Hi All.
I did my first cut out of a bee box yesterday. The box was a quick job put together as the bloke caught a swarm and wanted something to put them in. I don’t know how many years the bees have been in the box but the comb was very dark.
So this box had no frames, everything screwed together, a big gap underneath where bees were using as an entrance plus the entrance at the front. The bloke thought the bees might have swarmed already and upon opening said box(with great difficulty), it was confirmed. Stuff all honey, pollen stores building, lots of queen cells empty, no larvae and small amount of capped brood. I could not see eggs though I tried very hard to.
The most interesting part I found was the direction of the comb. The box was bigger than a Langstroth brood box but not so big you could put a frame in crossway. All the comb was built parallel to the front entrance. So this puts to question why are Lang frames set as they are? Is it convenient or more economic for people or is it proven more effective for the bees?
I don’t yet have bees, hoping they will settle into my Langstroth/ Flow hive at his house and then moving hive to mine in a week or so.
I have also found that Warre frames suited to Tim Malfroy modified Warre also fit in Lang boxes. This is something I want to explore in the future if/ when I am more proficient in bee keeping.
Happy bee keeping folks!