Bee sculpture
When I've had the hive open (sorry, sorely remiss on bee updates), often there are comb protuberances where the bees decide to build comb between frames, or connect to the lid, or the frame above it.When I pull out frames and then need to break off these comb "burrs" so that the frame can slide back in, I give the broken off bits back to the bees to reclaim the honey and the wax. They were making a habit of sticking all the frames to the inner cover for awhile so there was quite a bit of comb to scrape off. And tasty...omg!On top of the supers and above the inner lid, I have a 6" box to accommodate the feeder jar:and that's where I toss the chunks of comb, on top of the inner cover. (The bees crowd this space in the day, supping and sculpting, but in this early morning picture, they are mostly down in the hive).Thing is, the bees have not recycled all the wax. All the honey is extracted, but only about half the wax I've thrown back to them has disappeared back into the hive.The rest of it, they have made into sculpture.That's the only way to put it. They aren't using this comb for anything, and it's intricately molded and shaped - changed so that it doesn't resemble the jagged chunks of comb that were piled in there, and does resemble some fantastic art-deco architecture. Amazing!!!There's a fantastic domed archway and a Gehry-esque zigzag highrise. So beautiful!