Cross Comb??

Today, I revisited the hive for a closer examination to determine if there were any signs of cross-combing. I removed the upper brood box to check the frames below.  All the inner frames were pretty full with brood and the outer frames still had some room for honey.  On the frame that they honey comb was sticking out a little too far, I gently pushed it in a little.  The rest of that frame appeared normal; it was the second frame from the end. Once I pulled out the other frames I realized it wasn’t really cross comb.  All they had done is built burr comb between the top of the frame.  Once I cut that to remove the comb and pulled it out, the rest of the comb looked just fine.  So with the rest of the frames, I didn’t pull them out of the hive, I only needed to temporarily move them a little in the box to make sure all looked good.  I put all the frames back in and added the 2nd brood back on top.

I quickly inspected the top box because there were a few agitated bees that were ready for me to finish.  I pulled out one frame to inspect and I was happy to see the queen for the first time.  I was happy to finally spot her.  They looked to be building good brood on that frame.  So I put them all back in and let them get back to work.