I have a Beemax polystyrene hive that is made up of two 10 frame deeps. The bottom one is so full of bees and brood that I can't imagine even one more bee could fit in there! They are moving into the top deep that I put on about 1 1/2 weeks ago, but they have drawn out very little comb on the new wax coated pasticel foundations...maybe only parts of two frames. They did manage to have some brood up there in a small area of drawn comb on only one frame about four inches across. My concern was that they are having trouble getting from the entrance to the top deep because of all the bees, so I drilled a 5/8" hole in the middle of the top deep. There are bees everywhere and I think they are using the hole as an entrance, but, was this a mistake?
Thanks.
Mark (2nd year w/bees)
It would appear they don't like your plastic. If possible move a couple of the brood frames to the center of the second deep. See if that helps relieve some of the congestion and encourages them to move up.
No, drilling the hole was not a mistake. I usually drill a 3/4" hole, but 5/8" should work too.
If you have a dearth going on they will most likely not draw out the plastic. I would move up a frame of capped brood into the second deep and feed to get them started drawing. a top entrance was a good idea