I installed a nuc 1 week ago and today I checked on them. They have gone through 1.5 quarts of syrup and seem to be pretty active. They started drawing out comb on 3 of the new frames but one of their old frames looks really weird. Should I be concerned or do anything? Thanks again!
New nuc, weird frames - help
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That frame should be scraped down to the plastic, recoated with wax, and returned for the bees to draw the comb properly. When the bees make that sort of a mess they never correct it themselves.
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That’s a lot of bee work & resources to just scrape off & I am sure the frame next to it “perfectly” has intrusions (bee space) to match it. Since it is your first brood box, I would most likely not do anything, assuming you do not have any other drawn straight combs to help them correct the following frames. Is that plastic foundation?
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Frames like that make inspections difficult and increase the chances of killing the Queen. The frames have to be removed in order and returned to the same position and making it very difficult to move frames between hives.
I would, at a minimum, scrape away the protruding parts and uncap the honey cells if they are too shallow and then place the frame between two properly drawn frames if you have them. Placing one side next to the wall helps, but sometimes they will build burr comb at a 90 degree angle attached to the wall. Just check in a few days.
Good luck,
Alex
I would, at a minimum, scrape away the protruding parts and uncap the honey cells if they are too shallow and then place the frame between two properly drawn frames if you have them. Placing one side next to the wall helps, but sometimes they will build burr comb at a 90 degree angle attached to the wall. Just check in a few days.
Good luck,
Alex
I would do like Alex said and scrape away the wonky parts, but leave the good comb alone. I did note that this was one of the frames you received in the nuc, guess the other beekeeper did not want to mess with it either. If he or she is local, maybe ask to get some decent drawn comb? I would not have sold a frame that looked like that.
Thanks for replying. The other frames on the nuc were a little wonky too. i think its because they were a little loose in the plastic nuc tote. I felt bad scraping the entire frame considering its 1/5 of their operation at this point. I'm thinking i could clean some each week when i check on them or when they have the entire box full.
The bee company is local but its a drive...
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I agree with jw, I would not have sold that frame.... For now, put that frame against the hive wall and have them draw comb from the far side, assuming it's nice and straight. When it is warm enough always put the new comb to be drawn in between the best / straightest 2 combs. When it is still too chilly put the new, to be drawn, comb on the very edge of the brood nest, but again, put it next to the best comb possible. They will use the old comb as a template so use that to your advantage. "Always" feed a new colony that is drawing comb if they will take feed. When the box is mostly full you can mess with that winky comb but I would only scrape it off if it is completely empty (no nectar, pollen, brood) because it's a new colony and you want them to build as quickly as possible. It looks like it's drone comb. Consider giving them an empty frame (no foundation) for them to draw natural comb in. They will likely draw some drone comb which you can leave them to reduce funky burr comb.... Have fun!
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