Bees building outside of the hive

1

hi, i am new to beekeeping,

i have noticed these strange structures

bees%20building%20outside%20the%20hive
bees building outside the hive.jpeg1200×1600 269 KB
outside the hive.

anyone knows what are they? and why are the bees building them?

thanks,
Royi

2

Welcome to the Flow forum!

That is mangled old comb, which the bees have removed. I would have a look in your brood box. You may have had some comb collapsing in there, especially if the weather has been hot. :wink:

3

Thans so much. I will have a look

4

I agree with Dawn, the bees probably dragged it out. I so, that would equate to the entrance possibly being too big. I also agree with doing a brood inspection.

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5

Thanks. But is it a problem? Should I remove it from there?

6

I agree with what has been said and you should do a full hive inspection as @JeffH has said and remove any comb that is not in a frame, including the comb that is outside the entrance of the hive. For your bees to be able to move that large a piece of comb out of the entrance I suspect the entrance is way to large. The waste comb can be melted down into bees wax.
Actually you maybe be suffering comb collapse from really hot weather, so till you do an inspection it would only be a guess as to what you have there, but it does need checking out…
If you are not confident in doing the job I would ask a local bee keeper for help and advice in doing it. How often do you do full hive inspections?
Cheers

7

Yes you should remove it. It will attract pests if you leave it there. :astonished:

8

I remember one of my mentors telling me he doesn’t leave wax laying around outside of a hive on account of it attracting wax moth.

It would be a good idea to have some frames with properly fitted wax foundation ready for when you do the inspection, then you can cycle out the frames that aren’t up to par.

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