I’ve seen swarms chew out old comb when they have moved into a previously
occupied hive. I suspect they chew through the storage comb immediately above
the old brood comb so that the brood comb is released rather than chewing
through the old cocoons directly. Wax moth would also have had an effect on the
comb as they get going very quickly in a deserted hive. So that suggests that
bees can do a clean up but existing colonies seem not to. Maybe it’s more
effective to just start over again by leaving the hive. For a swarm moving in,
maybe the rewards are different.
Constantly allowing the bees to move down in a Warré potentially gives a
different dynamic. The cases I was referring to are in leave-alone hives.
Gareth
Sent from my iPad
On 8 May 2022, at 19:14, Juli Cohen <juliane.cohen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This surprised me. I assumed that the bees could break down and rebuild old
comb when it gets too clogged up with old cocoons themselves. Can they really
not do that?
Does that also mean that a managed colony, such as in a Warré where a box is
removed every year or two for honey and old comb removed, could go on
indefinitely where a wild colony couldn’t?
Thanks,
Juli
On 8 May 2022, at 14:44, Gareth John <gj.garethjohn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It’s often said that wild hives can last 5 or 6 years and this is reflected
in my own experience of hives in my garden that have been untouched for that
length of time. If the bees then leave in a so-called end of life swarm (all
the bees leave rather than just some of them) the wax moth can make hay -or
silk- and after a time a new swarm will move in, clean up the debris and
start again. Alternatively to an end of life swarm the colony dies out, but
the result is the same.
That said, nest sites can remain occupied for decades but whether this is
continuous or with breaks is debated. A new swarm can easily move into a
vacated space in the same season that the old colony leaves/dies.
Gareth
Sent from my iPhone
On 8 May 2022, at 13:54, Amy Stewart <ahstewart95@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello!
I was looking at the church bees in Woodstock and wondered how long they
had been there and then how long their comb has been in there, which made
me ask how long does natural honeycomb last in a wild nest?
I couldn’t find a good answer online, so wondered if anyone knew more about
this?
All the best,
Amy
