Super Frames in Deep Body

[dp]

Bought a couple of extractors from an old bee keeper.  Came with 2 live hives.  Hauled them home and went to work them and found that he had used super frames in deeps.  There is a real mess of comb in these hives, and I'm really at a loss on how to get them straightened out. 

I'm thinking that it may be next spring that I get them fixed.  If I wait until late winter, they will move up into an upper deep that has the correct frames installed and I'll pull the empty bottom frames and fix the comb.

I thought about just trimming them down and putting them in super bodies, but there is a ton of brood in the hanging comb.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[wd]

Look and see if they're drones, some do that for varroa management

[Finski]

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There is no reason to wait to next spring. Hive is impossible to nurse  if frames are fixed. And then you learn nothing.

Put a normal foundation box on the hive. Bees draw it and the queen moves there to lay. When you see the queen, put the box lowest and excluder on.
After 3 weeks there is no brood in super combs and they are filled with honey.

Put the cleansing board between hive and those special combs. Then you may cut them off from each other and the box.

Remember enlarge the hive with proper foundations.

Swarm controlling is tricky.

One way is that when you see the queen, make a new hive from that in old site.

Move odd boxes  2 metres aside.

Let the brood emerge from the odd hive. Then handle mites with oxalic acid and join the bees to the original site hive.

[Michael Bush]

First put a bottom board down with the 3/4" side up.  Put the box upside down on top of the bottom board.  Cut around the outside edges of the box all the way around.  Lift the box off, pushing on the frames as necessary to leave them on the bottom.  Now you can get to the frames to work.  Cut the comb from the bottoms of the frames and tie any brood into new frames.  Scrap the honey (brush the bees off and put it in a bucket with a lid).  Put the frames after you remove the comb in a super the right size for that frame.

[BjornBee]

Look and see if they're drones, some do that for varroa management

Yes, remove them if they are drone comb.

On the bottom of this page, you can see intentional drone comb used for mite trapping.

http://www.bjornapiaries.com/combinformation.html

It is still early that any damaged or lost resources cutting it down and placing it into a super will be made back up by the bees. Do it now.  ;)