[emilyjaneJMJ]

Dear Forum,
We have just discovered that the bees have built bridges between two of the honey frames in the upper box to the two brood frames just below them. We are at a loss as to how to go about fixing the situation and appreciate any advice you can give us!

 

[Tigger19687]

Can you take the frames out from around them? If so you could probably get a knife in under it to cut it from the brood frames?

 

[emilyjaneJMJ]

We will try to do that! Thank you very much, Tigger!

 

[AR Beekeeper]

If you push the hive tool in between the boxes until it rests on the frame in the bottom box and pry up, the bridge comb between the top frames and the bottom frames will break. Then remove the frames and scrape the wax from the bottom and top bar. This building bridge comb between upper and lower boxes is common, especially if the colony is not worked periodically and the boxes removed for inspection.

 

[crofter]

Check out this thread by Oldtimer; all you need to know!


Oops! does not seem to hyperlink. Type in search Cracking hives the easy way

Oldtimer.

Use a chainsaw felling wedge or make one from hardwood.

• Home
• Forums
• General Beekeeping Forums
• Bee Forum

Cracking Hives The Easy Way

 

[emilyjaneJMJ]

Thank you all so very much for your advice! It's a relief to have several different methods to work with and I feel like we have a fighting chance now!

 

[Vance G]

Dear Forum,
We have just discovered that the bees have built bridges between two of the honey frames in the upper box to the two brood frames just below them. We are at a loss as to how to go about fixing the situation and appreciate any advice you can give us!

That is called bridge comb and is called that for a reason. It is the neccessary infrastructure that your bees need to carry out their lives in the hive. Keep the frames all tight together to minimize bridging between frames and on the occasions you need to separate your boxes, you can scrape the bridgecomb off. The only time I bother is when it is going to kill a bunch of bees when I set the boxes back together. Do not fall into the fallacy that you need to regularly CLEAN your frames. You are just setting the bees back and slowing them down. About once a year I pry everything apart so attachment does not become permanent but more is unneccessary and harmful.

 

[emilyjaneJMJ]

Thank you very much, Vance!

 

[odfrank]

Not all bees follow the bee space rules. When it gets this bad you just have to do some scrapping.

 

[Michael Bush]

There are various forms of burr comb or bridge comb. If they are building comb at right angles to the foundation and not on the foundation, I would call these fins. Usually I scrape them off. The only exceptions are if the colony is struggling and there is brood on them, I might postpone scraping them off. If they build a parallel half-comb out from the face of the foundation, I would scrape that off as well. If they just build a bit here and there between the combs, I wouldn't worry about it. Just picture what happens if they build more of it and you can judge the cost of leaving it. And how much damage does it do when you pull the frames apart. If a bit of comb breaks here and there, no big deal. If honey is running everywhere and combs are ripped up badly, then you have an issue.

 

[RAST]

I have used fishing line with a handle tied on each end to saw between the boxes.

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

Here is an active link to the Oldtimer thread recommended by Crofter earlier in this thread:

Cracking Hives The Easy Way

I know it's winter going into spring in the Northern Hemisphere, but over here it's fall, and honey harvest time. I've been harvesting honey and once again finding how difficult it can be to seperate gummed together boxes. In fact this can be one of the most back breaking tasks in beekeeping...

www.beesource.com

(I can't explain why Crofter's post is like it is, I tried to fix it and got the same results, hence I created this post.)