The Honey Factory

[Sally PB]

I was all happy with this picture of one of the girls getting a drink. Until I saw the mite on her back.

We just took the Apivar treatment off, after it was there for 8 weeks.

No, we didn't do a test then. When we lifted a frame, there was some weird comb (didn't get a picture) that was drawn down the middle of the frame, instead of out from the frame. It was full of brood, and lifting it out ripped it apart.

The ladies were very upset. Hubby got stung on the ankle, but I didn't. (I put my pant legs inside my socks; he just tapes his.)

So. Questions for you who know more.

Why are they drawing comb that way? We didn't pull any more frames because, frankly, we wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as we got the Apivar strips off. This frame was in the middle of the box, so we didn't look to see if they're out of room.

We put a QE and medium super on both our hives. The supers and frames are brand new, no drawn comb.

 

[WallyG74]

Why are they drawing comb that way?

If they don’t like the surface they will build out from the actual foundation. I have been told some of these companies use inferior wax on the foundation therefore creating the opposite effect. Paraffin and other ingredients they use to make the wax go further, make the bees angry. They take it out on us.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I was all happy with this picture of one of the girls getting a drink. Until I saw the mite on her back.
View attachment 3856597
We just took the Apivar treatment off, after it was there for 8 weeks.

No, we didn't do a test then. When we lifted a frame, there was some weird comb (didn't get a picture) that was drawn down the middle of the frame, instead of out from the frame. It was full of brood, and lifting it out ripped it apart.

The ladies were very upset. Hubby got stung on the ankle, but I didn't. (I put my pant legs inside my socks; he just tapes his.)

So. Questions for you who know more.

Why are they drawing comb that way? We didn't pull any more frames because, frankly, we wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as we got the Apivar strips off. This frame was in the middle of the box, so we didn't look to see if they're out of room.

We put a QE and medium super on both our hives. The supers and frames are brand new, no drawn comb.

I don't buy waxed foundation, I coat it myself with our wax and sweeten the deal with some honey mixed with the wax and do this just before the bees are ready for another "box". The wax will lose it's appeal if the foundation sits around. Never had a problem with wonky comb using this method.

 

[Sally PB]

Oh man. I hope they build "real" comb...

Does it make a difference if it's a super above a queen excluder?

Hubby really (really-really) wants to get some honey this year. We've put a bunch of money into this venture, and we have not taken any honey yet.

I think I need Ed, my bee guy, to come over, take a look, and see what's going on. We see so much stuff and we just don't have a clue what it means.

I just ordered some Formic Pro to have on hand to treat the mites.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Oh man. I hope they build "real" comb...

Does it make a difference if it's a super above a queen excluder?

Hubby really (really-really) wants to get some honey this year. We've put a bunch of money into this venture, and we have not taken any honey yet.

I think I need Ed, my bee guy, to come over, take a look, and see what's going on. We see so much stuff and we just don't have a clue what it means.

I just ordered some Formic Pro to have on hand to treat the mites.

Good idea to have your guy take a look. Hopefully you can get a handle on what's goin' on. It's still only June so there is time for honey. I'm looking at 90 lbs +/- that the bees are taking their good ol' time capping, I know buy the end of the month I'll be extracting and this year I'm letting them have the fall flow. For reference last fall I did get 30 some pounds off a medium from a spring NUC, I was surprised and fortunate. I will do a Formic Pro treatment in July and an Apivar October going into November for over wintering. I use an excluder just to keep the Queen out of honey supers as they like to work up and I don't want brood in the honey supers. I don't want to lose brood in extracting.

 

[Sally PB]

I did some looking online... I think what I'm seeing is called cross comb.

We did scrape it off, and realized it was full of developing brood. Oh, wow, did the bees get mad. And I don't blame them.

That was in Hive #1. Hive #2 is a split from #1, and we didn't see cross comb. But #1's bees were all over/around, so we pulled the Apivar from #2, slapped on a QE and super, and got the hell out of there.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I did some looking online... I think what I'm seeing is called cross comb.

We did scrape it off, and realized it was full of developing brood. Oh, wow, did the bees get mad. And I don't blame them.

That was in Hive #1. Hive #2 is a split from #1, and we didn't see cross comb. But #1's bees were all over/around, so we pulled the Apivar from #2, slapped on a QE and super, and got the hell out of there.

When you say the bees were running all around are they queenless. Did your queen move with the split leaving no queen rearing opportunities in the original hive? Just a thought.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Sorry for the stings.

Thank you very much! - I will get used to those. Just the moment when i realized there were bees inside of the veil i panicked momentarily.

 

[TheDandyLion]

I did some looking online... I think what I'm seeing is called cross comb.

We did scrape it off, and realized it was full of developing brood. Oh, wow, did the bees get mad. And I don't blame them.

That was in Hive #1. Hive #2 is a split from #1, and we didn't see cross comb. But #1's bees were all over/around, so we pulled the Apivar from #2, slapped on a QE and super, and got the hell out of there.

Whenever I have to deal with comb that has been cut or ripped out of a frame, I take that comb that has brood in it and use rubber bands to hold it in place on a frame. Wrap the band so it runs from top to bottom and forms a bit of a wall for the comb to rest in. The bees usually build more comb to attach it to the frames.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Bees won't draw comb on poorly waxed foundation. Get wax on those frames or you will have a mess. Take the wonky comb and ball it up to rub on the plastic foundation. It's a quick fix in the field.

Some people have luck with tossing an undrawn super right on top of a queen excluder. I never did. It only prompted swarming. Hedge your bet by allowing the bees to start drawing comb. Ensure queen is not still in super laying eggs before placing the excluder on. The bees will freely pass through the excluder after that. Otherwise you risk them ignoring the boxes above the excluder, backfilling then swarming.

If you have large flows you really need to add two supers at once. There is no need to ration it out or wait for them to draw 80% of the box. When they need it they need it and that's not always on your schedule. Where do you think they store nectar when they run out of drying space? Avoid backfilling and you don't get swarms.