Mostly empty bottom deep and drone brood in honey super

[Dan in PA]

Hi folks,

Tl;dr version: Hive has an empty bottom deep, a packed top deep, and drone brood in the honey super. Have another hive (caught swarm on foundationless frames) to swap frames with.

Details: I started my hive on May 15th from a 5-frame deep nuc. Right now, they've drawn out two 8-frame deeps and about 75% of an 8-frame medium. The deep frames were drawn from standard waxed foundation and the medium frames are foundationless.

The top deep is loaded with honey and brood (I'd say it weighs about 40-45 lbs) with a tight laying pattern. The bottom deep has spotty brood, a small amount of pollen, and about 60% empty cells. The medium super contains honey and about 4 frames' worth of capped drone brood.

I'm assuming the queen laid a bunch of drone eggs in the super because the medium frames were foundationless, and the colony was probably desperate to produce some drones. I'm thinking I should have put one or two foundationless frames in the brood nest so the colony could have built more drone cells down there.

I've heard screened bottom boards, which I use, can contribute to the empty bottom deep issue.

What I'm wondering is whether I should reverse/checkerboard the deeps, and whether I should freeze the capped drone brood or just let them emerge. If the colony wants drones, I'm thinking I might as well let them have drones, and hope they'll backfill the drone comb in the super with honey.

I also have an 8-frame deep containing a swarm I caught about a month ago. That deep is foundationless, and they've got it about 75% drawn out. There are 6 partially-drawn frames in it, so I'm thinking it might be a good idea to swap some frames between the two colonies so the nuc-based hive can build some drone comb in their brood nest without having to draw totally empty frames.

The clover and wildflower flow in my area is heavy right now. They're drawing comb nicely. But the dearth is coming soon.

Thanks all,


Dan

[Acebird]

If you believe the hive wants drones then let them have them.  If you believe that the bottom deep is empty because of the SBB then close it off or not.  They may not use all of the bottom deep but when push comes to shove they will use some of it.

[tjc1]

I had begun to suspect this year that an open screen bottom might have something to do with the bottom box being lightly used, as has been my experience in past years, but I hadn't read anything about it. I think I'll post a question.