We have a year old hive with a strong hive that consists of 2 brood boxes & 1 super, we took a look yesterday for the first time this spring & the top (super) box had some brood about 3 days old in and some honey, the next box (brood box) had honey & brood in the correct place & some that looked about 10 days old on bottom/between bottom & middle box. Which once we opened the boxes were removed from their wax chambers (bridge/burr comb) and out in the open so to speak, which I'm sure died. Is this ok or is there possibly too much space between the bottom and middle boxes, should we use a spacer to decrease the amount of space between? Any advice or experience with this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I would wonder if you have the right size frames for the box. The only hive I have which made brood in space between the boxes was when I by mistake put two shallow frames in a medium box.
Linda T in Atlanta
Yeah, just check the frame sizes. You'll get some burr comb, especially if they need room. The hives I have on Pierco plastic frames/foundation always get burr comb regardless of what I do. :roll:
Eggsnhoney. Welcome to our forum, you have found the right place to spend some time, ask your questions, like you are doing, you will get great answers, spend lots of time here, tell us of yourself and your experiences with the bees when you have some extra time. Have a wonderful and greatest of these days, more to come. Cindi
Eggsnhoney welcome to the forum. Please update your profile as to where you live so people can give better answers to some questions as the weather in your location can have a great impact. :-D
Is the equipment from the same supplier? different suppliers/manufacturers have different clearence levels on the top and bottoms of the frames depending on how they notch the rabbit into the wood. This can make for as much as a inch space between the frame bottoms of the upper box compared to the tops of the frames in the lower box, the opposite is also true, depending on how they are stacked.
If you have more than 1/2 inch of space between tops and bottoms of frames from adjoining boxes you can expect to see lots of burr comb which can have brood comb mixed in. Burr comb is most likely to be used for drone rearing but I've seen regular worker brood in boxes where there was a lot of burr comb drawn. Burr Comb is most often the result of improper spacing, side to side or top to bottom. Anytime you encounter Burr comb take time to evaluate the frame spacing and clearances within the box.
Sometimes I see that also...I just scrape it away and do not worry about it. It usually only happens 1X per season- about now. Like mentioned prior, it is often drone comb. I suppose there might be an issue about various brands and box sizes being different but frankly, I just do not worry enough about it to do anything. I have so many brands & homemades collected from so many sources that I would tear my hair out trying to figure the best fit.
It does make me feel bad when I have to wreck a bunch of brood but nothing can be done. Once you crack the two boxes apart the damage is done...I move on!
No, the frames are the correct size for the boxes & I think these are all from the same supplier. It doesn't seem like it's a huge space in between but I guess it's just enough. Maybe it is drone brood ?? we're not sure-still makes us feel bad to destroy it but once you open the hive, it can't be prevented. The hive seems to be very active already and there's enough space too. Thanks for all the replies.
QuoteMaybe it is drone brood ?? we're not sure-still makes us feel bad to destroy it but once you open the hive, it can't be prevented.
Then don't. :-) Obviously you will break the burr comb when you open the boxes, but just put the boxes back on when you are done and they will repair it. It helps them manuver about anyway.