Random comb growth in my hive

[PatM]

This is my second year keeping bees, last winter I lost 1 of my two hives, so I decided that after the surviving colony got going strong again, I would do a split.

There was extra space in the surviving hive because of the feeder I put in there, and I didn't get back to the hive soon enough to take it out, and now I have a lot of comb that is just free standing.

I split the hive trying to get things as close to 50/50 as possible, and the queen is still in the original hive.  I think there is enough larvae and eggs in the new hive as well as honey so hopefully it takes off.

The problem is with the free standing comb built on top of some of the frames.  It is almost as tall as a frame, and goes across the top of several frames then doubles back.  There is also some hanging down on some of the frames I split off as those were the cells that had the eggs/larvae in them.

Obviously the bees don't care since they built it that way, but it makes it so there are several frames I can't look at to see how they are doing.

Should I try to clear it out, although I don't know how to do that without killing a lot of larvae, or just let it be and hope for the best?

I am sure one winter or another I will have another hive that doesn't make it, and I can clean it out then, but I would like to be able to keep a better eye on my bees, especially after this.

Thanks,
Pat

[KeyLargoBees]

My opinion....fix it now. The longer you wait the harder it is to perform the necessary surgery to get it out.  I had a similar situation with brood in some crazy comb and I waited to let the brood hatch out and it just kept getting worse and was more invasive at the end than it would have been if I had fixed the issue when i first noted it.

Others may feel differently....

[tjc1]

I agree - it will only get to be a bigger mess and a constant hassle. Fix it now - you probably can do it without losing too much of the brood in reality. Can any of it be cut out and rubber banded into frames?

[Michael Bush]

Flip the box upside down.  Remove the box.  Cut the combs out.  Rubber band the brood in frames.  Scrap the honey.

[PatM]

Flip the box upside down.  Remove the box.  Cut the combs out.  Rubber band the brood in frames.  Scrap the honey.

I like the idea of keeping it like that.  I will give it a try.  Thanks