Author Topic: comb under the bottom board  (Read 1950 times)

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Offline rober

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comb under the bottom board
« on: June 12, 2021, 07:39:35 pm »
 this is the 2nd time i've had this happen. the best guesses are that a newly mated queen went under the board upon returning & the bees followed her. the last time ended badly. the bees were using the comb under the hive for brood & the hive for honey.  we were in a dearth & without thinking i opened the hive & set some frames of honey next to the hives & set off a robbing frenzy. it happened so fast & with the hive open there was nothing i could do but step back & stare at my blunder. my approach this time will be: put another bottom board next to the hive, put the brood boxes on the new bottom board, put an empty brood box on top, put the bottom board with comb on top of that, & put the lid on. hopefully the queen will move down into the hive. i'll check it after a few days. if need be i'll thump the bottom board against the empty box to knock the bees off the comb.

Offline iddee

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Re: comb under the bottom board
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2021, 09:14:47 pm »
I would go ahead and bump the bees off and cut out the comb. It is extremely unlikely that she will move down.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein

Offline rober

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Re: comb under the bottom board
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2021, 09:24:32 am »
the dead is done. they turned the hive into a super. i'm going back in the morning to trade out frames of honey with open comb so the queen has someplace to lay.

Offline rober

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Re: comb under the bottom board
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2021, 05:57:54 pm »
happy to report that the queen is in her new digs & all is well. 5 frames of brood & working on a 4th super. every hive in this yard has multiple supers on.

Offline Zweefer

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Re: comb under the bottom board
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2021, 10:49:56 pm »
Sweet! I love happy outcomes.


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Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau