> ...I sprayed each frame with the same 2:1 sugar syrup

Was it WAXED Pierco?  The unwaxed version does NOT work well.  I don't know
WHY they sell it.

>...they had ...begun building transverse (parallel with the front of the
> hive, 90 degrees the frames) strips of comb between the frames.
> I pulled all the frames and scraped the comb away
> ...a week later and found the exact same thing, repeating the
> process of scraping away the comb and forcing them to start over.
> Why did I have the lousy luck with the Piercos that I started the package
> on?

The bees were TRYING to tell you something.  They wanted you to turn the
hive ninety degrees.

B. HAVER