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A friend of mine recently (late May) captured a large swarm in a 10-frame medium bait hive. The bait hive contained 3 frames, the rest was open space. The swarm that moved in was large (good news) but he didn’t discover them for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, they filled out the remaining 7 spaces with a mess of bridge/ burr comb (bad news). We got the bait hive out of the tree, ensured it was queenright, and added another 10-frame medium box of foundation above the bait hive / bridge comb. 6 weeks later, the bees are slow in drawing out the foundation in box 2: only about 5 of 10 frames have been drawn out. He is feeding them 1:1 syrup and they are taking about half a quart a day.
A couple of things trouble me:
1. The bait hive, with most of the honey, bridge comb, etc, is still on the bottom. I don’t know what would happen if we moved it above the box with the new frames.
2. We don’t know what to do with the mess in the bottom box. The bridge comb is so random that it would be difficult to cut it out and install in standard frames.
Any ideas what we can do so this herd can get ready for winter?
Thanks!
A couple of things trouble me:
1. The bait hive, with most of the honey, bridge comb, etc, is still on the bottom. I don’t know what would happen if we moved it above the box with the new frames.
2. We don’t know what to do with the mess in the bottom box. The bridge comb is so random that it would be difficult to cut it out and install in standard frames.
Any ideas what we can do so this herd can get ready for winter?
Thanks!