Comb thickness

[Rookie]

On three of my top bars the bee have drawn the comb wider than the width of the bar. My bars are 1 3/8" wide, but the comb they drew is about 1 3/4" wide. The bar next to the thicker comb, they are leaving a indentation to make room for bee space. Should I trim the thick comb thiner to correct the "problem" or let it alone? thanks

[BerkeyDavid]

Is all of the comb attached to the bar, or does the attachment point reach to the next bar? If you can lift the top bar and bring the entire comb with you (after cutting side attachments) then I would let it alone. You might have to remove some addtional top bars to give you enough room. I have found that it is easiest to work the hives with 3 top bars out at a time. That leaves enough space to work with. My only concern would be if on the next bar they start building in the seam between the 2nd and 3rd bars. If they build the comb on the next bar, you should be ok. If not, you might want to make an 1 1/2 inch top bar and stick it in there in place of the next one. Or you could move that bar further back in the hive and put it between bars already drawn. It is hard to know what to do without actually looking at it. When in doubt I usually let it alone and let the bees do their tthing, as long as I can get in and out of the hive for inspections....

david

[Michael Bush]

You can cut a spacer the thickness of the bars and 3/8" or so wide and put it between. That's what I've been doing lately.