Should you remove burr comb?

Burr comb is normal and it is not a big deal. If it is in your way, scrape it off with your tool. If it prevents you from closing up the hive properly, remove it. Just know, that the bees will rebuild it.

Should I remove brace comb?

When you are using top bar hives that are modified to give them extra depth, you do not want to remove brace comb. If you do, the drawn comb on those frames may come crashing down, costing you honey bees, honey or bee brood, and costing the bees their time and wax resources.

Should you remove drone comb?

"There is no point in removing drone comb, the bees will just replace it!" "Bees will only raise as many drones as they need!"

How do you melt down a burr comb?

fill it about half full of water add your burr comb and cappings to fill it up turn it on low until all wax is melted. turn off let wax solidify remove wax pour out water scrape inpurities off bottom of wax block repeat process each time the wax will get cleaner.

Will bees reuse burr comb?

Burr comb is normal and it is not a big deal. If it is in your way, scrape it off with your tool. If it prevents you from closing up the hive properly, remove it. Just know, that the bees will rebuild it.

Burr Comb Removal in the Beehive

What do I do with an old brood comb?

Registered. Old black comb should be cycled out of your hive over time. Some give it 2 years in the brood chamber, some give it 5 years. Whichever, old black comb should be replaced over time.

Should I destroy drone cells?

In many cases most of the equipment should be destroyed since a large percentage of worker cells have been transformed to drone cells. You can however scrape all remaining drone brood and place the frame into a strong colony and it may be fine.

Should you remove drone brood?

It is important that the drone brood is removed on time, before the drones hatch at the end of their 24 day development period, or you will be increasing the rate of mite population growth!

When should I remove my drone frame?

The concept is simple: insert a frame of drone comb into a colony at the edge of the brood nest, allow the queen to fill it with drone eggs, wait while the mites infest the cells, then remove the frame before the mites emerge.

Will bees build comb above a queen excluder?

A beekeeper should make sure drawn comb is directly above the queen excluder with any foundation above that. Better for comb. Use of a queen excluder will almost certainly mean less honey production, but the main benefit of it is that the combs will remain light colored, because no young bees are reared in them.

How long does it take bees to draw a frame of comb?

On average it will take between 7 days to 2 months for bees to produce comb and fill it with honey. But a strong established colony, during a strong honey flow, can draw out a full 10 frame deep box and fill it with honey in as little as 3 days. Sometimes even quicker, in less than 24 hours.

Do bees reuse brood comb?

In nature, bees move the brood nest within the cavity, and generally will raise brood on newer comb, using old comb for food storage. When we restrict the broodnest, bees are forced to reuse the same comb over and over.

Can bees reuse old wax?

They will not reuse it if you give pieces of wax. Bees carry the wax out as carbage.

Why are my bees not building comb?

Bees will only draw out new comb when there is a strong nectar flow. If there's no nectar to make honey with in the super, there's no point in wasting energy on building comb that will then sit empty, right? So, if you place a super on your hive during a time of dearth, don't expect your bees to fill it.

How many brood boxes Should a hive have?

With two brood boxes, there is enough space for your queen to lay as many eggs as she can. This means you won't need to check your hives as often.

Why do Varroa mites prefer drone brood?

They prefer to lay eggs in drone brood because they can raise more mites per cell than they can in worker brood.

How often should you cull your frames?

After a period of time, 5 years, the chemical traces now become a toxic environment within the hive. A good rule is to begin replacing frames and foundation at year 4 and only replace half of the frames.

Why is my hive full of drones?

Too many drones in the hive means that your queen wasn't mated properly and is only laying unfertilized eggs. Drone cells are easy to recognize. They are domed and larger than worker bee cells. Typically, they are grouped together on the outer edge of a frame.

Are drone bees useless?

When you become familiar with the somewhat narrower role of the drone (as compared to the worker, at least) it is tempting to consider him the most ineffective and unhelpful bee in the hive. However, the drone offers something absolutely essential to the future of bees - genetic diversity.

What percentage of a hive is drones?

Drone bees are a sign of a well fed, healthy colony and a healthy colony will want about 15 percent of the bee population to be drones. If you don't see drones in your hive (in the summer) your colony likely has a problem and you should be looking into it.

Do drone bees leave the hive?

Drones will leave the hive and fly in mating swarms where they release pheromones as a group to attract queen bees looking to mate. Drones who don't die in mating are evicted from the hive in the fall and left to starve and freeze.

How often should you replace brood comb?

Most researchers suggest replacing old comb in the hive every 5 or 6 years. Some beekeepers say it should be a much shorter time 3-4 years.