Preventing Burr Comb

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Burr comb beneath inner cover with feeder rim. (April 2012, St. John’s, Newfoundland.)

Feeding rims — rims or shims that are used to make room for sugar bricks in the winter — will eventually get filled with burr comb as the spring population expands and the weather warms up. So it’s good to remove the rims before that happens. Here’s a 5-minute video that shows how I did that with one hive this year. It’s followed by a 15-minute deeper dive for anyone with a longer attention span.


00:00 — Removing inner cover first..
00:50 — Inside the hive with burr comb.
01:25 — Removing partially eaten sugar brick.
01:50 — Scraping off burr comb.
02:50 — Placing inner cover back on.
03:10 — Shaking bees off sugar brick.
03:35 — Putting rim back on (over inner cover).
04:05 — Spinkling protein powder over the bees.
04:40 — Left over burr comb.
05:00 — DEEPER DIVE starts here.
05:15 — History of the colony.
06:30 — Burr comb and sugar brick.
07:20 — Bees crawling around inner cover.
08:30 — Removing inner cover.
09:00 — Lots of bees looking good.
09:55 — Word about nitrile gloves (thanks Marc).
10:25 — Removing burr comb (shots of bees).
12:30 — Putting back inner cover.
13:30 — Sugar brick full of bees.
14:30 — Bees scenting en masse.
15:50 — Rim back on with protein powder.
17:30 — Scraped off burr comb.
17:55 — Bees chewing on sugar brick.
18:30 — A look at my other hives..
19:25 — Nitrile gloves, so far so good.
20:05 — Shaking bees off my shoulder.
20:25 — Homemade hive pillow works.
21:10 — Parting words and a slow motion shot.
P.S., Yes, I know the footage is over-exposed. That happens with auto-settings at times.