>

Unless you prefer to be a bee-haver than a beekeeper, I'm with 'Gothany'
below.  If you bend a sympathetic spirit and allow the bees to keep
their wild comb however beautiful it may be, you'll end up with a ratty
uncontrollable mess.  Bees prefer to continue building on their own
designs no matter how great you think your wax foundation is in the
super below or above.  You won't do your bees any favor by letting them
keep the branch.  Shake the bees and toss the comb where they can rob
out the remnants.  Depending on the flow, I'll place feral honeycomb
outside on their landing boards and cover with a tile or cardboard
scrap.  Note that you can easily invite hive robbers depending on nearby
hives or the nectar flow.

If you want to salvage the  comb, place them inside empty frames (size
according to the majority of brood-comb).  Twine can be used to hold
them in place but beware of materials that fray into fine threads.
After the bees chew through the fibers you'll find little 'bee-traps'
here and there and their feet get caught when passing.  Skinny rubber
bands do great!  Two or three seem to hold an average comb tight enough
to keep the comb from shifting.  Make sure you move the comb as close to
one side as possible giving the bees three sides for support (four if
you have a comb large enough to completely fill the frame) and place the
combs all to one side of your hive so you don't end up with unnecessary
space between combs.

Matthew Westall - Castle Rock, CO


> the sooner you abandon the branch the better!