff. I'll have to give that a try too. Thanks


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## renowb (Jun 10, 2011)

Really cool!


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## U-Turn (Jun 10, 2011)

Hey man, that "bees" an incedible pen - good job.


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## U-Turn (Jun 10, 2011)

Hey man, that "Bees" a great pen. Really good looking and should appeal to a niche audience - I mess with bees a  bit and know how dedicated those guys are.


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## ToddMR (Jun 10, 2011)

Never would have thought about that for a pen.  Nice job!


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## boxerman (Jun 10, 2011)

Very cool pen Craig.


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## kruzzer (Jun 10, 2011)

way cool, looks just great


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## Mark (Jun 10, 2011)

I really like it. I can't tell from the pix. Does it go all the way around the tube (tube is wrapped) or are the combs only fully visible from two sides? If the later, have you thought about a way to wrap the tube like I've seen done with the cactus innards? Nicely Done either way...


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## SGM Retired (Jun 10, 2011)

Nice pen, I have 26 hives so I might try that sometime when I master the PR stuff.  Pulling honey off this weekend and will have plenty of wax/comb to play with.  Thanks for the idea.

Gary


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## Jgrden (Jun 10, 2011)

Those little bees made a consistent pattern and you capitalized on it. Good work.


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## nava1uni (Jun 10, 2011)

That is a very nice pen.  It would be cool with the tube painted also.


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## clapiana (Jun 11, 2011)

john & jeff regarding the wasps nest do you cut the hive up into blank sized bits and keep stacking them until its thick enough to cast in PR or is it loose in the PR like gold leaf?

mark it is wrapped all the way around the pen (on the sides are thin lines)

gary hey another fellow beekeeper!!!  this stuff is fully extracted plastic comb not wax.  i might try wax next!!!    i see your military rank on your username funny in that i got interested in beekeeping while in command during OEF4 and after coming back from that deployment in Afghanistan i started the hobby.   it has been a blessing but frustrating at times too.  last week my hive just got attacked by a bear looking for a tasty treat.   same thing took place last year which is a shame ;( and costly.

john those patterns are replicated by the manufacturer and based on a real comb's cell size in that this is fully extruded plastic comb.    God wired a 'nursing' bee to produce exact size cells within very very high tolerances every time, time and time again.  in beekeeping cell sizes are a very big topic of discussion.   many beekeepers practice 'small cell management' trying to manipulate them down in size in hopes of keeping the risk of mites in control which are a huge problem.   if the cell is just a hair smaller then God's original design the mite cant mature to size and dies leaving the brood 'baby bee' alone.    they also sell plastic frames (pierco) which only has a slight indent (the shape of a bee cell in the plastic foundation) which the bees will 'build up' with wax.  with both plastic type frames you need to coat them with wax so the bees 'take to them' otherwise you run the risk of the bees rejecting the frame sensing that something is wrong.  hey dont get me started on discussing beekeeping because i wont stop  

cindy painted tubes should work well!  haha you can try it in that i am selling some comb over in the classifieds <wink><wink>


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## workinforwood (Jun 11, 2011)

I cut the hive to fit the mold then pour, that's it. Cut it up and you have hives all the way through the pen just like yours.  Somewhere I have pics of hive pens but not sure where. I did find this one I did for a PITH a year or two ago, it is a real wasp hive that wasn't thick enough to go all the way through a pen, so I made it a worthless wood hive pen.


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## clapiana (Jun 11, 2011)

I didn't know that the nest inside has comb?  Is it wax or mud?  We are talking about the gray paper  looking wasp  hives correct?  

 Your pen is cool!  I like the laminated tail very creative


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## workinforwood (Jun 11, 2011)

yea, it's like paper, but dang strongly built. The wasps are nasty,  but they build a perfect hive in record time too.


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## IPD_Mrs (Jun 11, 2011)

That is VERY neat.  Have you done any with reverse painting them?  I can imagine the depth that would bring .. WOW!


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## SGM Retired (Jun 11, 2011)

Craig,  thanks for the info.  Out working bees today and will pull honey off tomorrow. Bee's are fun to keep but when you have 26 colonies it turns into HOT hard work and when your retired that's not good. Take care my friend. 

Gary


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## clapiana (Jun 11, 2011)

Thanks for all the kind words folks I will post a few more comb pens next week after playing around with some ideas.   Enjoy the weekend!   Craig


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## Pen_Turner_Dan (Jun 30, 2011)

What's it look like with clear PR? And what color tube should I paint it 
Thinking of putting an order!:biggrin:


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## MrWright (Jun 30, 2011)

clapiana said:


> Turners,
> 
> Here is a picture of a pen i turned out of some extra honey comb frames i have from my bee yard. The comb is fully extruded food grade plastic filled with yellow silmair41 PR. When new I coat the frames with real wax which improves the bees 'taking to it". it was a challenge to come up with the process to make it which is similar in effort to turning a coffee bean blank


 
Boy!!!! That is a "honey" of a pen!!


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## underdog (Jun 30, 2011)

Nice lookin' pen... Great idea too.

Wasn't this my idea? You're going to send me one of those blanks, right?:wink:

Seriously, *I think I suggested this to someone about a month ago, right here on this forum. Good to see someone took the idea and ran with it...

*Of course, knowing me, my memory could be faulty....:redface:

I love the things you guys come up with. Never seen a more creative bunch for ideas of what to turn...


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## johncrane (Jun 30, 2011)

Awesome!


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## clapiana (Jun 30, 2011)

cool underdog i didnt see that post but you had a cool idea 

i have this bucket of used frames and the idea clicked.....hey what if 

it was a challenge though i have to admit

dan i have not tried just clear pr i will try to this weekend was thinking of a red painted tube


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## underdog (Jun 30, 2011)

Nah.. I can't take credit for a half remembered idea....

It might have been your post selling those honeycomb strips that I'm remembering. I know I thought about it at some point. 

I also thought about using corrugated cardboard recently... and that honeycomb material used for aircraft bulkheads...(I know I suggested that a couple years back.)


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