Bridging between Frames (Burr Comb Plus??)

[Tucker1]

One of my buddies has a Styrofoam hive with the black plastic frames. He added his second brood box on the hive about 3 weeks ago.
The initial brood box is fine and everything seems normal. It full of comb, with both brood and honey. But .......

The second brood box (same construction at the initial brood box) has problems.  The bees preferred to build burr comb between the frames and not on the frames. When inspecting the hive, he was forced to pull out several frames at a time, in order the inspect the hive.  The burr comb goes from the top of the frames to the bottom. It is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide and filled with brood. The frames themselves are completely empty and have no comb buildup whatsoever. It seems odd, given what the bees did with the initial brood box.

Any suggestions on what should be done?

Regards
Tucker1

[bassman1977]

I have Pierco plastic frames.  The bees love to draw burr comb on it.  I scrape it off, they rebuild it.  Same thing your buddy experiences.  Not so much my wood frames.  My suggestion...switch to wood frames and if he really wants plastic, you can buy plastic (large cell or pierco) foundation for the wood frames.

[Ross]

When getting frames drawn out, pack all your frames as tightly together as possible in the center of the box.  Don't space them out at all until drawn.  That will help limit the burr comb. 

[Brian D. Bray]

Plastic frames can be problematic.  Some bees just refuse to work it and others do wierd things.  Burr and bridge comb on plastic frames in common.  To get bees to work plastic frames correctly several things must be done before they are placed in the hive.
Those things are: Air them out thoroughly (months if possible), coat with extra layer(s) of wax as the manufactured frames don't have enough wax on them to begin with, spray with syrup when placing in the hive, and push the frames as close together as possible leaving the excess space between the outside frames and the super wall--this is manipulation space to be used for creating sufficient space between frames so they can be removed during inspections.

Since the bees have build birdge and burr comb to the extent you discribe you may have to 86 those frames and replace them with new ones to get it right.  If you replace them follow the above guidelines.

[Ross]

You don't have to '86' the frames.  Just scrape off the burr comb and make them try again.  You need a strong flow or feed heavily.  You also need warmer weather in my opinion.