Rogue Comb-Building

One of the disadvantages that beginning beekeepers have is that they are starting with entirely new frames with new foundation rather than drawn comb. Frames without drawn comb next to each other have excess space and frequently the bees will draw out comb off the foundation. 

Notice how the bees built hexagon cells sideways, with the long ends parallel with the foundation rather than perpendicular

Below is an example of comb drawn out normally, filled with honey, and then capped over with wax. (We added the butterfly, see “Bee Art” for more info.)

Bees will fill in spaces with comb until there is a 3/8-inch space between. This is called the “Bee Space.” The bee space is just the right amount of room for bees to move around in the hive. In Langstroth hives, the frames have been engineered so this space is created between frames after the bees draw out comb. 

In the sideways example, notice how bees created bee space between rows of sideways comb.