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  • Removal of excess comb from bottom of brood frame?

  • Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
Beginners forum, ask beekeeping related questions and get help from other experienced beekeepers. Please use the Search Feature please to avoid duplicated threads
 #8323  by Tappies Bees
 27 Jul 2020, 09:44
Hi folks, first post on the BBKA forum so please be nice! I've had a good search on the forum and can't find any information on leaving or removing excess comb on the bottom of brood frames. We bought two new colonies in June and they've spread across the 11 brood frames, but have started building brood rearing comb on the bottom of the frames. We added supers to give them space but not sure if we should leave or remove the comb on the bottom?
 #8324  by NigelP
 27 Jul 2020, 10:41
Hi welcome.
I'd remove it myself. It's sometimes an indication that the queen needs more laying room..
In a nuc it's the sign I look for before promoting to a full hive, in a hive it's a sign they need another brood box...but this time of the year, probably not.
I'd check to see if you have clogged brood frames with pollen and or stores, if so might be worth removing the excess frames and giving them fresh foundation to work on.
 #8327  by AndrewLD
 27 Jul 2020, 11:13
Tappies Bees wrote:
27 Jul 2020, 09:44
Hi folks, first post on the BBKA forum so please be nice!
Welcome, and I hope we are always nice - and helpful :D
Ditto what Nigel advises but with a but.....
It's a good idea to remove such comb because otherwise they anchor it to the OMF and everytime you inspect you break open cells and that naturally upsets the bees.
Spread across 11 frames is a bit imprecise, as is we have added supers, and that is where my "but" comes in. Is there space for the queen to lay then take out comb at bottom. If there is not then I might delay until she has got more space.
We are getting to the point when the flow stops and the brood nest starts to contract. If you give them a new frame of foundation they need a flow to draw it or you would have to feed them. If I got a colony in June then I think I would have put the super on straightaway?
So whilst I am with Nigel on get rid - I am thinking the when to do it rather depends on exactly what has happened in the brood box, when you put on the super(s) and what they have done with them.
What I think you should avoid at all costs is a crowded brood box with no space for the queen and better weather approaching fast. It's not too late for them to think about swarming and once they get the idea..... Taking out the queen excluder to give more room is an option or transfer the super under the brood box (it will be clear by next March).....
P.S. I should just clarify that taking out the QX will expand the brood nest up into the super so you go brood and a half. If that is to be the norm then just take it out. If it is not what you want to do then next spring you can put the super back above the QX, make sure the queen is below and wait for the brood to clear the super or you could just put the super underneath now and by next March it will be clear.
 #8330  by Cable_Fairy
 27 Jul 2020, 15:10
Last year I had the same at the bottom of one frame and assumed that the bees had built it as a ladder to get up to the frame, every time I removed it they rebuilt. Following the article in March 2020 BKA magazine page 100 I tried the conveyor method and finished up after a few weeks with the comb at the bottom of a number of frames. I found the conveyor method strange and stopped using it and removed the bottom comb on all frames, and am now seeing only bottom comb on one frame again. The comb does not go down to the floor, it looks like they leave a bee space, so it does not appear to be damaged during inspections.
 #8331  by AndrewLD
 27 Jul 2020, 17:33
Cable_Fairy wrote:
27 Jul 2020, 15:10
The comb does not go down to the floor, it looks like they leave a bee space, so it does not appear to be damaged during inspections.
I am trying to understand what you are saying. You removed the extra comb - I think that is what both Nigel and I are advising. My worry is the timing.
Your bees didn't take the comb to the floor and left a bee-space - that's good :D
Mine stuck it to the floor - not so good :(
Bees of course ignore the space between the bottom of a frame in the brood box and the floor (according to all the wisdom) - so it's not a problem - so why remove it? Only my bees are different, so given the right circumstances I would remove it :?