Moving comb in the hive

[mnc0309]

Hello.

Im new to bee keeping and earlier this year I decided to construct a top bar hive and subsequently placed an order for a bee package, but ended up with a 6 frame national nuc, due to supply issues.

I carried out some modifications to the frames and they are now attached to my top bars and the bees appear happy and active.

After a week, the bees started to draw their own new comb from the top bars in two locations A) Comb to the top bar at the front of the hive in front of nuc frame 1 and B) Comb to the top bar at the back of the hive behind frame nuc frame 6. Both combs were approx 150cmx 100cm.

All good i think, apart from that the new comb at the back of the hive was crossed over to nuc frame 6 and it fell off the bar when I accidentally pulled it away whilst carrying out an inspection.

After trying to mould the comb back onto the bar, i used some cable ties to secure the comb to the top bar. I placed it back in the hive it its original location. This whole process happened over the course of 20 mins or so.

However, after a few days i noticed that the bees were neglecting the new comb that I returned to the hive so I moved it forward between the 5th and 6th nuc frames and the bees have worked on it over the past week doubling it in size. Great!

My concern is that now the bees don’t seem so interested in the outer face of the last nuc frame (original nuc 6 frame) and i wanted to know if they will build on the next bar along (as they did originally) or should i move their new comb (which i placed between 5 and 6, and is doing well) to its original position i.e behind nuc frame 6....

Photos attached.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[enrico]

I would suggest you let them do what they want in their own time but I ma not a top bar hive man. One will be along shortly I am sure! I congratulate you on your efforts so far. For a novice that is pretty gutsy stuff to be doing. Welcome by the way!
E

 

[Finman]

.
You have a small colony and so much happening there. And then, not happening.

I think that you have wrong expectations, how bee colony should live.

How much you have empty space in the top bar hive. How many bars?

In the picture I see lots of space, and that keeps tiny colony cold.
.
Bees must abandon the frame because they cannot keep it warm. Otherwise there is no reason, why they do not cover the comb. They can enlarge when colony gets new workers.

 

[mnc0309]

Thank you Enrico.

 

[mnc0309]

Finman - thank you for your comments.

I have since put in a temporary false back so there are now only 3 bars from the last frame. However, there is about 100mm from the underside of the frame and base of the hive. I know that is not ideal, but slowly learning and will make improvements on the next hive!.

I will check the hive at the end of the week to see what is going on, but main question was to see if I should move the new comb back to its original position, or just leave it in between frames 5 and 6 seeing as it is doing so well.

I also wanted to know if the bees would go on to the last frame once they are done with the new comb and then onto the new bars. There are a few bees on the last frame with what appears to be capped honey.

The comments so far suggest that I should reduce the space in the back of the hive, which is what I have tried to do with the false back and just let them do what they do.

 

[drex]

I run a couple of top bar hives. You are doing well so far. I get them to work on a bar, which is in between two already drawn straight combs. If this empty top bar is placed adjacent to the brood nest it will be drawn quicker than if it is placed at the extremity of the hive. It is a small colony, so do not divide up the brood nest by putting an empty bar in the middle of the brood nest. You can do this when the colony gets stronger and is raising lots of brood, but dividing up the brood nest might cause chilling of some brood. When the colony gets stronger you can always add empty frames on the outside of active combs ( probably full of stores), but in this case I will put in the empty top bar, then a follower board. Again the follower helps to make sure they draw the comb straight . I hope this is clear. Newly drawn comb is delicate, and if the have drawn across two bars, you can realign the comb, but it must be done very gently. I hope this is clear.
Leaving 3 empty bars for them to work on at the same time, you are inviting cross combing.

 

[mnc0309]

Drex - that's what I needed to hear, thank you!

I will move the follower board closer to the last nuc frame, leaving 1 of my top bars for the bees to draw comb on. I'm learning! The reason I left 3 bars is so that they had room and would not feel the need to swarm but perhaps I have misunderstood what I have researched in the past.

Then once the colony has grown, I will adopt the in-between comb approach to hopefully achieve straight comb.

Thank you.

