Hi Matt and welcome to Beesource. The bees will build wonky comb even with nice waxed starter strips in place. Since these are your first bees, you would not have straight drawn comb to help guide them. So, you do have a little work to do. First, go to your local office supply store and get a bag of #64 rubber bands. You will use these to secure the relatively straight comb section back into the frames. You will also need a long sharp knife. The process involves removing some of the frames and gently separating the comb as it connects to the multiple top bars. Place the removed sections as flat as you can within a new frame and secure with the rubber bands wrapped around the frame top to bottom. Comb must be installed the same way it was removed. There is a top and a bottom. Only do some of the frames and then place a new frame with a starter strip in between each recovered frame. Give the bees time to both attach the salvaged comb to the frames and start drawing out the new frames. Once you get eggs and brood in the staight comb, you can go back in and fix the remaining frames. Try to make sure that all brood comb is utilized and know where your queen is. If she is on the comb you are working, gently encourage her to move to the frames you are not messing with. Overall, it is not hard, just time consuming and the bees will not be happy.
The bees will not mind a few ants, but if the swarm trap is overrun, my experience is that they will find a different home.
PS, I updated your profile to show Kansas as your location.
The bees will not mind a few ants, but if the swarm trap is overrun, my experience is that they will find a different home.
PS, I updated your profile to show Kansas as your location.