Thank you for a helpful reply. What follows below is not for you or those who offered advice on the problem. It’s here because I cant find anywhere else to put it.
I said the beehive was put on a shed roof and the missing frames not inserted. It came to my apiary for most of last winter and went back to a ground level site. I didn‘t say it was left on the roof.
Because of the mass of comb it was not possible to inspect more than a few frames and I couldn’t work out how best to remove the comb and preserve the colony which is probably from wild stock. The workers are small and black,possibly wild Black Welsh Bees. It’s a difficult place to keep bees, high up, exposed and in conifer forest so these bees could be locally adapted.
I’ve kept bees for over twenty years, now have seven colonies. I have good years and poor, again in a difficult very exposed site. I don’t treat for varroa and had an NBU inspection this year. Inspector found little varroa and the bees are healthy. I haven’t had any winter losses for nine years but wasps were a serious problem, now resolved.
My friend is a member of the local association and has completed an initial training course. He also understand weight, ladders and the capacity of supporting structures.
I am not an idiot either. I asked for advice on dealing with a particular problem, not about ladders ,shed roofs, or how not to deal with people who make mistakes. I have some ideas for a solution but I have often found that others can have better ideas.
