Lazy Ladies....

[hjon71]

I added a new medium box with new waxcoated plastic foundation almost a month ago. I have been feeding 1:1 syrup but they haven't touched the new stuff. Getting impatient here.

[AllenF]

Is that new box your honey super over some brood boxes?

[tefer2]

Best time to get new comb drawn is during a flow.
I sometimes spray plastic foundation with a coating of syrup to get things started.
I never have to do anything to real wax foundation though.

[Finski]

.
In spring question is not about drawing combs.

First the colony need time that they can fill on box with new bees. Then colony starts to expand and it needs more space. When they expand  they will draw comb are bigger.

 Super has been a month over the brood box. It sounds that you have put it too early and  colony  was not able to occupy foundation box. If weathers are bad, the colony may loose much brood when they are not able to keep brood warm. It may burst out chalk brood too.

So it is better to look ,  in what condition brood area is and how many brood frames hive has.

.


 

[10framer]

i have some frames with wax coated plastic foundation that someone gave mixed with frames of wax foundation in a super and the bees skip the plastic and build out the wax on either side of it first.  they don't like plastic, we stopped using it in the 80's because they won't build back over damaged area.  my bees are also starting cross comb off of one frame of it and building straight off of all the wax.

[hjon71]

This is an old unattended hive I inherited from my father. It was 1deep 2shallows. The bottom box was the deep. It was as far as I can tell foundationless to begin, because the whole box was crosscombed(built perpendicular to the frames) from one to the next. It was completely empty of bees, so I took it off and put the new medium in its spot under the 2 shallows. They were(and still are) full of brood, pollen, and bees.
I was really hoping the bees would move down on their own but it just isn't happening...

It is getting pretty warm here. Should I put it on top instead?

As for the old comb from the deep, I melted it all down because it was looking REALLY old. Wound up with lots of slumgum and maybe 2lbs wax.

Any Help?

[hjon71]

Should I swap them around? or not?

[Steel Tiger]

Should I swap them around? or not?

They'll build down when they're ready. When the brood emerges and they have more bees, they might find it more interesting.

[hardwood]

Take two frames from the lower box and bring them up into the center of the top box. Push the frames in the lower box together in the center and add the undrawn frames from the top to the outside. That's how we "entice" the bees up to start working the top box.

Scott

[RHBee]

Mine just wouldn't take the plastic. They built comb every where else. I found that they would build on foundationless frames first. I would put wax foundation in there. Good luck.

[hjon71]

Scott- say what?

Ray- That's NOT what I want to hear.... lol

[Steel Tiger]

Scott- say what?

Ray- That's NOT what I want to hear.... lol

Take 1 frame of brood from each shallow, if you take frame number 3 out of the topp shallow,  then take frame number 3 out of the bottom shallow. Put those two frames into the middle of the medium. Take one of the frames from the medium and put it into the shallow boxes. You'll end up with 1 extra medium frame, just put it away for a month or so. The bees will move down to take care of the brood in the medium and start building on the frames. They'll also start building on the medium frame that you put into the shallow. give them time to build a bit then replace everything to where it was.

[hjon71]

I can do that.
As soon as the rain/cold front moves through I'll go do it.