In checking my hive I noticed the number of brood to be going down and honey being put into its place. Is this normal? Is there anything that I can do to make room so the queen can have a place to lay more eggs?
Either add a super or replace a full frame(s) with foundation
Add another box on top.
Add another box and might move a couple of the full frames up to new box and replace them with the new frames. Good luck g.
Joe
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When the honey is allready in the combs, add foundation box under the brood box.
But do it so that you move best brood frames to lower box and 3-4 foundations up instead.
It may be to that the queen has lost its ability to lay. At least it it is non swamy type.
But give more space and you see.
gdog, just to be sure of something...are you feeding?
Ed
Ed, not feeding. They are bringing in enough pollen and nectar. This happened to a hive last year, it made it through the winter but failed in May. All I see is glistening uncapped honey. If I move the frames up and put new frames in would they build up comb? and start laying again or would they fill that with honey too?
I'm seriously a newbee here, but I would say you need to giver her majesty some room to lay. You could move some of the drawn/filled comb up and insert some foundation in between the comb remaining. In the brood chamber my understanding is that they will draw out frames of foundation between already drawn out frames. Putting foundation between drawn *honey* combs will cause some problems, though.
This spring (being a newbee going into the spring with my first hives) I had a regular swarm rodeo going on. I had fed one hive I believe for too long of a time, but the other two packed themselves right out room. I looked in there and all I could see was glistening honey/nectar like you've mentioned. :( My problem was that these two hives were in a deep and I was trying to go all medium 8-frames...I didn't figure out how to move up the drawn frames and wasn't sure of putting mediums in the deep. In hindsight, I should've just did it to keep the bees at home and worked it out later.
Could the colony be trying to pack the queen out of laying to get her ready to swarm? I know your flow is on but has your swarm season already passed?
Ed