I gotta say these cutouts can be a lot of fun. I went out on one yesterday that had 'only been there about a year'. How many times have I heard that one before? Once I opened up the wall I found the comb was in sheets 5 foot high, this turned out to be 3 sheets deep. a year, yeah, right, sure they have.
The brood comb filled the 10 frame box we brought with us leaving us no space for any honey.
The quantity of comb was nothing like the chimney job, but #@$%&*^ hell the number bees was incredible! The hive was situated behind a water heater so perhaps that was keeping them warm over winter.
There were more bees in this colony than I have in my 2 established hives at home. They would not fit inside the 10 frame box with all of the brood. I have to go back tonight with another box to put on top so that I have a chance of removing them all. I nearly called for reinforcements (OzBuzz) to help me with them once I ran out of fuel for the smoker and the only thing I had left to try to pacify them was some icing sugar.
It will be interesting to see what the state is when I get there this evening.
The new owner of this colony is a new beginner, the lucky boy! He helped me with everything yesterday and copped 6 stings out of them, where I got away with just the 4. :)