newbee questions

[goonerwin]

got my nuc at the begining of April, and the colony growing well, just a few questions,
bees are building brace comb along the bottom of theframes and the queen is laying drone eggs in it , is it ok to remove this brace comb?
what is every thoughts on either using double brood or brood and a half on a national hive?
finally i have noticed that the worker prefer to congregate and fly in and out of the same little area of the entrance of the hive even when the area is crowded, is this normal behaviour

 

[MJBee]

Wait until the drone comb is sealed then cut it off and destroy it - a good method of keeping on top of the dreaded varroa mite.

Depends on the strain of bees you have. Most have found that with modern prolific strains they run out of room in a single brood and go into swarm mode. I you need more room I would suggest double brood rather than brood and a half, then you have all the same sized frames - all 22 of them Perhaps consider going to 14" x 12" format?

Yes, normal behaviour

 

[enrico]

To encourage less of the drone comb put one super frame in the brood box. The bees will make all the extra drone comb on the bottom of this frame and it is then really easy to cut off. Put the frame back and let them start again. You can spot varoa by opening a bit of the drove comb, pick grubs that have pink eyes where they are turning into bees and hook them out with a sharp instrument. Varoa is easy to see on the body of the bee. Not for the squeemish though!
If you do decide to go double brood or brood and a half then put the second brood box at right angles to the first.. I know this sounds crazy but it stops the bees gluing the top and bottom frames together. this can be a problem as when you either remove the topf box or a frame from it you can lift bottom frames too! Could be disastrous, so put the second box on at right angles and that stops this problem. the bees will still fill it properly, when you put a super on return to normal (front to back with the frames)
E