Hi I have posted before, I am a newbe at this and have just started a hive from a nuc swarm in the White Peak area. The nuc frames were transferred to my hive and there appeared to be a growth of honey comb above the frame but not so bad I could not close the lid. This growth has continued above the frame and not onto the frames in the box. My question is do I cut off the honeycomb growth above the frame as the bees appear not to be using the new frames in the brood box.
The natural instinct of bees is that they build comb downwards, hopefully from something strong enough to support the weight, they will never build from the bottom up.
It sounds like you have only got frames in the brood box with not even starter strips. A shame the bees are spending so much effort that will go to waste.
What I would do if you haven’t got the gear to wire frames and fit bees wax foundation and if you have a bee gear shop is to but enough frames already made up wired with foundation to fill the box and the bees will straight away making comb where it should be. That is an easy fix Peter
Cheers
Thanks for that but I bought what I thought were ready to use frames which were wired and had bees wax paper in the middle so I am a bit confused
Any chance of a pic of the frame Peter? In the mean time, yes, you should remove any comb above the frame or under the bottom bar. I’m assuming your using full depth frames with a bottom bar. Re the ‘bees wax paper’ it isn’t by chance a blue/greyish color is it? About two months ago a chap contact me with frames with that colored foundation which was ‘woven’ between the wire runs, his bees really rejected that foundation and built wonky comb in the roof. He bought the frames on EBay. I sold him made up wired frames with full sheets of bees wax foundation which the bees immediately began building out. He now has full frames of brood and capped honey and pollen in the frames.
Cheers
Thanks Pete will send a pic I was beginning to think they were wild bees.
No it is not a bluish colour its bees wax paper
Hi Peter, with all honey bees, wild or in a bee hive, their natural instinct is to work down in making comb. I’m looking forward to seeing a photo of the bees wax paper. The foundation that I have referred to earlier was totally rejected by the bees point blank. The bee built comb under the roof down to the frames and it stopped there. It sounds like you have a similar situation.
How did you come by the paper foundation and why did you select it over bees wax foundation?
Cheers