Hi Guys, Here's some more information that might be interesting. I attempted to get more straight comb in my tbh by shuffling frames. I inserted empty top bars between broodnest comb. And I also slowly moved the broodnest toward the rear of the hive placing empty top bars toward the entrance. After examining BerkeyDavid comb photos, see http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/compa.htm I decided to evaluate the effects of shuffling comb, a common practice and one that I use in tbh management. I went back and rearranged one tbh to mimic the broodnest structure I'd seen in my first tbh. The second hive was left as is, with its shuffled comb. The rearranged hive is ok without symptoms of mite infestation. The shuffled hive now has lots of crawlers with Deformed Wing Virus and Milky Wing Virus. Both of these hives have queens grafted from the same stock, mated in the same yard and set next to each other. It's a small test, but for me, a significant one. Although broodnest organization is strong, it can be easily disrupted. The bees simply have no mechanism to deal with moving comb. I hoped that the bees orientation to the broodnest structure was so strong that shuffling combs would have little effect. But the opposite is the case. The broodnest structure can be very easily disrupted and the advantages of the natural small cell comb lost. This poses some interesting challenges when managing top bar hive comb if the advantages of a small cell core are to be realized. My small cell hives, in the same yard, are doing fine. I haven't seen a single mite or any symptoms in those hives. This also shows just how fast a hive can go down hill. These top bar hives were started this spring from their small cell neighbors. Regards Dennis :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::