Hi all
The topic of "what happens" when you turn bee combs upside down has been discussed here in the past. I probably mentioned the practice of an extensive beekeeper whose apiaries I had the pleasure to inspect: his hives all had the bottom boards nailed on. When a colony failed, he would place the hive upside down over a thriving colony. They would then brood up the dead hive, which could be then set back on the ground and used as a divide (split). Apropos of this, I read of the bees of Malaga:

Cork or log hive
It is the hive widely used in our country due to the abundant existence of material, and its economy. Like most fixed comb hives, they usually have a cross with two sticks in the center, on the inside. When honey was harvested, the combs were removed from the cross upward, turning the hive over, so that the bees would build new wax downward. This guaranteed the total renewal of the wax every two years, and wax was also harvested, which in the times when these hives were used had a great economic value.

https://mieldemalaga.com/colmenas/antiguas.html

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