THE Y

[Linwood]

Question about the Y . what do the bees do if
the Y is inverted. and do you just turn the
frames around and every thing is okay?
I have changed frames into other hives but
did not know that I could be doing somthing
wrong.

[Solomon Parker]

All is not lost, the bees will build if the Y is wrong. But, there may be added stress and certain frames may not be drawn as well as could be.
You want the inverted Y side of the foundation facing the center of the hive, its pretty simple.

------------------
Sol Parker
Southern Oregon Apiaries
http://www.allnaturalhoney.com

[Linwood]

THANKS SOL.
I will have to look at my frames a little
closer next time. thanks again.

[odfrank]

I kept bees very successfully for 33 years before hearing that I should be concerned about the way combs face. Don't sweat the small stuff or the totally unproven stuff. Don't believe everything you read on the internet, and everything said about beekeeping is a generality that maybe only worked for one person in one place but might be meaningless for you in your place.

[Michael Bush]

I agree with both points of view to a ceartain extent. I never paid attention to the "Y" in the comb and only occasionally did it seem to make much difference and even then I didn't understand why. Sometimes the bees wouldn't draw a particular comb, but if I swithed it around they did. I never paid attention to the orientation of the comb. I am doing some experiments with some blank starter strips to see what the bees will build on their own. If they bother to build it in a particular orientation then it must matter to them or they would build it willy nilly. I have not had the chance yet to see what they build, but will keep you all posted.

Meanwhile I agree it's not worth losing sleep over.