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Well, I finally did a first check on my foundationless hives. Sort of. The good news is that there was no comb attached to the makeshift covers I started with, and now both hives have properly-placed inner and outer covers.
So far, so good: all the comb is down in the hive boxes. And there's a lot of it.
But... it's not even CLOSE to being in frames... The bees are busily constructing turrets and tunnels and arches and labyrinths. The new comb is fragile, and no matter how delicately I try to handle everything, I can feel the chunks of comb break away as soon as I dislodge a frame. I stopped after the first couple of efforts.
Do I try to dismantle the whole entire hive and somehow make these big fragile chunks of comb conform to a frame pattern? I can't really envision how that will be possible, or where the bees will be while I do that. There are an awful lot of bees, and they're still hanging out in big clusters in there.
The bees were quite peaceful while I poked about in there, but when I took a serrated knife and cut apart a few of the comb bridges, they definitely got agitated. I felt like that kind of invasion couldn't be too good for the morale of the hive.
What now? I have to admit I'm flummoxed as to how I can inspect this elaborate and private little empire.
So far, so good: all the comb is down in the hive boxes. And there's a lot of it.
But... it's not even CLOSE to being in frames... The bees are busily constructing turrets and tunnels and arches and labyrinths. The new comb is fragile, and no matter how delicately I try to handle everything, I can feel the chunks of comb break away as soon as I dislodge a frame. I stopped after the first couple of efforts.
Do I try to dismantle the whole entire hive and somehow make these big fragile chunks of comb conform to a frame pattern? I can't really envision how that will be possible, or where the bees will be while I do that. There are an awful lot of bees, and they're still hanging out in big clusters in there.
The bees were quite peaceful while I poked about in there, but when I took a serrated knife and cut apart a few of the comb bridges, they definitely got agitated. I felt like that kind of invasion couldn't be too good for the morale of the hive.
What now? I have to admit I'm flummoxed as to how I can inspect this elaborate and private little empire.