So is this in an OATH hive? How do you actually keep them?
My hives are mostly one box hives with a clear sheet attached over the top to allow easy viewing after I take off the roof, the inside has folded wire which the bees build on, once the bees have built enough brood on the top and bottom I pull one part of the wire up slightly which splits the brood in half, I then transfer the brood to a new box with some intact honey and pollen pots which are chosen and cut before splitting the brood, I cut each pot by the thin connects that hold them to the walls or wire which lets me take the pots out with little to no damage.
I don't use the OATH as my Tetragonula mellipes make smaller nests, I did try the mini OATH design but it was not working well for me and my splits were not so successful as the bees would fill the bottom with brood and the top with food storage.
If your wondering how I extract honey for bottling I use a homemade extractor with a pointed tip which I use to open and drain the honey from the honeypots.
Let me know if you have any other questions for me as I'm happy to share.