Patook,
Nice job! This one looks particularly challenging with electrical stuff running through the comb. I've only done two cut outs and after the first one I had the same questions as you - are they always this messy? The first one was in a soffit overhead so lots of dripping honey and though I brought back 10 frames of brood and lots of bees, it seemed like alot of bees got killed in the process - uuugghh! I felt terrible. It was a big job for two of us rookies. The second one, in a shed wall went much more smoothly and I did it myself. Used a bee vac this time which help alot. The lessons for me are, each one is probably unique, some will be messier than others, having the right tools helps alot, you learn each time you do one...
On neither of my cutouts did I pay much attention to orienting the comb in the frame. I just cut the comb to size in the frame which ever orientation fit best. Sounds like this was a mistake on my part. However, both hives are doing fine so far. The first one is three weeks into it and the bees are doing a great job of attaching comb to the frames. I'll have to pay more attention to orientation in the future.
Again... nice job!
John