I want to populate my TBH with a split from my Carnolian hive and allow this split to raise its own queen. I was given an idea to "capture" the split, which is what I had in mind, but after building the hive I found that the top bars for my TBH are considerably shorter than that of the Langstroth. Capturing the split on the TBH bars is not an option, so what I figured I would do is capture the split on frameless Langstroth bars. I would allow the wax to be drawn on the starter strips and give the queen time to lay eggs in the newly drawn comb. Once this happens I could then transfer the frames of foundation into the TBH and allow the hive to build up. Once the hive builds up enough, I could then replace the Langstroth bars with the TBH bars.
My TBH uses starter strips which are about 13.25 inches in length. The Langstroth top bars can hold starter strips which are something like 18 inches in length. My question is, if I put 13.25 inch strips onto the Langstroth bars would the bees only draw on that strip or could they potentially draw out the entire length of the frame? Reason being is I need the drawn Langstroth comb to fit into the TBH.
I hope this makes sense and as always, thanks in advance.