New Beekeeper - Frames stuck together by honeycomb

Beekeeping - Basics
1

My wife bought me a FlowHive for Christmas and I got a package of bees in April, although I have no beekeeping experience. I put the bees and queen cage in the bee box in the beginning of April and have been giving them time to build out their comb in the bee box. 7 weeks later, I just did my first hive inspection and found that although I pushed all of the frames together, leaving the gaps on the outside, the honey comb is connected between all of the frames. I tried to gently remove some of them but I could see the comb starting to rip so I just stopped. There are so many bees in my bee box that I can barely see down into it… There are also a few hundred bees up in the super so I suppose they are putting pollen into the Flow Frames. I do have a queen separator in between the bee box and the super so I know the queen is still down below. I am in a panic because all of my frames are connected by comb and would love some advice if you can give me any?

Thank you,
Shane

2

Oy vey…

You were off on the wrong foot…

Your super should not be on at this stage.

They usually don’t put much pollen upstairs, usually next to the brood.

Your best bet is probably to find a mentor to help you through a major effort to correct the comb.

You will probably need to cut out all the crazy comb and rubber band it into the frames. Even trying to find the queen when you can’t get the frames out will be hard so there will be dead bees and brood but maybe you’ll have a bit of luck and your queen will be ok.

Also, even though you’re already in the middle of a crash course in how not to start a bee colony, it is not too late to take a course and get a couple books. Maybe you’ll find a mentor at the beekeeping course.

2 Likes