So I took a peek into my remaining hive yesterday, to find a big beautiful 1/2-drawn comb that they created. It was 5" x 8" and looking dandy. Except -- it was drawn perpendicular to my top bars -- meaning, it is unacceptable as a starter comb. This is what the Barefoot Beekeeper calls the bees "getting creative" about their comb placement.
The instructions for beginning a top-bar hive say to check in on a new set of bees often, and remove any comb started in the wrong direction. Once they start a comb in the correct orientation (parallel to your top bars), then they are off and running and you can leave them alone.
Lesson: when the instructions say "check often," that means every other day or so. Don't let it go for a week to "give them a rest" like I did. Now I'm going to have to remove this big beautiful comb so they'll start comb in the right spot. The bees don't re-use their wax like they would honey, so it's just a waste for them. I feel like a big jerk.
This period is one of the down sides of a top bar hive. You have to keep checking the bees, and removing comb, until they get it the way you want it. Sometimes, they take the prompt from the bees wax right away, and start in the right spot. Sometimes, they don't. With a modern hive, there is wax foundation that tells them exactly where to build, and even exactly what size comb to build. You don't have this problem of "incorrect comb placement" in a modern hive.
So later today, when it's warm and the little ladies are flying, I'll have to get suited up and remove this perfectly good comb to get em to start over in the right spot. Lesson learned on the backs of the bees, poor things. I'll be checking them every 2 days until they start a correct comb from now on.
Bp
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Received and installed my new queen yesterday. There was much less comb building in the queenless hive than in the other. I will check this AM to make sure the new queen got out of the queen cage OK.
The other hive is thriving. There's plenty in bloom now, and I see the girls out everywhere gathering.
The fashion statement made when wearing a bee suit cannot be overstated.
"The fashion statement made when wearing a bee suit cannot be overstated."
Awesome.
Technical question -- they building comb in the right orientation? And, more than one comb going yet?
Hive 1: yes, and yes.
Hive 2: yes, and no.
Lucky dawg.
hehe
Sorry to say, but you will have many more TBH disappointments down the road. BTW here's a hint, they build their comb in that direction for reasons of ventilation crowd and traffic control. Forcing it in the other direction may risk the health and the production of the colony. If you insist on forcing the unnatural, place the bars further apart for a couple of days.
I figure there has to be a happy medium between giving them preformed foundation that has stamped cell sizes telling em exactly how big to build their cells on the unnatural end of things, and having a hive without any structure whatsoever and destroying it to harvest honey.
Hoping the TBH pulls this balance off.
I hear there are specialists in the TBH that write for some of the major bee journals, and am going to start tracking down their work for more research. For now, however, going to get them to build in the right direction and once that happens leave em alone. As long as the colony stays put, then I'll consider it a success.
B
Guy, thanks for the suggestion for spacing out the top bars a bit. I've cleaned the comb off the top of the hive (what a horrible feeling) and spaced the bars out. Will be checking them every other day now, so if they get started off on the wrong foot again, i can catch it before it's too detrimental to them.
I've got my fingers crossed that this does it.
Bp
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