# what a mess...



## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

If there is no nectar coming in where you are they will not build any combs, or at least, hardly any.


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## beekad (Apr 9, 2012)

Oldtimer said:


> If there is no nectar coming in where you are they will not build any combs, or at least, hardly any.


I mean storing honey. Looks to me like all brood combs. Id think theyd atleast have 1 comb in each hive. There's tons of white clover and other plants for pollen and nectar..


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## Bleemus (Jul 10, 2012)

White clover is done here in Vermont. I would bet you don't see bees working it even though it is there.


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## beekad (Apr 9, 2012)

No, they are still all over it.


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## NC Queen Bee (Jun 15, 2012)

You have to remember --it takes a lb. of honey to make a lb of wax and I bet they are working really hard at making new wax or feeding those baby bees ---sooo they can build more wax/ to put the honey in....


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## rtoney (Apr 20, 2011)

If you are not planning on any honey this year I would put out 1:1 and see if will entice them to build more comb and not have to rely only on what they bring in. Get the hive built up and worry about honey later. Make sure your hive is level side to side and front to back may help with cross comb.


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## JYawn (Dec 6, 2011)

rtoney said:


> Make sure your hive is level side to side and front to back may help with cross comb.


I agree... something is causing them to want to build crooked.

One option you could explore is splitting the brood nest up a little bit. If you put an empty bar in between two already straight combs they will build the empty bar out straight almost guaranteed. You could just continue that process for a while so they will focus on building the empty bars out in the middle instead of building more on the outsides of the nest.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Clover can be deceptive. It can be there and have bees on it, but not yeild worthwhile amounts of nectar if it's too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry. If decent amounts of nectar were coming in the bees would be building comb to store it. Probably the reason for your mishapen combs is the bees are not in expansion mode, and will curve the outside combs around towards the cluster.

You may also want to consider if something is holding your hive back, such as, a high varroa infestation.

The above advice is good. If it's comb building you want, put some bars between other well built combs, and feed them sugar syrup. This will stimulate them to build the combs and they will be built straight. As to honey, well, all you can do is have a healthy hive, and hope there is forage around that will yeild nectar. You should keep a bee dairy, recording what times of the year you see honey coming into the hive ie, comb being built and honey being stored, plus the effect of the weather that year. This will be a big help in future years so you can plan your colony management, such as, when you may need to feed, when you need a big bee population for foraging, etc.

BTW, seeing bees on flowers, and seeing bees coming into the hive with pollen, may or may not, equal honey coming in.


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## mrobinson (Jan 20, 2012)

We have observed that _bumblebees_ are much more common on our clover, and we've read articles which say that the longer mouthparts of those insects are more effective at gathering nectar from them. The hives are in a pasture, and in that pasture is plenty of clover, and bumblebees are far more prevalent there than honeybees. Studies in Australia have shown that the amount of available nectar can vary widely, according to relative humidity and other factors.


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