[JohnDeere1050]

Thank you in advance.

I am a second year keeper and have a question or two. I am working my bees and on my hives that I have two or more supers on I find bridge comb in between the first and the second super frames. Should I pull the top super completely off and spend the time to clean all of that bridge comb out (I think I want it out). If I do pull the top super off how do I get the bees to leave that comb alone while I clean it out. How do I keep from squishing my queen if she is in the top super? My worker bees want to fix the broken bridge comb right away and I hate to smoke them if I don't have to just to clean it out. I didn't smoke them much at all last year until late in the summer when they were very protective.

Sometimes I feel like I am totally new to all of this.

 

[Vance G]

What you call cleaning is removing the bees roads and bridges between frames! Your cleaning makes them detour clear to the sides and ends of the boxes to get upstairs until they can rebuild what you call dirt. Why would you want to do that? When you split the boxes, just smoke the bees off the bridge comb before putting the boxes back together so you don't crush folks. The only cleaning that needs done is loose honey and unavoidably crunched usually drone brood.

 

[JohnDeere1050]

What you call cleaning is removing the bees roads and bridges between frames! Your cleaning makes them detour clear to the sides and ends of the boxes to get upstairs until they can rebuild what you call dirt. Why would you want to do that? When you split the boxes, just smoke the bees off the bridge comb before putting the boxes back together so you don't crush folks. The only cleaning that needs done is loose honey and unavoidably crunched usually drone brood.

Thank you Vance. What you say makes a lot of sense. I worry about how the bridge comb will have bees on it when I put the frames back in the super and I don't want to crush anyone and worry I'll trap my queen into that comb.