 

[oliver90owner]

My first observation was that it is a bl***y big hive if the built comb was of those dimensions. Now are you actually meaning millimetres all the way through?

Drex is on the money. You are expecting too much from a small colony with no new bees.

 

[mnc0309]

Oliver90owner - i was waiting for someone to pick up on the dimensions. Yes, mm!!! Although if in cm that would have been amazing! Maybe i will build a mega hive next year and see if I can achieve comb of those dims. i realised after i made the post and couldnt work out how to edit.

I moved the follower board last night and will provide an update should they move onto the next bar, hopefully they do. There appears to be a lot more bees in the hive than what i started with (They were installed on 19th June) but maye its just my imagination.

Im new to this and have only seen videos where bee keepers harvest huge amounts from their top bar hive, although mostly in america. I wasnt sure what to expect so wanted some guidance to ensure that they are happy with the setup and drawing comb as they should etc.

The advice recieved in this forum makes sense. Lets see what happens.

Also, they are really going for it with their new comb (the one that fell off and i repositioned between frames 5 and 6) its circa 300mm wide and now extends just below the national frames, which i think measures approx 200mm. Its great to see all this happening, even if i dont get to harvest any honey.

Thanks for all your comments, very helpful/reassuring.

 

[Fritillary]

Good luck with your first top bar!
Drex is absolutely right also about the new comb being delicate. Don't know the situation of your hive, but I would be very cautious with all these inspections. Delicate anyway... and in this warmth, more so... if hive in full sun, even more so (don't know how well yours is insulated of course)... and comb heavy with stores? - ever more so!!

 

[mnc0309]

UPDATE: I followed your advice (i.e. use follower board and leave 1 bar for the bees to drawn on) and I had a look this morning and they have started drawing comb on that free comb, which is great approx. 5cm x 3cm.

So, since the original post, in addition to the 6 frame nuc installed, they have now produced a comb at the very front of the hive, developed a new comb (this is the first new comb which I placed between frames 5 and 6 as mentioned in my original post), and another large comb adjacent to the aforementioned comb. However, this comb is on the underside of the top bar which has a frame on it (I attached all 6 nuc frames onto a top bars). I left too much space for them and they have utilised the space. This is fine I guess but not ideal.

HOWEVER (I NEED HELP AGAIN PLASE!) I can hear tooting(?). I am new to bee keeping and so I'm leaning. The question I have is should I be concerned with the tooting and does it mean that they are going to swarm? What should I do, if anything.

 

[mnc0309]

Update

For those who are interested, I have attached photographs of two combs of honey that I harvested last year for family and work colleagues.

This year, I think that I will change my habits by making sure that the combs do not cross over by inspecting once a week and just leaving the bees to do what they do.

Because last year was my first year of beekeeping, I was slightly obsessed and was opening the hive everyday, lifting combs out during the day when it was hot and the wax was soft leading to it pulling away from the bar etc, and I was worrying too much about the bees!

Although I have not inspected the hive this year, activity in and out has reduced compared to last year, but still a looks like a busy hive.

Also, I realise now that I jumped into the deep end by building my own hive without any prior knowledge or experience of bee keeping, but enjoyed the thrill of learning, especially when psyching myself up to harvest the honey and then the deep hum of the colony when opening it up to harvest along with the warm sweet smell of honey, oh yes and being stung in the neck by a bee that got into my suit, with its stinger still hanging out - fiancé said I deserved it!

Thanks for all of your comments.

 

[Harley1]

I was interested to see your pictures. I have a couple of top bar hives, as well as a few Nationals.
This year the top bar hives came through winter really well. After a few false starts with a ready made TBH a couple of years ago I moved the bees to two bigger ones based on what I liked best about other people's set ups. Finding a design that works has made such a difference. I found that making sure the hives are perfectly level makes getting lovely straight combs the norm. I rarely have to do anything to keep them building them that way. Yours look a lot deeper then mine, but very nice.
I've found it fascinating using both types of hives. Lots to learn, even after quite a few years trying to get it right.
Fingers crossed, the early promising start to the year continues.