Author Topic: Hive that never built out this spring. And it's already late June! NEED HELP!!  (Read 3141 times)

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Alklar20

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One of my hives never fully built out this spring; it's currently at just 1 brood box. The hive went queenless, so the bees weren't really focused on building out the hive. Most of the capped brood hatched out, so the combs that were in the hive ended up mostly empty. I ordered a new queen, and she was successfully introduced to the hive. I was feeding the hive the whole time the hive was queenless. In the time from when I discovered the hive was queenless to the time I removed the queen cage from the requeened hive, the bees had filled up most of the empty brood comb with honey, sugar syrup, and pollen; I think that feeding contributed to this. Thus, the new queen had only 1 frame of comb with space to lay eggs on. I added a frame of capped brood to the hive after I had requeened the hive to strengthen it. I thought that would give the queen more space to lay eggs after the capped brood hatched out, but I think that the bees may have filled that comb up too. There was only 1 frame with a little capped brood and 1 frame with eggs last time I checked – which was yesterday. The brood box is almost full at the moment; the bees started building more comb recently, plus 2 frames that had capped brood were added from another hive (I added a frame of capped brood during the time the hive was queenless). I stopped feeding the hive not that long ago; I was told by another beekeeper that if I stopped feeding, they would use up some of the honey, and that would free up some space for the bees. There's currently a nectar flow going where I live. What should I do to get the hive to build out enough to survive the winter, and how should I deal with the filled-up-comb problem? Should I add another brood box to give them space to build more comb? Should I feed?
Update: I added another brood box and started feeding again on June 30, 2021.

Offline iddee

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You should add a box and continue feeding. They will move honey up to the new box to give her room to lay.
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Alklar20

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One of my hives never fully built out this spring; it's currently at just 1 brood box. The hive went queenless, so the bees weren't really focused on building out the hive. Most of the capped brood hatched out, so the combs that were in the hive ended up mostly empty. I ordered a new queen, and she was successfully introduced to the hive. I was feeding the hive the whole time the hive was queenless. In the time from when I discovered the hive was queenless to the time I removed the queen cage from the requeened hive, the bees had filled up most of the empty brood comb with honey, sugar syrup, and pollen; I think that feeding contributed to this. Thus, the new queen had only 1 frame of comb with space to lay eggs on. I added a frame of capped brood to the hive after I had requeened the hive to strengthen it. I thought that would give the queen more space to lay eggs after the capped brood hatched out, but I think that the bees may have filled that comb up too. There was only 1 frame with a little capped brood and 1 frame with eggs last time I checked – which was yesterday. The brood box is almost full at the moment; the bees started building more comb recently, plus 2 frames that had capped brood were added from another hive (I added a frame of capped brood during the time the hive was queenless). I stopped feeding the hive not that long ago; I was told by another beekeeper that if I stopped feeding, they would use up some of the honey, and that would free up some space for the bees. There's currently a nectar flow going where I live. What should I do to get the hive to build out enough to survive the winter, and how should I deal with the filled-up-comb problem? Should I add another brood box to give them space to build more comb? Should I feed?

In short, what I'm saying is that I have a hive that never built out this spring due to queenlessness, and became honey-bound due to me feeding them during the time the hive was queenless.

Offline iddee

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NO. They became honey bound from lack of space to put it. Give them more space and they will rearrange the honey to make room for the brood.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein

Offline The15thMember

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I agree with iddee.  If they need more room, give it to them.  They are growing now that they are over the queenless hump, so needing more space is to be expected.  Drawing more comb will help them to use up some of their stores faster and will give the queen room to lay.   
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Alklar20, how many of the 10 frames have drawn comb?

Offline Zweefer

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Where in the world are you located? Wondering how long before your flow ends…


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Alklar20

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Alklar20, how many of the 10 frames have drawn comb?
8 or 9. I can't really remember.

Alklar20

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Where in the world are you located? Wondering how long before your flow ends…


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Northwestern Washington. The current nectar flow where I'm at is the blackberry flow, which is supposed to end around mid-July.

Offline Bakersdozen

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Alklar20, how many of the 10 frames have drawn comb?
8 or 9. I can't really remember.
With or without a strong nectar flow, I would put another box on top.  I like to add another brood box when 7-8 frames have been drawn out with comb.
Something you might consider is running with one brood box.  There are some successful beekeepers around here that run with one brood box in the spring and summer.  They add a queen excluder and supers on top.  I believe they combine with another colony for fall and winter.