Burr comb question

[BeeMarie]

Hi!
Ive been keeping bee's for about two years now. Recently I've been away from my hives due to medical reasons. A friend ( who's been beekeeping longer) inspect the hive for me and there was some burr comb on the inner cover which they removed. They didn't notice the comb had some brood larva in it. Will disturbing this comb effect the hive?

[Ben Framed]

Hi!
Ive been keeping bee's for about two years now. Recently I've been away from my hives due to medical reasons. A friend ( who's been beekeeping longer) inspect the hive for me and there was some burr comb on the inner cover which they removed. They didn't notice the comb had some brood larva in it. Will disturbing this comb effect the hive?

Hi BeeMarie, Welcome to Beemaster. Removing Burr comb should not affect the health of your hive unless your queen was on this burr comb and removed with it.  In that case the bees will have to develop a new one provided you had eggs or larva two days of age or less. Larva of one day or less would be even better because it will take the bees a minute to realize they had lost the queen, but two days should be fine. The chances are all is well! PS hope your health has improved and is improving!

[BeeMarie]

Thank You!

[Oldbeavo]

If the bees put burr comb in the lid or inner cover it was because they wanted more room or they saw it as spare space.
They will probably put it back because they have a reason to put it there in the first place.
Why BK's spend time cleaning things up for the bees is a mystery.It takes a lot of honey/energy to produce wax. Let the bees be bees.

[iddee]

Don't worry about the brood. It is most likely drone brood when in burr comb. They either have too large a space there, or they need more frames. Check the bee space and adjust it, and be sure they have empty space in frames to expand.

[cao]

welcome 

[The15thMember]

Welcome, Marie!  I agree with the other comments.  Those bees need some more room, and as long as there is plenty of other brood in the hive, it's not any big loss for them. 

[BeeMaster2]

Welcome to Beemaster.
As mentioned, removing burr comb is not a problem. If you don?t correct the spacing, they will build it back.
Jim Altmiller

[FatherMichael]

After my last experience with cross combing I've decided to spend more time cleaning those parts that get built up with propolis so the bee space will stay consistent.

[Bob Wilson]

I find it curious that bee space has to be maintained top and sides, but not beneath the frames. I have a half inch beneath my frames. They never build any burr comb in my hives.

[iddee]

Expand that 1/2 to 3/4 in. and see how fast it gets filled, if not next to the bottom board. They will allow more space on bottom.

[Bob Wilson]

Iddee,
I have wondered about it, and I am glad to know that.
Thanks.

[Bob Wilson]

I wonder if there is more burr comb in a hive using foundation rather than foundationsless frames. In a foundationless hive, the bees build as much drone comb as the colony wants. With foundation limiting drone cell creation, perhaps they build more burr come to sastisfy that urge.

[The15thMember]

I wonder if there is more burr comb in a hive using foundation rather than foundationsless frames. In a foundationless hive, the bees build as much drone comb as the colony wants. With foundation limiting drone cell creation, perhaps they build more burr come to sastisfy that urge.

That's an interesting idea, Bob.  I am also foundationless and my bees don't seem to build a lot of burr comb either.  But I usually give them more room earlier rather than later, so perhaps it's more of a management thing. 

[TheHoneyPump]

I find it curious that bee space has to be maintained top and sides, but not beneath the frames. I have a half inch beneath my frames. They never build any burr comb in my hives.

Troublesome amounts of bridge comb, burr comb, or cross comb are all rooted in bee space violations. If the space is too small for a bee, they will fill and seal it off with wax and/or propolis.  If the space is too large for a bee to reach a leg out and easily navigate, they will fill it in with wax to get it down to her legspan.
In our stacked standard boxes, the frame rest is set for recess of the top bars of the frames, giving 1/2 a bee above the frame bars.  The box sides are tall enough so that there is 1/2 a bee space below the bottom bars of the frames.  When the boxes stack, you get 1 bee space between the frames inside and no major bridge comb gluing the boxes together. The boxes snap apart cleanly and restack onto another hive with no need for cleanup.
This is another reason why it is important to standardize and to not mix and match equipment from different builders. The dimensions of one builder mixed with those of another builder can result in bee space violations, and thus alot of extra work hiveside cleaning up parts to fit.
My bottom boards have a 3/4in rim. I get some nice manageable bridge comb off the bottom of the frames of 1/2in or so thick which they often fill with drone.  Just what I like. The bees do not attach it to the bottom board. They maintain a bee space walking height clearance along the bottom board.  Just enough so she can walk in to where she wants, then reach a leg up over her head to grab that bit of bridge comb and climb up the frame.
I do have a few screened bottom boards that the screen is dished down bit, beyond 1in. Those have been horrible for large amounts of bridge comb hanging off the bottom and stuck to the screen. I rarely use those boards for that reason.