when you open a deep, and it is wall to wall capped brood, and there is no honey, nectar, or pollen?
Add another box???
yes and hurry, add another box!!
how many brood boxes do you have now? Do you find any swarm cells?
its weird, one deep, a couple of weeks ago it was honey and pollen on the outsides, and typical brood nest in the middle. then there is not one drop of honey, all the combs on the outside are dry and its full of brood. no swarm cells. very few drone cells as well.
Add another box and feed them.
Steve
Don't forget to move two frames up to the new box.
yes yiu need another brood box promptly, before the queen feels over crowded. They ate the the stores and the queen did her job.
i would add the new box under the first, but still move a frame of brood down. just my preference. i think the queen moves down better than up at this time of the year.
Yup, up or down, whichever is your preference/philosophy, it's all about getting the bees focused on the new space. In addition to "seeding" the new box with frames from the first, you can spray the rest of the foundation with sugar syrup, just like you might have done when you originally hived the bees.
Quote from: kathyp on April 23, 2012, 12:04:44 PM
i would add the new box under the first, but still move a frame of brood down. just my preference. i think the queen moves down better than up at this time of the year.
So KathyP, do you keep all the honey underneath the brood, or do you just keep their honey under the brood - or does that depend on the time of year.....I'd like to know more about how you're thinking. If you know what I mean.
If you find a queen laying like that, then split that sucker and make more hives like her.
Feed them.