Manage Bur Comb and Super Placement
At 7:59 in
Beekeeping for dummies: A first look in the bee hive, what to look for... tips for success
What happens here
While inspecting, check for bur comb (extra wax built by bees in undesirable locations, often between frames or on hive components). Use the hive tool to carefully scrape away any bur comb you find. Bees often put honey in the top of the hive and brood in the bottom. If you notice brood at the top and honey at the bottom, switch the positions of the honey and brood supers to encourage bees to move honey to the top for storage and brood to the bottom for expansion. If the hive is very full and active, it's time to add another super (a box for honey storage). Place an old, drawn comb (previously used comb) in the new super to entice the bees to move upward and start working in it. You can also move one frame from a lower super to the new top super to encourage this.
Goal: Optimize hive structure for honey production and brood development.
Tools and materials
- Beehive Supers — Adding extra space for honey storage or brood expansion
- Drawn Comb — Encouraging bees to move into a new super
- Hive Tool — Scraping bur comb and manipulating frames