Pollen and nectar (honey?) frames.

[Bob Wilson]

I have several frames of pollen and thick nectar. By this, I mean half the frame is pollen and half is ripening honey. No brood at all. The frames are heavy like honey frames, and they seem (to me) to be crowding the brood nest. The queen is laying eggs in multiple areas divided by these pollen/thick nectar frames.
Are the bees backfilling?
If I move this heavy nectar to the honey area, the pollen goes with it.
Or is this normal pantry storage?

[BeeMaster2]

Bob,
I see this in a lot of hives that I do cutouts. Usually it is in large old hives.
I recommend that you rearrange the hive and try to put the bulk of the brood back together near the entrance, put the frames with pollen near it. I also recommend that you put an empty drawn frame in the middle of the brood to give the queen a place to lay. As soon as she fills it up, add another one.
If you want, cut out some of the honey comb, leave the pollen (pollen makes your honey look cloudy and gives it a funny taste).
Jim Altmiller

[Bob Wilson]

Thanks, Jim.
I already added some new frames into the broodnest, buying me time to get some advice here. I will consolidate the nest later this week.
It will be my first time doing this. I suppose I should try to keep the orientation and order of the frames I move as close to the original as possible.

[Nock]

I would rearrange as well. Get the brood back together as Jim said.

[Bob Wilson]

Is regrouping the brood back together something that has to be done often (each spring) in standard langstroths also, or is it only if the nest becomes honey bound?
Is it something for which you are always on the lookout, so that whenever you inspect you might reposition a few frames to maintain a consolidated nest?

[Ben Framed]

Bob, the most I do is reverse the two brood boxes in spring. I do not know if this is really necessary or not. It is something  I was suggested by experienced beekeepers.  The bees move up to the second box in winter. Reversing the boxes in spring helps keep the two brood boxes balanced is my understanding. Do not take this as fact unless some of our experts concur. Your situation with long hives is a whole different ball game and Greek to me,  I am clueless with long hive circumstances.

[BeeMaster2]

Bob,
In a Langstroth hive the bees naturally move up during the winter following the honey supply. In horizontal hives, especially in areas with mild winters, the tend to spread the brood nest out. When the early spring flow stops it looks s rather sporadic. I suspect that when the main flow is on again the bees will open up the area around the entrance for the queen to lay. If you don?t move the frames around you will probably have pollen spread all around in the middle of your honey frames especially if you have a constant flow of pollen coming in.
Jim Altmiller