Idiotic newbee move. should we be concerned?

[givemeone]

Well, we got our bees on the 21st.  We purchased a "nuc" with five frames of bees.  Somehow, in the shock and awe of installing the frames into the hive,  we forgot to replace one of the empty frames.

So...only 9 frames for the last 9 days.  Which left lots of room for the bees to expand upon their existing frames and not even touch the new frames in the hive.  Now we have a couple of frames with two layers of drawn out comb.  No idea what we should do about it.  Put the 10th frame in after the inspection.  Hoping nobody got hurt. 

ants...saw a beetle, although I don't think it was a hive beetle. we have a screened bottom board and it was on the "debris" board beneath that.  Took a bunch of pictures.  Hopefully we can load them up and post...

thanks

[Bee Happy]

Hive beetles are tiny enough to zip around between the bees legs. And they do zip around. I've managed to keep them in the 1s and 2s and not into infestation numbers - looks like between the traps and the fire ants I won't be having generations of SHB to worry about (knock wood).

[tillie]

When you say "two layers of drawn out comb" is it as if there are two combs next to each other hanging from the same top bar? 

If so, you can carefully with your hive tool cut off one of the two and rubber band it into another frame.  If each are drawn from the side edges of the top bar, then you may have to cut and rubber band both.  I use huge rubber bands from an office supply store and run one or two lengthwise of the frame and whatever I need vertically as well.  In the end the bees cut the rubber bands and move them out of the hive or occasionally incorporate them into the comb.

I'd do the above procedure to help the bees get the idea that they are supposed to build one comb per frame.  I am assuming these are foundationless frames or I'm not visualizing what would happen to make you have double comb if you are using foundation.  Then you'd have overly thick drawn comb, I would think.


Linda T in Atlanta

[Thymaridas]

Don't worry too much about having only 9 frames. A lot of beeks run 9 frames in a 10 frame box. Just add them at next inspection. In the 10 days since you got them, they will not have gummed up the works with propolis.

Bees are pretty flexible and, though it hurts our hearts, the truth is that they mostly take care of themselves. When we first start out most of our "inspections" are just really learning about bee-havior.

For new beekeepers, I recommend putting a chair near their entrance and just watching them come and go at all hours, and you will start to learn the rhythm of their lives. Watch the cleaners in the morning, the drone parade in the afternoon, the fanners, the scubbers, and the foragers. Learn everything that you can about their bee-havior. Good beeks never "force" their bees, we merely manipulate what they already do for our mutual advantage.