I am a newbee with a one hive operation from an extremely FULL nuc ( I think she gave me an entire full working brood box )...
I keep reading about putting drawn comb in hives etc...where does one obtain drawn comb it one only has one hive? Do I rob it from the hive and put an empty in its place?
Many thanks
You can take drawn comb from existing hives(it might help w/ swarming) or buy drawn comb from certain manufacturers. HSC sells drawn comb in small cell. Its not a huge hindrance to let'em draw out their own. Fascinating to observe.
Thank you muchly.
If you are giving a package new foundation to draw out, you might need to feed them some 1:1 sugar syrup to stimulate wax making. I would feed'em, if they take up lots of syrup feed again. If they dont consume the sugar syrup, remove and monitor to make sure comb production continues w/o feeding. I made the mistake of not feeding during a drought and my one hive didn't have enough drawn comb for fall stores. This hive needed babying all winter as a result.
You were fortunate to get a full brood box as a nuc. I just picked up 2 today from a friend who allows his nucs to almost fill a single deep (8 frame in my case).
I started last year with two 3lb packages and periodically pulled frames thoughout the season for various reasons (extracting, clogged brood nest, etc) and put bare foundation back in. I started this year with a fair amount of drawn comb which has served well through the strong flow we are having here.
I wish you luck with your single hive. I learned very quickly how beneficial it is to have multiple hives. Your ability to manage a whole array of issues is vastly enhanced even with 2 hives and the increase in labor is quite minimal.
These bees are not interested in sugar syrup in the least bit...I am hoping to do a hive inspection Friday and take pictures. I am set up for another hive should a swarm come my way...
We'll see what happens...