>Well, thanks for beating the newbie up Michael Bush!
It's not my intention to beat anyone up. I am sorry if you got that impression as it was certainly not my intention.
> I can't believe how many people say just the opposite of what you just said.
Neither can I. Which is exactly why I said it. But then most of the people saying the opposite are not doing top bar hives. I hate to see a newbee get one bad comb which leads to another which leads to an entire hive full of messed up comb. I will do my best to try to help people avoid that mess.
>I haven't come across anyone so far that said doing what I did caused all that you say it will.
And most of them don't have top bar hives and the results even on foundation will still be that the first comb will be wasted because it is drawn on the queen cage, but at least with foundation it the wall of wax between that comb and the next gap will "reset" things back on track if the frames are tightly together in the center.
> So, I guess personal experience will be the best teacher.
Yes it will. You may get lucky or you may get the cage out soon and straighten things soon. I'm not trying to offer discouragement, I'm trying to offer good advice.
> I wish you had kept all that to yourself.
Why? You prefer to end up with a messed up hive? I certainly understand why people do what they do, it's because everyone keeps telling them it's the "right thing" and they have no frame of reference. But the people telling them are usually not experienced with foundationless and top bar hives and only think they have a frame of reference.
> I was apprehensive enough as it was, especially after reading what Linda wrote about her TBH.
It was not my intention to make anyone apprehensive. It was my intention to clearly communicate what you need to do and what others should try to do and avoid doing. I hate to have a frustrated newbee with a hive full of messed up comb and they don't have the experience to handle the issue. It's not just the queen cage issue, it's the concept that one good comb leads to another good comb and one bad comb leads to another bad comb and that the typical newbee "hopeful" view that the bees will get back on track will not work when it comes to messed up comb. Most things the bees will sort out on their own. And form their point of view this isn't even a problem. I hate to hear people saying how frustrated they are that the hive is all messed up when it's not difficult to avoid.
I wish you all the best.
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