When taking a look at my bees I noticed they were carrying bits of something white out of the hive. I’m pretty inexperienced when it comes to bees but this seemed pretty abnormal to me.
From the front I could see more of the white substance on the floor of the hive.
Then I noticed even more of it just outside the front entrance, on the ground. Upon closer inspection I could tell that out was wax. But why would be carrying out pieces of wax? I knew something wasn’t right.
When I opened up the hive I saw. That some comb had fallen. I wanted to hurry up and get it so I didn’t take a picture until after.
Here is the comb that had fallen.
As you can see there were brood as well as a little honey in the comb. In an established hive this wouldn’t be a big deal but this was a very small swarm that had only been in the hive a couple weeks.
As you can see from the condition of the comb the bees had been frantically trying to chew the comb away and remove it. I’m not sure of they could have moved the babies or not. Either way I felt the need to fix the situation as best I could and hopefully save the brood.
The best I could duo was to wire the comb to a top bar and give it back to them. I looked in on them one more time before I left and there were bees on the comb so I think they will be able to raise the babies. I will have to wait to see what the final outcome is. On the good side, now I know that my queen is laying. I think I will help them with removing the leaves next time I open the hive. These got there when I originally hived them and they might be a big job for the bees to remove on their own. I would love to hear from someone with more bee experience, especially natural bee keeping with top bar hives. Did I do the right thing?
Revival 