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.
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.
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