Funny comb rebuilding

[Cindi]

The other day I removed a bunch of cappings that I had put on top of the swarm colony in an Imri shim.  The bees loved all these cappings, all the good stuff inside it and were done.  So out it all came.  I had some funny comb that I had cut off some frames that had some capped honey in them.  I fed this to them next.  The cappings and comb that were given to them are kept so nicely warmed by the  heat from the colony (the cappings sit on top of the inner cover and they climb up through a hole to eat up there), that I bet they feel like they are in a bit of heaven.
The next time that I looked into the Imrie shim to see how they had made out with the comb cleaning they had done some surprising work.
 
They had altered the funny comb, built burr comb to hold it in place and had been building more comb on it.  I tell ya, this colony of mine is a strange brew.  I don't know if the pictures depict clearly enough what they were up to.  But let your imagination run wild and maybe you can take a trip into their part of this world and get right into their heads!!!  Have a wonderful and beautiful day, on our great earth.  Cindi

[bassman1977]

Looks like they have a lot of space on top to draw junk comb.  That doesn't really surprise me that they are doing that.  Narrow that area down, get rid of it, whatever, and they will stop or at least reduce the amount of junk they are building.  To them it is productive but to us, it is counter-productive since that is all waste.  Of course if they fill it with honey, then you have a quick snack and it's not so much a waste  :lol:

[Old Timer]

they didn't draw it. they repaired it. this was some burr comb and cappings that she put on top for them to clean up. it wasn't removed soon enough and the bees repaired it, or attached it to the lid. the bees looked at it as if it was damaged comb and fixed it the best they could, just like they do if you accidentally damage some comb while inspecting your hive. if i leave cappings out long enough, the bees will haul it to their hive to use after they clean it up. they will more readily take advantage of wax laying around later in the year when they don't produce as much as they will in the spring. cindi, it's probably best to do it that way than by just throwing any burr comb you scrape off on the ground or setting it out around the hives. at least this way you don't attract pests or encourage robbing. we can't blame the bees if they tried to make it part of their house seeing how they are opportunists.

[Cindi]

This is what they were doing, repairing the comb that I had put in to feed them.

My apiary is extremely hygienic.  When I work with the colonies I always have a smallish pail with a cover to place any propolis or wax scrapings into.  I never scrape it and put it on the ground, I know how this can attract unwanters.  I also keep a bucket of water with me that has a cover so bees can't fly into it, I use this to keep my hands and hive tool cleanish so I am not dealing with layers of built up stuff when I go from hive to hive.  It helps me to work better to keep my fingers reasonably clean.  Have a wonderful and great day in this life.  Cindi

[limyw]

I like to put wax slices that cut away from cap honey comb into a tray and leave them inside the hive. A few days after, bees will finish off these remaining honey and leave entirely clean beewax for me. I love this method as I need not to sick with these residue, and at the same time, bees have some stock for them to consume.

[the kid]

 dont feel alone
my hive must have come from the same queen ,,, mine does that every chance it gets ,...   they also glue every thing down 4 or 5 times just to be sure it don't move ... pull frames and go back 2 hours later its like they never moved     lot more honey then I excpected ,, on the hot side but they build like that all the time ...  that looks like about 5 days work ..
the kid