Beautiful Honey Comb

When the bees decided to vacate one side of the TBH they left behind five beautiful lobes of comb that they had built. I took a shot of the comb through the side window of the hive:

At the top of the image you can see the individual bars (the 'top bars') with ridges running down the centerlines that the bees attach their comb to. The holes in the back are the entrance to the hive.

Here's a shot before the bees left:

You can see the hemispherical cluster that they form and then the shape of all the comb makes sense.

I took the top bars out of the hive and flipped them over to take some photos in the late afternoon sun. Here are some of them:

The dark stuff in the cells is pollen. That's Queenie in the background.

The bees had already pretty much stripped the comb of all the nectar and pollen that was stored there.... but there was still a bit left.....

Here's one of the girls getting the last bit of nectar out (if you click on the image you should be able to get a larger view):

Bees are very good at clearing up nectar. The other day when I transfered a captured swarm from a cardboard nuc box to the TBH some nectar dribbled onto the top of the top bars. The bees were straight into action.....