Roger Carlson wrote:
>>When we installed our bees, I removed five frames, set the queen cage
in between two frames and shook 3 lbs of bees in each hive.  I then
replaced 9 of the frames and left.   Several days later I went to
make sure the queens got out... they had, but I also found that the
bees had a small mass of comb in the space left around the queen cage.
I removed the cage and put the tenth frame in, not thinking much about
it.  But, now I wonder, with all of this extra thick comb in
there....have I violated the 3/8 space and will this cause the bees to
leave comb off of the adjacent frame?  Could or should I have removed
or cut this down?  Is this normal?  Maybe I do not need to do anything?<<
 
Hello Roger and All,
 
This has happened to me when I installed packages in the past.  I just cut
that comb that is built in the space on either side of the queen cage out.
It seems like a shame to remove the eggs laid in it, if there are any, but
it's better than messing up your bee space.   For some reason the bees
really love to build comb when hived from a package and they'll build
freestyle comb around the queen cage.  Upon exiting her cage, I have
noticed that queens just start laying in the first cells available, in this
case the freestyle comb built in the space around the queen cage.  Cut it
out and move them over for your tenth frame.
 
I have noticed that sometimes the cells in this burr comb have more than
one egg in them.  It's not laying workers because the queen is free and
laying away.  Could it be that the first few layings are haphazard and it
takes the queen a few trials to get things under control?  I've only
noticed this twice and thought that maybe I had laying workers.  After
further inspection, I had a queen and everything was fine.  Has anyone else
noticed this?
 
Ted Wout
Red Oak, TX