Just to be clear - is the comb empty, or full?
Heft the hive at each end: if it is much lighter at one end the comb has
yet to be filled with nectar / honey. If the hive is full of loaded comb it
will be like trying to heft a couple of sacks of coal 8)
Next question: are they madly processing nectar into honey? If so there
will be a strong smell of honey up to 5 metres from the hive on humid days
(for some reason you smell it better when humid), and there will be a loud
humming at night.
If the hive has a window, what can you see through that? Combs completely
covered in bees are brood comb, in my hives up to half the combs are like
this. Can you see capped honey. Does it go down to the bottom of combs or
just run along the top (I am trying to gauge if the hive really is full).
Can you remind us of the origin of the bees. If they're commercial, the
queen will be unable to stop laying, but if they are from another
minimal-intervention source they can tune their laying when they need to.
Irrelevant to your question but of interest to me: are you near lime
(linden) trees? They seem to be giving loads of nectar this year because
it's very warm & humid while they flower. This happens about 1 in 3 years.
Paul
On Thu, 22 Jul 2021, 06:15 jan benson, <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
One of my TBHs is getting full, with only one bar left and a lot of
activity by bees: this is a hive that was populated by essentially a nuc on
6 bars that I put straight into the hive.
I have space at the back, behind a follower board, of about 6 bars, but
after my first effort at making more space, have been a bit hesitant to
start moving bars back. Also I can see through the observation window that
all comb is heavily propolised on the side - and presumably the other side.
I have a hive tool that can cut, and have been using it successfully to
sort out braced comb in another hive.
I would be glad for some thoughts on how to expand the area safely. Or
whether it should be left as is.
Jan
Jan Benson
