What do you do when the bees build comb where you don’t want them to?

See, every part of the hive has to be accessible to the beekeepers, so we can check for disease and parasites. So we get the bees to build on removable frames or bars, which we can take out as needed.

(1/9)

But if we leave them too much room, they may build comb in the wrong spots.

Here, we didn’t put all the upper bars in place (to make room for a feeder, a jar of sugar water). The bees started filling that empty space with comb, attaching directly to the hive ceiling.

(2/9)

You can see where the wax was attached to the burlap ceiling.

We brushed all the bees off the comb, and then cut the comb off the burlap with a hive tool (putty knife).

3/9

The bees were rather chill about this whole operation: which probably means they have accepted their new Queen and have settled down! (Queenless hives are much crankier than Queenright hives.)

(4/9)

So, we want to keep those pieces of comb, not waste them. This is a new hive, it needs every cell available for babies and for honey storage.

So, we have to temporarily attach those combs to the bars somehow. Here, my partner uses floral wire to hold the wax in place.

(5/9)

Then, we hang those bars in the hive with the rest.

The bees will re-attach those combs to the bars at the top. In a few weeks we’ll be able to remove the wire, leaving a whole frame of comb.

(6/9)

That was the Warre hive, with its Sasketraz bees. Over here, you can see our Top Bar hive, which is laid out horizontally instead of in an upright stack of boxes. These are our Russian bees.

(7/9)

Queen sighting! Near the bottom, with the blue dot on her back, you will see “Catherine the Great,” queen of our Russian bees. She’s still going strong after a long winter, and already has laid several frames of brood!

(8/9)

The brood comb on the left side, flatter against the comb, contains baby worker bees (female). The brood comb on the right, sticking out like pencil erasers, contains baby drone bees (male).

Baby queen bees are raised in the biggest cells: they stick out like peanuts.

(9/9)

(Whoops, forgot to attach the picture.)