REGARDING           RE>Burr/brace
 
On 8/21 John Alexander wrote:
"'m in Beltsville Md and started a hive in early july.  They built up
well in the first deep and I supered up about the middle of July and
went on leave for most of August.  Just checked the boxes.  Bottom
brood box looks fine, but the top on is a gawd awful mess.  Burr,
brace, folds and other generally bad looking work.  It's is also
exclusively full of honey.  No brood!  Plenty of brood in the bottom
though.
 
Any thoughts on what I can do to get them to draw out better and
maybe get the queen to start laying up top?"
 
Just a few thoughts.  I think it's perfectly normal that your queen is laying
in the bottom hive body and the top is filled with honey.  At this time of the
year,  I wouldn't be at all concerned about that.  During the winter, as the
honey from the upper hive body is consumed, the cluster will gradually move up
and fill that hive body with brood.
 
However, you should probably intervene to clear up the excessive burr and
brace  comb that is being build in the upper hive body.  I would move frames
around, cutting off the brace comb, and positioning the cut areas opposite
good comb regions, if you can find them.  Be careful, however, since you are
using Duragilt foundation, not to cut close to the foundation.  If the plastic
core is exposed, the bees will clean all wax off of it and never use that part
again.  This then gives an open invitation to build up *lots* of brace comb on
the comb facing the bare plastic.  This is one of the main reasons that I will
never use Duragilt again.
 
Ted Fischer