Beespace at the bottom

[ShinySideUp]

Hives are built with 'beespace' in all places but one, the bottom, why is this?

I ask because today I was inspecting one of my hives when I had great difficulty lifting one of the frames out despite moving other frames away from it. When I finally got it out I could see a large lump of comb had been drawn at the bottom of the frame. I was in a bit of as quandry as I couldn't get the frame back in again so had to remove two adjacent frames and put them on the floor (checked for queen first) before I had enough room to squeeze it in. Once in the other frames went back in ok and seemingly sat back on top of this 'lump' of comb. Should I have removed the lump with all the brood that was in there and chucked it away (I just don't feel right doing ths)?

I'm sure this wouldn't happpen if the floorspace was much smaller between the openmesh floor and the bottom of the frames. I'm sure I have assembled the hives correctly as the tops of them are in just the right place.

 

[pargyle]

I'm sure this wouldn't happpen if the floorspace was much smaller between the openmesh floor and the bottom of the frames. I'm sure I have assembled the hives correctly as the tops of them are in just the right place.

Are you sure that you have the right frames for the hive ... bottom bee space is just that .. a bee space, about 6.6mm from the bottom of the frame to the floor, If you have a mesh floor have you got the mesh floor the right way up if it's a separate mesh floor with a frame round it ?

 

[ShinySideUp]

Yes, definitely got the right frames, 14 x 12's.

I just watched the video on Youtube of Thorne assembling a National hive. Mine are 14 x 12 but the open mesh floor is the same and as you can see from the video there is only one way up and you can also see that the space from the floor to the bottom of the brood box is considerably more than 6.6 mm. Go to 39 seconds for the part where the OMF is fitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPh3ArZhOg0


Also, beneath the floor is a support for a varroa board so another guarantee that the floor is the right way up. The only way the gap could be any smaller is if the frames extended below the bottom edge of the brood box (which would mean you could never put the BB on a flat surface as all the frames woudl poke up from the top). I'm at a bit of a loss as to why this gap at the bottom is so big.

 

[pargyle]

Yes, definitely got the right frames, 14 x 12's.

I just watched the video on Youtube of Thorne assembling a National hive. Mine are 14 x 12 but the open mesh floor is the same and as you can see from the video there is only one way up and you can also see that the space from the floor to the bottom of the brood box is considerably more than 6.6 mm. Go to 39 seconds for the part where the OMF is fitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPh3ArZhOg0


Also, beneath the floor is a support for a varroa board so another guarantee that the floor is the right way up. The only way the gap could be any smaller is if the frames extended below the bottom edge of the brood box (which would mean you could never put the BB on a flat surface as all the frames woudl poke up from the top). I'm at a bit of a loss as to why this gap at the bottom is so big.

Beespace can be between 6mm & 9mm ... anything bigger than about 9mm and they will build additional comb ... was the lump of free comb across the bottom of the frame or hanging on the underside of the bottom bar ?

If it was built on the side of the bottom bar then you need to check the spacing of your frames as they may be too far apart .. are you using self spacing frames or castellated frame supports ? If the latter - how many frames have you got in the brood box ?

 

[ShinySideUp]

Beespace can be between 6mm & 9mm ... anything bigger than about 9mm and they will build additional comb ... was the lump of free comb across the bottom of the frame or hanging on the underside of the bottom bar ?

Hanging on the underside of the bottom bar and sticking out sideways to be under another frame, hence the difficulty of getting it out.

If it was built on the side of the bottom bar then you need to check the spacing of your frames as they may be too far apart .. are you using self spacing frames or castellated frame supports ? If the latter - how many frames have you got in the brood box ?

Self-spacing frames, eleven of them plus a dummy board.

I suppose the design of the hive does give the space at about 9mm so is at the top end. It was only the one frame so hopefully they won't make a habit of it.

Should I have scraped it off as I'm going to have the same trouble next time I suppose?

 

[amigadave]

Should I have scraped it off as I'm going to have the same trouble next time I suppose?

I normally scrape bits of wax off and put them in a pile for melting down later, as it mounts up over the season and can be used for candles (or swapping for foundation).

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Self-spacing frames, eleven of them plus a dummy board.

I suppose the design of the hive does give the space at about 9mm so is at the top end. It was only the one frame so hopefully they won't make a habit of it.

Should I have scraped it off as I'm going to have the same trouble next time I suppose?

The space between the bottom bars of the brood frame and the mesh seems to vary quite widely with some having sufficient space to slide an Oxalic vapouriser in and some not. The OMF may confuse the bees into being unaware of a surface below? Being clear of debris might influence the behaviour.
Some of my bees occasionally create lumps of comb under the frame. However if scraped off cleanly they rarely repeat the exercise but build on the foundation where intended.

 

[enrico]

Not all bees do what you expect. Just scrape it off and be prepared for the unexpected! They can be a pain!
E

 

[ShinySideUp]

OK, happy with that. Thanks for all your replies.