Hi, sorry, it I didn’t take pictures but will next time I open the hive. In the base box, our bees didn’t use an entire frame. I think it may be because the one next to it is built up pretty thick to where the empty frame can’t be made properly by the bees. Any suggestions on what to do, if anything, in this situation? Should frames be trimmed down regularly and not just on the tops? Thanks for the help.
Hi Joseph, yes definitely trim the frames down as often as needed in order to keep everything straight.
The job of keeping everything straight is SO much easier when using properly fitted wax foundation frames.
So just make sure the queen isn’t there and use a tool to cut down the comb and get rid of it? Even at the cost of honey and brood?
Sadly at the cost of brood. You only need to do it once. There’s no need to waste the honey, the bees can lap up a minor spill. For a larger spill, you can let it drain through a strainer into a bowl. Unripe honey is still usable & tastes great. Store it in the fridge, is what I do. Save any wax to render down, once you have a decent amount.
What we need to aim for is when we look down over a frame in position, we only want to see a thin line of wax, if any, protruding outside of the top bar on either side. It makes managing the frames much easier, while doing brood checks.
I’m pretty sure that Cedar has some videos on managing foundationless frames.