A full 30 frame Layens

[Bob Wilson]

This is what happens when your bees multiply too fast. OR when you get behind in building more frames.
There are 25 frames occupied and another 2 sheet of comb added on by the bees. The entrance is at the far end.
I am just going to wait until harvest in the fall, and deal with it when the honey is cured and the bees are fewer.

[Occam]

Oh boy, they got busy. Curious, do you use a follower board in your Lauren's?

[Bill Murray]

Bob I ran out of frames this year, -got shipped the wrong size, and to make a very long story short. I have multiple hives and nucs. that Ive been cleaning up over the last couple weeks as weather permits. I installed interior feeders as fillers on the production hives but this years new hives were a mess. I feel for you.

[Bob Wilson]

Occam.
I don't use follow boards. Maybe I should, but it didn't seem to make a difference in my beginning years. And George Layens, who said he did, said in his later years that he didn't. However, I DO have bees all in the box, walking around in both my Layens and my Long Langstroth.

Bill.
All this cross comb is my fault because I didn't think to add a wedge to the top bar of the foundationless frames I was building from scratch. Since the Layens top bars touch at top, the bees had a solid, flat ceiling above them.
The question is can I trust the summer/fall drop in population not to expose the frames to encroaching hive beetles. As of right now, I have not seen a single hive beetle in the last two months.

[Bill Murray]

Just my personal opinion NO. But with that said keep an eye out. My personal opinion isnt always correct. It depends on temp, humidity,and the dirt above the hive.

[Bob Wilson]

I bounced the idea of keeping the hives closed until fall with a Layens Facebook site.
40% of the beeks said no. Pull honey when capped.
60% said pull in fall, when I set up the hive for winter.

[Bill Murray]

So 40% live south of the mason Dixon and 60% live north ?? Just asking.