Where's the comb?

[tlynn]

2 weeks ago I added a 3rd deep to my boomer hive.  I used wood starter strips for the first time and was eager to see how they were building out the comb.  As I went through the boxes, the topmost and the second deep were jam packed with brood and honey as expected.  I got down to the new box and was surprised to see when I pulled out the first frame it had a fist full of bees hanging on to the top bar, swinging like trapeze artists.  No comb.  Frame 2, no comb.  I went into the middle and zero comb again.  All frames with bees hanging on similarly.  What gives?  Palmetto is flowering now, so I am sure they are bringing in nectar.  In fact they were ready for another super.  I put the box on the bottom thinking since they build down this would be the best placement.  Could that be the problem?

Tracy

[Kathyp]

they will build it as they need it.  if the queen has room to lay, they may not need it yet. 

do you have honey supers on?  if so, they may be filling those and not building more to the bottom.  if you don't have honey supers on you might consider doing that if you have a strong flow going.  they will want to store.

[tlynn]

Yes, I just added the 3rd super today. It just puzzles me because 5 weeks ago I added a 2nd deep and in a week they completely drew it out and in another week it was full of brood.  That was duraglit.  I suppose I was expecting similar performance.  She does have laying room in the other deeps.  There have been a lot of bees emerging lately and I saw eggs all over.

[Michael Bush]

The hanging bees are building comb.  That's how they do it.

[tlynn]

The hanging bees are building comb.  That's how they do it.

Hmm well maybe they are just getting started b/c there is zero wax on the strips.  And BTW am I correct in putting the new box on the bottom?

[Michael Bush]

>And BTW am I correct in putting the new box on the bottom?

That works fine.  A drawn comb in the middle and putting them on top does also.